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Muslim outrage grows against Islamic State as leaders denounce ‘evil’ violation of faith Muslim outrage grows against Islamic State but questions linger over next steps in fight
(35 minutes later)
BEIRUT — Declarations of outrage and calls for Islamic punishment echoed across the Muslim world on Wednesday as many leaders united to denounce the Islamic State and the grisly images of a Jordanian pilot burned to death by the militants. BAGHDAD — Declarations of outrage swept the Middle East on Wednesday as a region already steeled to the brutality of the Islamic State expressed horror at the group’s killing of a Jordanian pilot by setting him on fire.
While nearly all Muslim officials have previously denounced the Islamic State and other extremists — including last month’s terrorist slayings in Paris -- the spectacle of an Arab pilot set ablaze inside a cage brought some of the harshest reactions. The region’s leaders have denounced the militant group on many occasions in the past, but the spectacle of an Arab pilot being burned alive in a cage triggered some of the harshest reactions yet.
It also appeared to further galvanize influential Islamic scholars and opinion-shapers against the militant group, whose past atrocities include beheadings of foreign captives and abuses against religious minorities such as Christians and Yazidis. Images of the grisly killing of Lt. Muath al-Kaseasbeh were broadcast on TV channels around the region, and the pan-Arab daily al-Hayat headlined its coverage with a single word: “Barbarity.”
But there were questions about whether Muslims nations would step up with more support for the U.S.-led coalition waging airstrikes against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria. “This killing really strikes at home for audiences across the region. Most of the people executed by [the Islamic State] have been foreigners, but this time it was an Arab-Muslim man,” said Labib Kamhawi, a political analyst based in the Jordanian capital, Amman. “That has had a bigger impact on people.”
Despite the condemnations however, this latest atrocity is unlikely to sway many opinions in the already polarized region, said Hisham al-Hashimi, an expert on the group who advises the Iraqi government.
The video of the burning follows a series of battlefield setbacks for the Islamic State, including defeats in the Syrian-Kurdish border town of Kobane and in the eastern Iraqi province of Diyala.
Already, the video released Tuesday has shifted attention away from those and back to the group’s uncompromising tactics, which have become its chief rallying call among extremists, Hashimi said.
“The Islamic State has gained more from this than it has lost,” he said.
The Islamic State justified the choice of punishment inflicted on Kaseasbeh by saying the immolation matched “what he had done of burning Muslims with the fire of his plane,” according to a statement posted on one of the group’s media forums and translated by the SITE Intelligence Group, which monitors militant forums online.
In the Syrian city of Raqqa, the Islamic State broadcast video of the pilot’s death on giant video screens and filmed the reactions of the crowds who gathered to watch. One photograph posted on Twitter accounts showed a young boy’s face caught between horror and joy as he watched the burning. Crowds shouted “God is Great” as Kaseasbeh writhes in agony in his cage.
Religious leaders and clerics rushed to assert that there was no basis in Islam for such a punishment.
In Cairo, the head of Sunni Islam’s most respected center of learning, Al-Azhar, said the Islamic State militants merit punishments under Islamic law such as “killing, crucifixion or chopping of the limbs.”In Cairo, the head of Sunni Islam’s most respected center of learning, Al-Azhar, said the Islamic State militants merit punishments under Islamic law such as “killing, crucifixion or chopping of the limbs.”
“Islam prohibits the taking of an innocent life,” said the Al-Azhar grand sheik, Ahmed al-Tayeb, in a statement. “Islam prohibits the taking of an innocent life,” said the Al-Azhar grand sheik, Ahmed al-Tayeb.
Just hours earlier, Jordan executed two convicted Iraqi terrorists in swift retaliation for the video showing the death of Lt. Muath al-Kaseasbeh. Jordanian officials say he was killed Jan. 3.
Jordan’s King Abdullah II condemned what he called the “cowardly” act, describing the Islamic State as a “criminal organization that has no ties to our religion.”
Iyad Madani, the secretary general of the largest Muslim political bloc, the 57-nation Organization of Islamic Cooperation, strongly condemned the killing as an affront to the faith.Iyad Madani, the secretary general of the largest Muslim political bloc, the 57-nation Organization of Islamic Cooperation, strongly condemned the killing as an affront to the faith.
The Islamic State “utterly disregards the rights of prisoners Islam has decreed, as well as the human moral standards for war and treatment of prisoners,” Madani said.The Islamic State “utterly disregards the rights of prisoners Islam has decreed, as well as the human moral standards for war and treatment of prisoners,” Madani said.
He also lamented 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.”He also lamented 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.”
Across the Gulf Arab nations, leaders joined in statements of condemnations. America’s Arab allies also issued statements condemning the act. Kuwait’s emir, Sheik Sabah Al Ahmad Al Sabah, said the “vicious” act trampled Islam. Qatar’s Foreign Ministry called it “a criminal act contravening the tolerant principles of the Islamic faith, human values and international laws and norms.”
The foreign minister of the United Arab Emirates, Sheik Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, called the Kaseasbeh killing “a brutal escalation by the terrorist group, whose evil objectives have become apparent.” Saudi Arabia condemned it as a “brutal, heinous crime” and urged the international community to redouble its efforts to fight terrorism. The official Saudi Press Agency asserted Riyadh’s determination “to move forward in the fight against this misguided thought and all extremist organizations that support it.”
The UAE, along with Jordan, have taken part in the U.S.-led airstrikes against the Islamic State. Kaseasbeh’s capture and execution have already served to sow doubt among some members of the international coalition assembled by the United States to fight the Islamic State.
Kuwait’s emir, Sheik Sabah Al Ahmad Al Sabah, said the “vicious” act trampled Islam. A report in the New York Times said the United Arab Emirates, a key coalition partner, had suspended its participation after Kaseasbeh’s capture in late December because the U.S. military had made no plans to prepare for the rescue of pilots shot down.
In Qatar, a foreign ministry statement called it “a criminal act contravening the tolerant principles of the Islamic faith, human values and international laws and norms.” But Elias Farhat, a retired Lebanese Army general, said in Beirut that the killing would be more likely to rally Arab states behind the anti-Islamic State campaign than to deter them.
Elias Farhat, former general Lebanese military, said the pilot’s killing — and the widespread backlash — has now “practically forced” Jordan to mobilize a strong response as part of the international coalition. “This is a challenge for them and if they pull out, they will be seen as weak and having lost to ISIS,” he said, using an acronym for the group. “We’re probably going to see an intensification of fighting against ISIS by the coalition because of this killing.”
“The killing in such a brutal way was a big surprise and shock to the Jordanians and to others in the region,” he said. “I think we’re at a turning point now in terms of public perceptions” of the Islamic State. It could also potentially tilt public opinion, he said — but how isn’t clear.
But others doubt whether it will bring in stir more Muslim participation in the U.S.-led force from nations that has so far stayed on the sidelines, such as Turkey. “We’re at a turning point now in terms of public perceptions of ISIS,” he said. “But the question now is, will ISIS continue to be seen as religious-national heroes among these supporters, or will they be seen as brutal criminals?”
“The killing’s impact on the coalition will not really be a game-changer because the participation of countries depends on a variety of issues that are specific to each country,” said Elias Hanna, a retired Lebanese general who teaches geopolitics at the American University of Beirut. Naylor reported from Beirut. Brian Murphy in Washington and Mustafa Salim in Baghdad contributed to this report.
He added: “We won’t see Arab boots on the ground, that’s for certain.” Related stories on the Islamic State:
Iran has repeatedly denounced the Islamic State, but also has bristled at U.S. snubs of Tehran’s offer to join the international coalition fighting the militants. - The Islamic State is failing at being a state
Washington “lacks sincerity” in its call to mobilize all forces against the Islamic State, Iran’s Fars news agency quoted Hossen Amir Abdollahian, the deputy foreign minister for Arab and African affairs. - The Islamic State was dumped by al-Qaeda a year ago. Look where it is now.
Murphy reported from Washington. - The Islamic State and its war against history 
- What led to the Islamic State’s terrifying rise
- Map: How the flow of foreign fighters to Iraq and Syria has surged since October