The Arab newspaper Asharq al-Awsar reported today that Sheikh Tantaui, highest Sunni Muslim authority, confirmed the decree, although no further details were given.
The Sunni leader said last May: «If a man launches a suicide attack against combatant enemies, he is a martyr,» but «if a man launches a suicide attack against women, children and elderly people who do not participate in the war, he cannot be considered as a martyr.»
In December, in reaction to the Palestinian attacks in Israel that left civilians dead, Sheikh Tantaui told the press: «The Shariah [Islamic law] rejects any attack on human life and, in name of the Shariah we denounce any aggression against civilians, regardless of the community or state responsible for this aggression.»