Sep 4, 9:24 AM EDT

Siege Prompts Self-Criticism in Arab Media

By MAGGIE MICHAEL
Associated Press Writer




CAIRO, Egypt (AP) -- Muslims worldwide are the main perpetrators of
terrorism, a humiliating and painful truth that must be acknowledged,
a prominent Arab writer and television executive wrote Saturday, as
Middle East media and officials expressed horror at the bloody rebel
siege of a Russian school.

Unusually forthright self-criticism followed the end of the hostage
crisis, along with warnings that such actions inflict more damage to
the image of Islam than all its enemies could hope. Arab leaders and
Muslim clerics denounced the school seizure as unjustifiable and
expressed their sympathy.

Russian commandos stormed the school Friday in Beslan, Russia; it had
been taken over by rebels demanding independence for Chechnya. Russian
officials said Saturday that the death toll was in the hundreds - many
of them children.

Images of terrified young survivors being carried from the scene aired
repeatedly on Arab TV stations. Pictures of dead and wounded children
ran on front pages of Arab newspapers Saturday.

"Holy warriors" from the Middle East long have supported fellow
Muslims fighting in Chechnya, and Russian officials said nine or 10
Arabs were among militants killed.

"Our terrorist sons are an end-product of our corrupted culture,"
Abdulrahman al-Rashed, general manager of Al-Arabiya television wrote
in his daily column published in the pan-Arab Asharq Al-Awsat
newspaper. It ran under the headline, "The Painful Truth: All the
World Terrorists are Muslims!"

Al-Rashed ran through a list of recent attacks by Islamic extremist
groups - in Russia, Iraq, Sudan, Saudi Arabia and Yemen - many of
which are influenced by the ideology of Osama Bin Laden, the
Saudi-born leader of the al-Qaida terror network.

"Most perpetrators of suicide operations in buses, schools and
residential buildings around the world for the past 10 years have been
Muslims," he wrote. Muslims will be unable to cleanse their image
unless "we admit the scandalous facts," rather than offer
condemnations or justifications.

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"The picture is humiliating, painful and harsh for all of us,"
al-Rashed wrote.

Contributors to Islamic Web sites known for their extremist content
had mixed reactions on the hostage crisis, with some praising the
separatists. Others wrote that people should wait until the militants
had been identified before implicating Arabs in the drama.

Ahmed Bahgat, an Egyptian Islamist, wrote in his column in Egypt's
leading pro-government newspaper, Al-Ahram, that hostage-takers in
Russia as well as in Iraq are only harming Islam.

"If all the enemies of Islam united together and decided to harm it
... they wouldn't have ruined and harmed its image as much as the sons
of Islam have done by their stupidity, miscalculations, and
misunderstanding of the nature of this age," Bahgat wrote.

The horrifying images of the dead and wounded Russian students "showed
Muslims as monsters who are fed by the blood of children and the pain
of their families."

Mohammed Mahdi Akef, leader of Egypt's largest Islamic group, the
outlawed Muslim Brotherhood, said in general, kidnappings may be
justified, but killings are not. He said the school siege did not fit
the Islamic concept of jihad, or holy war.

"What happened yesterday is not jihad because our Islam obligates us
to respect the souls of human beings; it is not about taking them
away," Akef told The Associated Press.

Ali Abdullah, a Bahraini scholar who follows the ultraconservative
Salafi stream of Islam, condemned the school attack as "un-Islamic,"
but insisted Muslims weren't behind it.

"I have no doubt in my mind that this is the work of the Israelis who
want to tarnish the image of Muslims and are working alongside
Russians who have their own agenda against the Muslims in Chechnya,"
said Abdullah.

An editorial in the Saudi English-language Arab News put some blame
for the bloody end to the school siege on Russian President Vladimir
Putin, saying he couldn't afford to lose his "tough-man image." But it
added that "the Chechens, with the choice of their targets, had put
themselves in a position where no one would shed tears when the
punishment came. They reached a new low when they chose toddlers as
bargaining chips."

Heads of state from Egypt, Lebanon, Kuwait and Yemen offered their
sympathy Friday to Russian officials and to the families of people
caught up in the hostage drama. A prominent Muslim cleric also
denounced it.

"What is the guilt of those children? Why should they be responsible
for your conflict with the government?" Egypt's top Muslim cleric,
Grand Sheik Mohammed Sayed Tantawi, was quoted as saying during a
Friday sermon in Banha, 30 miles north of Cairo.

"You are taking Islam as a cover and it is a deceptive cover; those
who carry out the kidnappings are criminals, not Muslims," Tantawi,
who heads Al-Azhar University, the highest authority in the Sunni
Islamic world, was quoted by Egypt's Middle East News agency as
saying.

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/M/MIDEAST_SCHOOL_SEIZURE?SITE=PAYOK&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

Sep 4, 9:24 AM EDT

Siege Prompts Self-Criticism in Arab Media

By MAGGIE MICHAEL
Associated Press Writer




CAIRO, Egypt (AP) -- Muslims worldwide are the main perpetrators of
terrorism, a humiliating and painful truth that must be acknowledged,
a prominent Arab writer and television executive wrote Saturday, as
Middle East media and officials expressed horror at the bloody rebel
siege of a Russian school.

Unusually forthright self-criticism followed the end of the hostage

crisis, along with warnings that such actions inflict more damage to
the image of Islam than all its enemies could hope. Arab leaders and
Muslim clerics denounced the school seizure as unjustifiable and
expressed their sympathy.

Russian commandos stormed the school Friday in Beslan, Russia; it had
been taken over by rebels demanding independence for Chechnya. Russian
officials said Saturday that the death toll was in the hundreds - many
of them children.

Images of terrified young survivors being carried from the scene aired
repeatedly on Arab TV stations. Pictures of dead and wounded children
ran on front pages of Arab newspapers Saturday.

"Holy warriors" from the Middle East long have supported fellow
Muslims fighting in Chechnya, and Russian officials said nine or 10
Arabs were among militants killed.

"Our terrorist sons are an end-product of our corrupted culture,"
Abdulrahman al-Rashed, general manager of Al-Arabiya television wrote
in his daily column published in the pan-Arab Asharq Al-Awsat
newspaper. It ran under the headline, "The Painful Truth: All the
World Terrorists are Muslims!"

Al-Rashed ran through a list of recent attacks by Islamic extremist
groups - in Russia, Iraq, Sudan, Saudi Arabia and Yemen - many of
which are influenced by the ideology of Osama Bin Laden, the
Saudi-born leader of the al-Qaida terror network.

"Most perpetrators of suicide operations in buses, schools and
residential buildings around the world for the past 10 years have been
Muslims," he wrote. Muslims will be unable to cleanse their image
unless "we admit the scandalous facts," rather than offer
condemnations or justifications.

Interactives
A Look at Hamas
The Life of Yasser Arafat
Latest News
Few Palestinians Registering to Vote

Mother: Rabin's Assassin Secretly Marries

Israeli Tanks Move Into Gaza Refugee Camp

Major Palestinian Suicide Attacks

Bus Bombings in Southern Israel Kill 11

Siege Prompts Self-Criticism in Arab Media

Tensions High As Middle East Schools Begin

Israel Sends Animals to Palestinian Zoo

Arabs Decry Militants' Demand to French



"The picture is humiliating, painful and harsh for all of us,"
al-Rashed wrote.

Contributors to Islamic Web sites known for their extremist content
had mixed reactions on the hostage crisis, with some praising the
separatists. Others wrote that people should wait until the militants
had been identified before implicating Arabs in the drama.

Ahmed Bahgat, an Egyptian Islamist, wrote in his column in Egypt's
leading pro-government newspaper, Al-Ahram, that hostage-takers in
Russia as well as in Iraq are only harming Islam.

"If all the enemies of Islam united together and decided to harm it
... they wouldn't have ruined and harmed its image as much as the sons
of Islam have done by their stupidity, miscalculations, and
misunderstanding of the nature of this age," Bahgat wrote.

The horrifying images of the dead and wounded Russian students "showed
Muslims as monsters who are fed by the blood of children and the pain
of their families."

Mohammed Mahdi Akef, leader of Egypt's largest Islamic group, the
outlawed Muslim Brotherhood, said in general, kidnappings may be
justified, but killings are not. He said the school siege did not fit
the Islamic concept of jihad, or holy war.

"What happened yesterday is not jihad because our Islam obligates us
to respect the souls of human beings; it is not about taking them
away," Akef told The Associated Press.

Ali Abdullah, a Bahraini scholar who follows the ultraconservative
Salafi stream of Islam, condemned the school attack as "un-Islamic,"
but insisted Muslims weren't behind it.

"I have no doubt in my mind that this is the work of the Israelis who
want to tarnish the image of Muslims and are working alongside
Russians who have their own agenda against the Muslims in Chechnya,"
said Abdullah.

An editorial in the Saudi English-language Arab News put some blame
for the bloody end to the school siege on Russian President Vladimir
Putin, saying he couldn't afford to lose his "tough-man image." But it
added that "the Chechens, with the choice of their targets, had put
themselves in a position where no one would shed tears when the
punishment came. They reached a new low when they chose toddlers as
bargaining chips."

Heads of state from Egypt, Lebanon, Kuwait and Yemen offered their
sympathy Friday to Russian officials and to the families of people
caught up in the hostage drama. A prominent Muslim cleric also
denounced it.

"What is the guilt of those children? Why should they be responsible
for your conflict with the government?" Egypt's top Muslim cleric,
Grand Sheik Mohammed Sayed Tantawi, was quoted as saying during a
Friday sermon in Banha, 30 miles north of Cairo.

"You are taking Islam as a cover and it is a deceptive cover; those
who carry out the kidnappings are criminals, not Muslims," Tantawi,
who heads Al-Azhar University, the highest authority in the Sunni
Islamic world, was quoted by Egypt's Middle East News agency as
saying.