By Sobhi Mujahid, IOL Cairo Correspondent

CAIRO, February 22 (IslamOnline.net) - The Grand Imam of Al-Azhar Sheikh Mohamed Sayyed Tantawi Saturday, February 22, ruled that attempts to stop a U.S. aggression on Iraq is “Jihad” (holy war), and resisting such an attack is a “binding Islamic duty”.

In special statements to IslamOnline.net, following his inauguration of the Conference on 'Women Liberation in Islam' at al-Azhar University in Cairo, Sheikh Tantawi said; “We reject any harm to befall the Iraqi people who are an integral part of the Arab and Muslim worlds. We could never give up that part”.

Al-Azhar Imam also hoped that “Allah may bestow His victory (against all aggressors) on the Iraqi people”, pointing out that it is “a religious duty to side with Iraq against any aggression to befall it”. He said that resisting an unjustifiable attack on any Muslim country is “Jihad and an Islamic duty”.

Sheikh Tantawi asked the Arab leaders to exert their utmost efforts to block any aggression against Iraq. Moreover, he called on them to take a decisive stand during their coming summit in Cairo to avoid the Iraqi people any harm, pointing out that all world countries should side with “justice and right” in the Iraqi crisis, so as to solve it in a peaceful way.

Meanwhile, famous Muslim scholar Sheikh Yusuf Qaradawi, in press statements following the Conference’s first session, asserted that fighting U.S. troops (deployed to attack Iraq) is “legal Jihad”. He added that “death while defending Iraq is a kind of martyrdom”, as it comes in the defense of a Muslim land against aggressor enemies.

Qaradawi elaborated that Arab and Muslim peoples should currently support Iraq “in any way they can”. He also added that “it was a shame to see millions of westerners take to the streets to denounce the war plans, whereas the Arabs are as silent as the dead in their tombs”.

Concerning the ruling of resistance operations against U.S. military bases on Arab soil, Qaradawi stressed that “already-signed accords must be respected”, adding that such bases must be used in accordance with the treaties.

However, the renowned scholar drew a line between the bases and other U.S. (air, land and sea) troops, currently deployed in the region to attack and invade Iraq.