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JEDDAH — Saudi Grand Mufti Sheikh Abdul Aziz has claimed that the Islamic State (Daesh) militants are Israeli soldiers and the Saudi-led 34-nation military alliance of Islamic countries will defeat it.
The statement came after Abu Bakr al Baghdadi, the secretive leader of the terror group, called for an uprising in Saudi Arabia and pledged to attack Israel, in an audio recording released Saturday and attributed to him, AFP reported.
Terming the extremist group’s threat to attack Israel a ‘lie’, Aziz alleged that IS is a part of the Israeli army.
“This threat against Israel is simply a lie. Actually, Daesh is part of the Israeli soldiers,” said the grand mufti, who is also a chairman of Senior Scholars’ Commission and Ifta Council, during a telephonic interview with Saudi Gazette.
Criticising the militant group, he said the members of the terror outfit were causing a deal of harm to Islam and Muslims.
“They cannot be considered as followers of Islam. Rather, they are an extension of Kharijites, who rose in revolt against the Islamic caliphate for the first time by labeling Muslims as infidels and permitting their bloodletting.”
Earlier on Wednesday, senior foreign office officials said although Pakistan has joined Saudi Arabia-led 34-nation coalition against terrorism, but it will not support any move that destabilises Syria or strains Islamabad’s relationship with Tehran.
Saudi Arabia on December 15 announced formation of the coalition to combat terrorism, mentioning Egypt, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Turkey, Malaysia, Pakistan and Gulf Arab and African states as members.
The article originally appeared on Saudi Gazette