President Hamid Karzai addressed religious scholars at the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation summit in Egypt with a call to condemn suicide attacks as an act prohibited under Islamic law.
According to a statement from Karzai's office, he urged in his address Wednesday to the summit for the religious scholars of the Muslim countries to condemn suicide attacks.
Karzai was quoted as pointing the clerics to the remarks of Sheikh Abdul Aziz, Mufti-e-Azam of Saudi Arabia, whose sermon on the day of Arafat condemned suicide attacks as prohibited in Islam and anyone who attempts or carries out such attacks will not be forgiven by Allah.
According to the released statement, Karzai said, "It is a timely step to focus our attention on some of the gravest and consequential challenges facing us today. From the violence of terrorism to the crisis and conflict in several of our countries, to the ever continuing sufferings of our Palestinian brothers and sisters, the Muslim world is strewn with difficulties.
"Our religious scholars and Ulema must effectively engage in our common struggle against extremists, who undermine the Ummah's progress and stability. To address these challenges, we not only need strong political unison but also sustained effort at raising our standard in human capital and economic development."
Karzai returned to Kabul Thursday morning with the high level Afghan government officials travelling with him after attending the Islamic summit and official trips to both England and Norway.
Before the summit in Egypt, Karzai was in Oslo on Tuesday where he signed a long-term agreement with Norway. Afghanistan has similar agreements with the US, Italy, UK, France, Germany, Australia and India.
Karzai visited London on Sunday and Monday where he met with Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari and UK Prime Minister David Cameron.
The three held talks with high-level government delegations from all sides to agree on stronger regional cooperation and security measures.
