Arab media is reporting that Global Muslim Brotherhood leader Youssef Qaradawi has denied inciting murder after an Interpol notice was issued for his arrest. According to the Al Arabiya News report, Qaradawi wrote on his Facebook page “‘I did not kill and I never incited to murder”:
Youssef Qaradawi
December 9, 2014 Qatar-based Egyptian cleric Yusef al-Qaradawi denied Monday inciting murder on his personal Facebook page after Interpol issued a warrant for his arrest.
‘I did not kill and I never incited to murder so that Interpol would put me on the wanted list,’ Qaradawi wrote on his page.
‘Those who killed thousands of innocent people at the Republican Guard headquarters, Manassa and Rabaa, al-Nahda, Ramsis and others are known and are being invited to Western capitals,’ he added.
Qaradawi’s statements came following the international police agency claimed that he made an ‘agreement, incitement and assistance to commit intentional murder, helping prisoners to escape, arson, vandalism and theft.’
Qaradawi, who is in his late 80s, is wanted by Egypt’s authorities and faces being tried in absentia.
He is seen as a spiritual guide to the Muslim Brotherhood, the group ousted Egyptian President Mohammad Mursi hails from and is the head of the Muslim Brotherhood affiliated International Federation of Muslim Scholars (IFMS).
Egypt has designated the Muslim Brotherhood a ‘terrorist organization’ and launched a brutal crackdown on Mursi’s Islamist supporters since his ouster last July 3.
Qatar had close ties with Egypt during Mursi’s turbulent single year in power, but relations nose-dived after his overthrow. “
Whatever the basis for the Egyptian charges, Youssef Qaradawiis considered to be the “spiritual guide” for Hamas and his fatwas in support of suicide bombings against Israeli citizens were utilized by Hamas to justify their operations. He is also known to have called for attacks on US troops and civilians in Iraq.
The GMBDW was the first Western media to report on the INTERPOL Red Notice issued for Qaradawi.
