A video showing Islamic State militants burning a captive Jordanian pilot to death brought an outpouring of grief and rage across the Middle East on Wednesday, its brutality horrifying a region long accustomed to violence.
Political and religious leaders offered angry denunciations and called for blood, while at least one wept on air while talking about the killing of 26-year-old Lt. Muath Al-Kaseasbeh, whose F-16 crashed in Syria in December during a U.S.-led coalition raid on the extremist group.
The head of Sunni Islam’s most respected seat of learning, Egypt’s Al-Azhar, said the militants deserve the Quranic punishment of death, crucifixion or the chopping off of their arms for being enemies of God and the Prophet Muhammad.
“Islam prohibits the taking of an innocent life,” Ahmed al-Tayeb, Al-Azhar’s grand sheik, said in a statement, adding that by burning the pilot to death, the militants violated Islam’s prohibition on the mutilation of bodies, even during wartime.
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But in an instant his grief turned to rage.
“Let’s use the same methods as them!” he shouted during the interview with Lebanon’s al-Mayadeen TV. “Let’s kill their children! Let’s kill their women!”
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Associated Press writers Adam Schreck in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Diaa Hadid in Beirut, Maamoun Youssef in Cairo and Suzan Frazer in Ankara contributed to this report.
