Posted on 09/18/2001 11:05:22 AM PDT by MrBambaLaMamba
An influential Shi'ite Muslim religious authority issued an edict Tuesday banning Muslims from joining U.S. military action to avenge deadly suicide attacks on the United States.
``It is not permissible for any Islamic party, country, ruler or political movement to extend any military, security or economic assistance to the United States in its war against any Muslim country or any Muslim faction,'' Sheikh Mohammed Hussein Fadlallah said in a religious ruling faxed to Reuters.
Fadlallah is a former spiritual mentor of Lebanon's Iranian-backed Hizbollah guerrilla group, but he is widely respected as a scholar among Shi'ites abroad, including moderates.
Last week he condemned as ``horrifying'' the attacks in which Saudi-born militant leader Osama bin Laden (news - web sites) is the prime suspect.
Tuesday's ruling followed a similar edict by Jordanian religious scholars and reflected wariness in the Muslim Middle East of U.S. plans to build a global coalition against ''terrorism'' after the attacks on New York and Washington.
President Bush (news - web sites) has said bin Laden is wanted ``dead or alive,'' and speculation is running high that the first target in what he calls ``a war on terror'' will be Afghanistan (news - web sites), whose ruling Taliban Islamist group shelters bin Laden.
Fadlallah has warned that exacting indiscriminate vengeance for the attacks will feed ire over U.S. Middle East policy and particularly its backing for Israel, which many Arabs see as the root cause of the suicide attacks on New York and Washington.
``The rulings of the Americans are built on suspicion, not judicial proof, which makes the matter one of American political interests, as it needs to do something to restore its prestige and prove its strength,'' said the cleric.
Fadlallah, who survived an assassination attempt during Lebanon's 1975-1990 civil war, has assumed a largely spiritual leadership role after falling out with Hizbollah's Iranian patrons.
The group, a main force in driving Israel from south Lebanon last year after a 22-year occupation, pioneered the use of suicide bombings against Western targets during the civil war.
One suicide bombing destroyed the U.S. embassy and another killed more than 200 U.S. marines camped near Beirut airport. Many foreigners were kidnapped and some killed.
Hizbollah has denied any links to the hostage-takings or bombings.
In a separate statement, the radical Palestinian group Hamas also warned Arabs and Muslims not to take part in possible U.S. military action against Afghanistan.
``Hamas urges Arab and Muslim nations not to give approval, support or cover for this announced war on Afghanistan or any other Islamic or Arab country,'' it said in a statement faxed to Reuters in Beirut.
Hamas, which has carried out suicide bomb attacks on Israelis during the Palestinian uprising against Israeli occupation, warned that a war on ``terrorism'' was an Israeli ploy to end the uprising.
``The enemy has incited America and the West against the Arabs, Muslims and the Palestinian resistance...to combat what it calls Islamic terrorism,'' it said.
Gee, I wonder if this edict covers US gov't personnel?
"Iran's conservative religious leaders base their legitimacy on their Shiite strain of Islam, while the equally conservative Taliban leaders base theirs on the majority Sunni strain."
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