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EGYPT: Islamic leader condemns Osama bin Laden’s sea burial

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The head of Cairo’s Al Azhar institution, the most influential seat of Sunni Muslim learning, said that the burial of Osama bin Laden at sea was a violation of Islamic tradition.

The action “runs contrary to the principles of Islamic laws, religious values and humanitarian customs,’ Sheik Ahmed Tayeb was quoted as saying by Associated Press.

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The customary Muslim practice is to place the body in a grave with the head pointed toward the holy city of Mecca in Saudi Arabia. Sea burials are permitted only when death occurs on a ship, and the body cannot be quickly brought to shore, religious scholars said.

U.S. officials said a burial at sea was chosen after Bin Laden was killed in a firefight in Pakistan because no country would accept the remains. They said Muslim tradition was followed, with the body washed, wrapped in a white sheet and buried within 24 hours.

— Alexandra Zavis

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