Yassine's assassination, a 'bestial act', says Jewish leader

The assassination of Hamas leader Sheikh Ahmed Yassine, by the Israeli army is a "bestial act," said the secretary general of the Jewish Community in Morocco.

Simon Levy condemned "the incredible arrogance of (Israeli Prime Minister) Sharon and others who claim this killing in the name of the fight against terrorism."

"Is there any terrorism worse than state-sponsored terrorism," he wondered in a communique sent to MAP, noting that the statement by Condoleeza Rice, US president Bush's adviser for national security "instead of denouncing the killing, implicitly justifies it by recalling that Hamass is on the list of terrorist organizations."

He said that the United States as sponsors of the Oslo peace process in the Middle East, "did not exercise necessary pressures to lead this irreplaceable process to its end, that is to say to the settlement of the Israeli-Palestinian issue and thus contribute strongly to resolving the problem of terrorism in the World."

He concluded that "the real, historic and civilizational image of Judaism is not that of the responsible of the carnage of Sabra and Chatila and the daily executions in the West Bank and Gaza, but that of the first revealed religion which forbids murder."