Published on France24 (http://www.france24.com/en)
Top cleric urges 'blind, deaf, dumb' Mubarak to go
By blade
Created 29/01/2011 - 16:47
Influential Arab cleric Yusuf al-Qaradawi on Saturday urged Egyptian President
Hosni Mubarak to step down for the good of the country, saying his departure is
the only solution to Egypt's crisis.
The Sunni Muslim cleric, who holds Egyptian and Qatari nationalities, also
encouraged Egyptians to keep up their peaceful protests demanding an end to
Mubarak's three-decade rule, in an interview with Al-Jazeera television.
"President Mubarak ... I advise you to depart from Egypt ... There is no other
solution to this problem but for Mubarak to go," Qaradawi said, accusing the
veteran leader of having turned "blind, deaf and dumb."
The cleric, spiritual leader of Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood and longtime
resident of Qatar, heads the International Union for Muslim Scholars.
"There is no staying longer, Mubarak, I advise you (to learn) the lesson of
Zine El Abidine Ben Ali," he said, referring to Tunisia's deposed president who
fled to Saudi Arabia.
"Go Mubarak, have mercy on this people and leave so as not to increase the
destruction of Egypt," he added.
He told Egyptians to "continue their uprising" but cautioned against any
"attack on state institutions." The uprising "must come through peaceful
means," Qaradawi said.
The cleric unnerved Arab leaders earlier this month by sanctioning the popular
revolt in Tunisia and hinting other governments in the region had starved and
robbed their people.
Famous in the Middle East for his at times controversial fatwas, or religious
edicts, the octogenarian Qaradawi has celebrity status in the Arab world thanks
to his religious broadcasts on Al-Jazeera television.
He has in the past defended "violence carried out by certain Muslims."
The West accuses the cleric of supporting "terrorism" because he sanctioned
Palestinian suicide attacks in Israel. Britain and the United States have
refused to grant him entry visas.
"Some violence is legitimate in the eyes of both religion and law, such as
resistance to the occupation in Palestine, Lebanon or in Iraq," Qaradawi said
last September.
"We call for peace because our religion orders it, but if war is imposed on us
we will take it to our hearts."
* AFP
* International
Source URL:
http://www.france24.com/en/20110129-top-cleric-urges-blind-deaf-dumb-mubarak-go
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