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Tantawi
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By
Sobhy Mujahid, Special To IOL
CAIRO,
March 22 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) - Egypt's Grand Sheikh of
Al-Azhar Mohammad Sayed Tantawi on Sunday, March 22, strongly condemned
Israel’s killing of Hamas spiritual leader Sheikh Ahmed Yassin,
calling for ‘punishment’ for those who committed this crime.
The
assassination of Sheikh Yassin and his companions is a despicable crime
that shook the entire world, Tantawi said.
“This
is a heinous crime that must not go without punishment,” Tantawi told
reporters in his first statement regarding the assassination.
“It
is a horrible crime that has shocked the whole international
community,” he said adding that the assassins did not take into
consideration the fact that Sheikh Yassin was an old and paralyzed man.
He
also urged both the Arab and Muslim worlds and the entire humanity to
punish those who perpetrated this heinous crime.
From
his part, Egypt’s Grand Mufti, Ali Goma, also condemned the
assassination of Hamas spiritual leader.
Goma
said in press statement that it is “not a strange thing that the
Israeli occupation forces, who stole the Palestinian land and is
continuously challenging international legitimacy and law, commits such
a crime”.
He
praised Sheikh Yassin history of resistance, stressing that “Yassin
does not need our prayers because he died as a martyr”.
Goma
also called on all Muslims to “follow up the steps of Sheikh Yassin,
fight for the cause he died for and consider him a role model of real
strong will in constant search for justice and peace”.
Israel’s
assassination of Hamas spiritual leader Sheikh Ahmed Yassin on his way
back home after the dawn prayers on Monday, March 22, has drown an
international outcry.
Students in Egypt urge revenge for Israeli killing of Yassin.
The
67-year-old wheelchair-bound Yassin - a long-time
struggler against Israeli occupation - was killed in an Israeli helicopter strike
in Gaza City, prompting a declaration of an all-out war against Israel
from all Palestinian resistance groups.
This
comes as hundreds of students at Cairo universities called for revenge
after Israelis killed Yassin on Monday in a dawn air strike.
"The
Jews have killed Yassin, where is the response of the Muslims?"
students at Al-Azhar University chanted. "Sharon, coward, Yassin's
blood is not worthless," they warned Israeli Prime Minister Ariel
Sharon.
The
demonstrators urged the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing
of Hamas, to avenge the targeted killing of the founder of the
Palestinian resistance movement.
More
demonstrations were planned after midday Muslim prayers in Helwan
University in the Egyptian capital and at Alexandria University in the
north of the country.
