December 29, 2008	Monday	Zilhaj 30, 1429

RIYADH, Dec 28: A prominent Saudi cleric called in a religious edict on Sunday for attacks on Israelis everywhere in retaliation for the ongoing Israeli onslaught on the Gaza Strip.

“All (Israeli) interests, and anything else related to Israel, are a permitted target for Muslims everywhere,” said Sheikh Awad al-Qarni in what he described on the internet as a fatwa, or religious edict.

“They (Israelis) should become targets. Their blood should be shed as the blood of our brothers in Palestine has been shed,” he said.

“They should feel pain more than our brothers,” the cleric added as Israeli air raids pounded the territory, which is controlled by the Islamist militant movement Hamas.

At least 282 Palestinians have been killed since Israeli warplanes launched a wave of air strikes on Saturday on a wide range of Hamas targets in the Gaza Strip.

“This is a fatwa that I am responsible for in front of Allah,” Qarni said on the Islam Online website.

He also lashed out at Arab governments, mainly Egypt, which he accused of being “part of the conspiracy”.

“The recent visit by (Israeli Foreign Miniter Tzipi) Livni to Egypt, and her embrace by Egyptian officials in front of cameras, followed by her confirmation that the situation in Gaza is going to change, and the lack of any response from Egyptian officials, are part of the conspiracy,” he said.

He slammed Egypt’s security reinforcements on the borders with Gaza “to ban Palestinians from breaking through the borders,” saying it is “a proof of a conspiracy.”

Egypt has opened its single crossing point into Gaza to allow the transfer of wounded Palestinians to hospitals and the passage of medical aid into the enclave.

However, Egyptian police fired in the air near the border on Sunday to prevent Palestinians entering Egypt, a security official said.—AFP