JEDDAH: Khaled Almaeena, editor in chief of Arab News, has cautioned the international community against possible terrorist attacks by criminal gangs in the name of Al-Qaeda, following the death of Osama Bin Laden. “I am afraid that some criminal groups who are inspired by Al-Qaeda would carry out terrorist operations and blame them on Al-Qaeda due to the lack of a strong spiritual and military leader for the group,” Almaeena told Al Arabiya.net. He said Al-Qaedas impact was dwindling over the past many years. “I believe that the killing of Bin Laden will have its impact on Al-Qaeda. But one thing we have to remember that he had been playing a small role in the organization for many years,” he pointed out. Muhammad Al-Nujaimi, a well-known Islamic propagator, cautioned the public against possible retaliatory attacks by Al-Qaeda sympathizers. He described Bin Laden and Al-Qaeda as products of the United States. Al-Nujaimi urged those Arab youths who have been enticed by Bin Laden and the like to shun their extremist and terrorist ideologies, learning lessons from the fate of Bin Laden and other Al-Qaeda leaders. Professor Ali Al-Shubl of Imam Muhammad bin Saud Islamic University in Riyadh, called the takfiri (branding opponents as infidels) ideology of Al-Qaeda and other terrorist groups as the most dangerous thing. A reader of the website likened Bin Laden to Mubarak, both being agents of the US. “America used them to protect and serve its interests and it finished them off when their mission was over,” said the reader who did not put his name. Hana Hamad, another reader, said Bin Laden was targeting Muslims rather than their enemies like Israel. She said Al-Qaeda also divided Muslims into different groups and incited them to kill each other. According to a report carried by sabq.org, Ahmed Al-Tayeb, the chief of Al-Azhar in Cairo, condemned US authorities for burying Bin Ladens body at sea, saying the action was against Islamic tradition. “We have to respect the dead by giving the body a proper funeral.”

P.K. ABDUL GHAFOUR