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09/02/2004:

"Cleric Says It's Right to Fight U.S. Civilians in Iraq"

CAIRO (Reuters) - An Egyptian cleric based in Qatar and often described as a moderate has ruled that it is a religious duty for Muslims to fight Americans in Iraq, including U.S. civilians, his office director said Thursday.

But Sheikh Youssef al-Qaradawi said that two French journalists kidnapped in Iraq should be freed immediately.

Qaradawi gave his opinion at a meeting Tuesday evening at the Egyptian journalists' syndicate in Cairo.

``All of them (U.S. military personnel and civilians) are invaders who came from their country to invade our country and fighting them is a duty,'' said his office director Essam Talima, quoting a fatwa or ruling on religious law by Qaradawi.

Qaradawi is revered in much of the Muslim world for his intellectual rigor and ability to adapt the fundamental tenets of Islam to the modern world.

Full Article: Reuters