“On October 24, 2004, the liberal Arab websites www.elaph.com and www.metransparent.com published a manifesto written by Arab liberals, in which they petition the UN to establish an international tribunal which would prosecute terrorists, as well as people and institutions, primarily religious clerics, that incite terrorism.

“The idea to petition the U.N. with this request was raised by the Jordanian writer and researcher Dr. Shaker Al-Nabulsi in early September 2004, in response to the fatwa issued by Sheikh Yousef Al-Qaradhawi – one of the leaders of the Muslim Brotherhood movement and one of the most important religious authorities in Islamist circles – which called for the abduction and killing of US citizens in Iraq. The idea was developed and written up by Al-Nabulsi, Tunisian intellectual Al-‘Afif Al-Akhdhar, and former Iraqi Minister of Planning Dr. Jawad Hashem.”

MEMRI reports the launch of a widely publicised petition against the “sheikhs of terror”. The report omits to mention that the accusation against Qaradawi which prompted the petition – that he “called for the abduction and killing of US citizens in Iraq” – was in fact entirely false.

For Abu Aardvark’s demolition of the charge against Dr al-Qaradawi, see here.

For MEMRI’s Special Dispatch No.812, “Arab Liberals Petition the UN to Establish an International Tribunal for the Prosecution of Terrorists”, see here.