The Syrian grand mufti has threatened to send suicide bombers to the US and Europe should a military attack be launched against the country, reports Bassel Oudat Syrian Mufti Ahmed Badreddin Hassoun has threatened to send suicide bombers to attack targets in the US and Europe, should there be a decision to launch a military intervention against Syria. Hassoun's threats have been condemned by Syrian public opinion, while the US and Europe have described the threats as meaningless. Hassoun, who has often given sermons about peaceful co-existence between peoples and the rejection of violence and terrorism, surprised observers at a meeting with Lebanese women last week when he said that "when the first missile is fired towards Syria or Lebanon, each of our sons and daughters will come forward to be martyred in Europe and Palestine." "I am saying this to Europe and the US. We will prepare suicide attackers who are already in your countries if you launch an attack against Syria or Lebanon. After today, it is an eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth, and whoever starts the conflict will bear the responsibility for it. You are the ones who have dealt us an injustice." Nevertheless, Hassoun also pleaded with the West not to attack Syria, describing the country as "the land of light, where God wanted to shed light on the world. From our land and from the Damascus of the Umayyids, we nurtured the civilisation of Ibn Rushd that made Europe awaken and the East shine." In the light of Hassoun's comments, some members of the Syrian opposition described him as "Syria's own bin Laden," asserting that he no longer represented the religious tolerance that has been a characteristic of Syria for centuries. Hassoun was using the same rhetoric as the extremist fundamentalist groups, they said. Lebanese politicians opposed to the Syrian regime said that the positions advocated by the mufti "demonstrate how close the Syrian regime is to collapse, its leading figures being nervous wrecks." "The Syrian regime and its leaders have lost their nerve, and this has led to such statements," said deputy leader of the Al-Mustaqbal bloc Anton Adraous. "Hassoun is making statements that demonstrate that the regime is on the precipice after countries around the world have recognised the opposition Syrian National Council." Figures close to the regime attempted to justify the mufti's statements, saying that he had made the comments as "a father heartbroken over his son." Sariya Hassoun, the mufti's younger son, was killed on his way home from school by unknown perpetrators, and state media have pointed to "hands of betrayal and cowardice" as being responsible. The Syrian opposition denies having had anything to do with the assassination, asserting that the killing was a ploy by a regime that was willing to kill its own allies in order to fuel the violence against the revolution. One Syrian activist said that the Syrian uprising, "despite all the crimes and violence used against it, remains peaceful, and the revolutionaries have not taken up arms. What crime could Sariya Hassoun have committed that the revolutionaries would want to kill him, especially since their cause is the struggle against injustice, oppression and persecution?" Since the beginning of the Syrian uprising seven months ago, Syria's mufti has supported the regime, adopting the official perspective on the protests in the country. This includes accusing foreign powers of being behind the events and insisting that armed elements among the protesters are killing civilians and members of the security forces. Hassoun's statements have led his critics to create a Facebook page entitled "Together to depose Syria's mufti". "The problem with Sheikh Hassoun is that he has become a mouthpiece for the regime instead of a man of religion," Syrian opposition figure in exile Haitham Manaa told Al-Ahram Weekly. "He is serving the oppressive Syrian regime. He should have held his tongue." In many Arab countries, the mufti is an official cleric who often justifies the positions taken by the government. As a result, Hassoun's comments will be studied by observers of the Syrian regime as a possible indicator of the views of the country's government. By Bassel Oudat
