RIYADH — Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman and Crown Prince Muqrin Bin Abdulaziz, Deputy Premier, condemned the gruesome killing of a Jordanian pilot by militants linked to the self-proclaimed Islamic State group. In a cable of condolences to Jordan's King Abdullah, King Salman on Wednesday called the burning alive of Maaz Al-Kassasbeh “inhuman and contrary to Islam.” King Salman condemned the “odious crime” which he said was against all values of humanity. In a video posted online on Tuesday, IS claimed to have killed Kassasbeh, 26, by burning him alive in a cage. Earlier, a Saudi source said in a statement carried by the Saudi Press Agency that the “brutal and heinous crime” of burning to death of the Jordanian pilot was against the “principles of tolerant Islam and the Sunnah of the Prophet (pbuh).” Such an act can only be perpetrated by the bitterest enemies of Islam, the source said. The Kingdom expressed grief, sadness and anger at the horrific video. The source said the Kingdom reaffirms its resolve and determination to move forward in its fight against this misguided ideology and all extremist organizations that support it. It urged the international community to intensify its efforts against terrorism. The Kingdom also condemned the gruesome killings of Japanese hostages Kenji Goto and Haruna Yukawa by IS militants, a Saudi Foreign Ministry source said. Al-Azhar, Islam's prestigious center of learning, has called for the killing and crucifixion of IS militants, expressing outrage over their murder of the Jordanian pilot. In a statement, the Cairo-based authority's head, Ahmed Al-Tayib expressed his “strong dismay at this cowardly act.” Tayib said this “requires the punishment mentioned in the holy Qur'an for these corrupt oppressors who fight against God and his Prophet (pbuh): killing, crucifixion or chopping of the limbs.” Iyad Madani, secretary-genereal of the 57-nation Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), the world's largest bloc of Muslim countries, condemned the killing. It “utterly disregards the rights of prisoners Islam has decreed, as well as the human moral standards for war and treatment of prisoners,” a statement from Madani said. It is sad to see the “the depth of malaise” in parts of the Middle East, along with the “intellectual decay, the political fragmentation and the abuse of Islam, the great religion of mercy.” Condemnations quickly came from Gulf Arab nations. UAE Foreign Minister, Sheikh Abdullah Bin Zayed, condemned the killing and reaffirmed his nation's commitment to fighting terrorism and extremism. “This heinous and obscene act represents a brutal escalation by the terrorist group, whose evil objectives have become apparent,” he said. Bahrain denounced the killing as “despicable” and voiced its solidarity with Jordan. Kuwait's Emir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah blasted the killing as “criminal” and “vicious” and said it ran against both religion and tradition. Qatar's Foreign Ministry said it is “a criminal act contravening the tolerant principles of the Islamic faith, human values and international laws and norms.”
