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| Africa: North |
| Moroccan scholars blast al-Qaeda over hostages |
| 2005-11-06 |
| Al-Qaeda members in Iraq will suffer the "horrors of hell" if they kill two Moroccan hostages and the victims will die as martyrs, Morocco's influential organisation of Islamic scholars said on Saturday. Al-Qaeda insisted it was "God's judgment" to kill the two Moroccan embassy employees who were seized late last month, according to an Internet statement. "The two Moroccans would be considered martyrs if this iniquitous verdict were to be carried out as they were carrying out a duty assigned to them by their nation and legitimate state," said the powerful Moroccan body which groups thousands of preachers and Islamic scholars. "Killing the two Moroccan nationals would be considered as the assassination of all Moroccans," the umbrella body said in a statement, calling the hostage-takers "aggressor apostates". It added that the Al-Qaeda kidnappers "will suffer opprobrium on the land and the horrors of hell in heaven". But the statement from Al-Qaeda said: "Deviants ... try to prevent the Mujahideen (holy fighters) from carrying out God's judgment. "They fill the world with criticism of the Mujahideen for targeting diplomatic missions allied with the criminal (Iraqi) government," said the statement, posted on a main Islamic Web site. It could not be authenticated but was signed by Al-Qaeda's spokesman in Iraq. The group said on Thursday it had decided to kill the two hostages after it sentenced them to death over Morocco's support for the US-backed Baghdad government. |
| Posted by:Dan Darling |