CAIRO, Egypt, Oct 07, 2001 (AP WorldStream via COMTEX) -- Islam is a tolerant religion that condemns all forms of terrorism and those who claim otherwise are either enemies who want to distort its image or unwitting Muslims who do not understand their faith, top Egyptian clerics and officials said Sunday.
"The conference announces its condemnation and criminalization of all kinds of terrorism committed by a Muslim or a non-Muslim against any person or any country," said a statement read at the end of a meeting called in Cairo to address concerns among Muslims that Islam has been misunderstood in the wake of the Sept. 11 attacks in the United States.
"Islam is wronged between the injustice of its enemies and the ignorance of (some of) its children," Egypt's religious endowment minister, Mahmoud Hamdi Zaqzouq, said.
Self-proclaimed Islamic warrior Osama bin Laden, the No. 1 suspect in the Sept. 11 attacks, has declared a jihad, or holy war, against America.
Grand Sheik of Al-Azhar Mohammed Sayed Tantawi, a leading Sunni Muslim cleric, said at Sunday's conference that "jihad in the name of God has not been legitimized for injustice or oppression or attacks .... Jihad for God is for promoting truth and for the victory of the oppressed."
In their final statement, participants gave their support to calls by Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak to convene an international summit against terrorism. They recommended all Islamic organizations work to communicate the correct teachings of Islam. They also said they reject any attempt to marginalize Islamic culture, adding that Islam calls for dialogue, not struggle, between cultures.
Participants also vented their anger at Israel, saying the Jewish state's actions in clashes with the Palestinians amounted to terrorism.