MWL condemns terrorist incident near Paris

MAKKAH/PARIS — The Secretary-General of the Muslim World League (MWL) and Chairman of the Organization of Muslim Scholars Sheikh Dr. Mohammad Bin Abdulkarim Al-Issa has condemned the terrorist incident that took place in Conflans-Sainte-Honorine, near Paris, Friday evening, which resulted in the death of a teacher, considering it as a horrific crime.

Dr. Al-Issa affirmed that the practices of violence and terrorism are criminalized in all divine laws and are classified in the highest degrees of criminal abuse, calling for intensifying the efforts to eradicate terrorism and defeat extremist intellectual ideology that motivated these crimes.

He offered his sincere condolences to the teachers' family, students, friends and the French people, according to a report by the Saudi press Agency (SPA).

A teacher was beheaded on a street near Paris on Friday afternoon after hosting a class discussion with secondary school students about cartoons of Islam's Prophet Muhammad (pbuh).

The suspected killer, who was armed with a knife and a plastic pellet gun, was later shot dead by officers in a nearby town, police said. French authorities have launched an anti-terror investigation.

President Emmanuel Macron called it an "assassination" and an "terrorist attack". The victim, a history and geography teacher, was decapitated near a school in the commune of Conflans Saint-Honorine, northwest of the French capital, at around 5 p.m. local time.

The President's office announced on Saturday that a national tribute would be paid to the teacher, for which the timing was yet to be decided.

The United Arab Emirates too has condemned the terrorist incident that took place in Conflans-Sainte-Honorine near Paris.

The UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation confirmed, in a statement Saturday, that the UAE expresses its strong condemnation of this heinous crime and all terrorist acts, stressing that murder is a crime that cannot be justified in any way, offering condolences to the victim's family and the French people.

Police told the AFP agency that the teacher had shown cartoons depicting the prophet to his class. His alleged attacker was reported to be 18 years old, of Chechen origin and born in Moscow.

Officials said he was shot dead in the neighboring town of Éragny after he acted in a threatening manner and failed to respond to an order to put down his weapons.

Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin, who was on a trip to Morocco, decided to return to Paris immediately.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Saturday expressed her condolences to the victim's family and said her "thoughts were going out to teachers in France and throughout Europe" after the attack.

"Without them (teachers), there are no citizens. Without them, there is no democracy," she added. — Agencies