Mohamed Issa:”The Kouachi brothers were not Algerians but “Franco-French”

Referring to the recent ill-fated attack against the French satirical weekly “Charlie Hebdo,” the Algerian minister of religious affairs and endowments, Mohamed Issa, said it was a “purely Franco-French issue” as “the perpetrators of the attack have never stayed in Algeria and never been to mosques or Koranic schools in Algeria or elsewhere.”

The minister also pointed to the international solidarity with France, reiterating Algeria’s official position over the horrendous attack.

The Algerian imams are due to “contribute to making the national community in France and Europe immune and to refurbish Islam’s tarnished image,” Mr Mohamed Issa told National Radio’s Channel Three on Sunday in Algiers.

He added that the imams concerned, trained in specialized institutes, will “show that Islam is a religion of moderation, friendliness, peace and tolerance contrary to the false image shown by radical fundamentalists, that is to say a religion of fire and sword.”

“Confusion between Islam and terrorism only benefits the extremists, he pointed out.”

Algerian imams or religious preachers assigned to places of worship coming under the control of the Grand Mosque of Paris are committed to expounding the genuine image of Islam in France, and all over Europe, to show that Islam is a religion of peace, tolerance and non-violence, Mohamed Issa asserted.

Meanwhile, In renewed reactions across the world, Muslims marched in Middle East cities to protest against the publication of new blasphemous cartoons offending the Prophet Mohammed (PBUH) by French magazine Charlie Hebdo, as Qatar warned the image would “fuel hatred”.

The largest rally was in Jordan, where around 2,500 protesters took to the streets of the capital Amman amid tightened security, while demonstrations also took place in east Jerusalem and Khartoum.

The crowd, including members of the Muslim Brotherhood and youth groups, set off from the Al-Husseini mosque in central Amman holding banners that read “insulting the noble prophet is tantamount to global terrorism”.

Jordan’s opposition Islamic Action Front party, the political wing of the local branch of the Muslim Brotherhood, has branded the publication of the cartoon as “an attack on Muslims across the world”.

King Abdullah II, who last weekend joined world leaders on an anti-terror solidarity march in Paris, on Thursday, said the latest issue of Charlie Hebdo was “irresponsible and reckless”.

A protest against the cartoon in Tehran was canceled, with no official reason given, as senior Iranian cleric Ayatollah Ali Movahedi Kermani told worshipers its publication amounted to “savagery”.

In Tunis, worshipers at El-Fath mosque interrupted prayer leader Noureddine Khadmi as he delivered a sermon saying: “We are all against insults made against our lofty prophet but it is not a reason to kill”.

Charlie Hebdo journalists “deserved to be killed because they wantonly and repeatedly insulted our noble prophet Mohamed, God’s peace and blessings be upon him, many times,” the worshipers cried out.

Saudi Arabia’s top religious body, the Council of Senior Ulema or religious scholars, also hit out against the blameworthy publication of Mohammed cartoons that it said “have nothing to do with the freedom of creativity or thought”.

Its secretary general Fahd al-Majid warned that publishing such images would only “serve extremists who are in search of excuses for killing and terrorism”.

Qatar warned that publishing blasphemous cartoons of Prophet Mohammed (PBUH) would “fuel hatred and anger”, as a leading Muslim body called for peaceful protests against French weekly Charlie Hebdo.

Qatar “firmly condemned the reprinting by French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo and other European press of low-down pictures offensive to noble Prophet Mohammed”, (PBUH), the foreign ministry said in a statement.

“Freedom of speech does not mean insulting others, hurting their feelings, and mocking their religious beliefs and values,” said the statement published by the official QNA news agency.

“These disgraceful actions are in the interest of nobody and will only fuel hatred and anger,” it warned, describing them as a “violation of human values of peaceful coexistence, tolerance, justice, and respect among people.”

Earlier on, dozens of Pakistani lawmakers marched near the country’s parliament in Islamabad, calling for “death to blasphemers.”

“All political parties are with us… All Muslim countries should strongly condemn these blasphemous cartoons,” Pakistani Religious Affairs Minister Sardar Yousaf said.

Egypt’s top religious institution, the Al Azhar Mosque, has expressed its outrage at the magazine’s new cartoon, describing it as a “blatant challenge to the deep feelings of Muslims worldwide.

Muslims in Aleppo on Thursday marched through the southwestern Syrian city, burning a “Je Suis Charlie” poster.

Thousands of Protesters in the Philippines also marched in the southern town of Marawi, burning images of the French magazine’s new cover.