CAIRO: From his seat in Egypt, the leading religious authority in Islam has lashed out at supporters of abortion rights, sexual reassignment and globalization, saying they aim to “annihilate all Abrahamic religions.”
In a meandering address to a conference, Grand Sheikh Ahmed El-Tayeb, head of Egypt’s Al-Azhar, suggested that terrorism was not a local phenomenon but the result of an international conspiracy, one that includes “many of those advocating human rights, global peace, coexistence, freedom, equality and other concepts that are mandated in international charters.”
He went on to accuse the West of condoning Christian and Jewish extremism while only highlighting acts of violence committed in the name of Islam.
Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi has called on the conservative Al-Azhar to promote religious reforms in order to combat extremism.
The president also recently called for legislation that would do away with verbal divorce, whereby men can divorce their wives without any documentation. Al-Azhar refused, saying verbal divorce has been well established by Islamic scholars.
Al-Azhar, a centuries-old seat of learning that provides guidance to Muslims, is opposed to abortion, and views homosexuality and gender reassignment surgery — except in cases of birth defects — to be sins.
Tuesday’s conference was attended by Egypt’s Coptic Pope Tawadros II and was intended to be a show of unity among the country’s Muslims and Christians.
Hundreds of Christians fled the northern part of Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula in recent days after a string of deadly attacks and threats from a Daesh affiliate. Amnesty International on Wednesday accused the government of failing to protect Christians.
El-Tayeb, who is appointed by presidential decree, did not mention the violence or the displacement in his address.
Al-Azhar chief lashes out at abortion backers
Al-Azhar chief lashes out at abortion backers
Syrian government says it controls prison in Raqqa with Daesh-linked detainees
- Prison holds detainees linked to Daesh, and witnessed clashes in its vicinity between advancing Syrian government forces and Kurdish fighters
Syria’s Interior Ministry said on Friday it had taken over Al-Aktan prison in the city of Raqqa in northeastern Syria, a facility that was formerly under the control of Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).
The prison has been holding detainees linked to the militant group Daesh, and witnessed clashes in its vicinity this week between advancing Syrian government forces and the SDF.
It was not immediately clear how many Daesh detainees remain in Al-Aktan prison as the US military has started transferring up to 7,000 prisoners linked to the militant Islamist group from Syrian jails to neighboring Iraq. US officials say the detainees are citizens of many countries, including in Europe.
“Specialized teams were formed from the counter-terrorism department and other relevant authorities to take over the tasks of guarding and securing the prison and controlling the security situation inside it,” the Interior Ministry said in a statement.
Under a sweeping integration deal agreed on Sunday, responsibility for prisons housing Daesh detainees was meant to be transferred to the Syrian government.
The SDF said on Monday it was battling Syrian government forces near Al-Aktan and that the seizure of the prison by the government forces “could have serious security repercussions that threaten stability and pave the way for a return to chaos and terrorism.”
The US transfer of Daesh prisoners follows the rapid collapse of Kurdish-led forces in northeast Syria. Concerns over prison security intensified after the escape on Tuesday of roughly 200 low-level Daesh fighters from Syria’s Shaddadi prison. Syrian government forces later recaptured many of them.
