DOHA: Leading Sunni cleric Dr Sheikh Yousuf Al Qaradawi yesterday called for holy war against the Syrian regime after fighters from Shia Lebanese group Hezbollah intervened to help President Bashar Al Assad.
His website said Al Qaradawi called on all Muslims in all countries to head to Syria if they were able to do that to defend the Syrian people.
He said those who could fight should go and fight and stand by the Syrian people killed at the hands of the regime and now being killed at the hands of what he called the party of Satan. The call underscores widening sectarian divisions in the region over the war in Syria.
He said that God will pour his anger and curses on those who support Assad and will take revenge from them, and swore that the Syrian people will be victorious against Hassan Nasr Al Shaytan (Satan), referring to Nasrallah. Hezbollah means party of God.
Al Qaradawi, in his late 80s, swore he would go and fight had he been able to do so. Reuters
