Al Qaeda: Pope visit to Turkey part of anti-Islam campaign

CAIRO – Al Qaeda in Iraq denounced Pope Benedict XVI’s visit to Turkey, calling it part of a “crusader campaign” against Islam.

The Vatican said Wednesday’s comments showed the need to fight “violence in the name of God.” The trip is Benedict’s first visit to an Islamic country as pontiff, seeking dialogue with Muslims who were angered over a speech he made in September in which he cited a medieval text that linked Islam and violence.Al Qaeda in Iraq, the most feared Islamic militant group in Iraq, issued its statement on an Islamic militant Web site it often uses to post messages.”The Pope’s visit, in fact, is to consolidate the crusader campaign against the lands of Islam after the failure of the crusader leaders (in Iraq and Afghanistan) …and an attempt to extinguish the burning ember of Islam inside our Turkish brothers,” it said.The statement did not include any direct threat to the pope, saying only that the group is “confident in the defeat of Rome in all parts of the Islamic world.”The Vatican said Wednesday that the al Qaeda in Iraq denunciation shows the need for faiths to fight “violence in the name of God.””This type of message shows once again the urgency and importance of a common commitment of all forces against violence,” Vatican spokesman Rev.Federico Lombardi said.”It also shows the need of various faiths to say ‘no’ to violence in the name of God.”Turkey holds a significant place in the mind-set of al Qaeda and militant Islamic groups that sympathise with it.Under the Ottomans, Turkey was the seat of the Islamic caliphate, the religious rule extending over much of the Islamic world until its collapse in the early 20th Century.Nampa-APThe trip is Benedict’s first visit to an Islamic country as pontiff, seeking dialogue with Muslims who were angered over a speech he made in September in which he cited a medieval text that linked Islam and violence.Al Qaeda in Iraq, the most feared Islamic militant group in Iraq, issued its statement on an Islamic militant Web site it often uses to post messages.”The Pope’s visit, in fact, is to consolidate the crusader campaign against the lands of Islam after the failure of the crusader leaders (in Iraq and Afghanistan) …and an attempt to extinguish the burning ember of Islam inside our Turkish brothers,” it said.The statement did not include any direct threat to the pope, saying only that the group is “confident in the defeat of Rome in all parts of the Islamic world.”The Vatican said Wednesday that the al Qaeda in Iraq denunciation shows the need for faiths to fight “violence in the name of God.””This type of message shows once again the urgency and importance of a common commitment of all forces against violence,” Vatican spokesman Rev.Federico Lombardi said.”It also shows the need of various faiths to say ‘no’ to violence in the name of God.”Turkey holds a significant place in the mind-set of al Qaeda and militant Islamic groups that sympathise with it.Under the Ottomans, Turkey was the seat of the Islamic caliphate, the religious rule extending over much of the Islamic world until its collapse in the early 20th Century.Nampa-AP