Iraqi Sunnis set up fatwa body to combat al Qaeda

By Suleiman al-Khalidi

AMMAN (Reuters) - Mainstream Sunni Muslim clerics in Iraq have formed a body to issue edicts aimed at curbing the influence of al Qaeda militants whose activities kill civilians, not only foreign troops, a leading cleric said on Monday.

Sheikh Ahmed Abdul Ghafour al-Samarrai told Reuters the "council of ulama of Iraq", set up by a founding committee of 40 prominent religious scholars in Amman last week, was prompted by a need for balanced fatwas -- religious edicts -- within his community as violence grew in Iraq.

"It's high time our clerics unify their utterances. Religious scholars have to work on teaching Muslims respect for the others ...," he said referring to radical Islamists with ideological links to al Qaeda.

Sunni Islamist al Qaeda in Iraq wields influence in several western and central provinces. Its militants are gaining support by their preaching in a country beset by U.S.-led foreign troops and sectarian fighting with Shi'ite militia.

But their indiscriminate killing of civilians and a strict interpretation of Sunni Islam have alienated traditionally minded tribal leaders and escalated a power struggle in Sunni ranks.

Suicide bombings by Sunni militants have not only killed Shi'ites indiscriminately, but also have been directed at fellow Sunnis seen as collaborators with the Iraqi government or U.S.-led forces.

Samarrai, who ran a state body that oversaw Sunni religious sites in Iraq but was fired last February for criticising Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, a Shi'ite Islamist, said extremist groups who killed on flimsy evidence must be fought.

"They kill by suspicion and commit senseless bloodletting and boast about it ... Whoever kills a Muslim believer should be penalised by going to Hell," he added.