Egyptian imams launch attack on Hamas

Egyptian imams launch at

Mosques across Egypt have launched scathing attacks on Hamas in the wake of the killing of an Egyptian border guard by a Palestinian gunman earlier in the week, the London-based- Al-Quds Al-Arabi newspaper reported Saturday. According to the report, imams throughout the country used their Friday sermons to lash out at the Islamic group which controls the Gaza Strip. One, at a Cairo mosque, asked the gunman what he would tell his God "tomorrow." Another said that Egypt had sacrificed thousands for Palestine. Yet another blamed Hamas for the ongoing siege of Gaza at the hands of Israel, saying its leaders wished to stay in power "even at the cost of the starvation and expulsion of their people." He added that the Palestinian gunman would go to hell if he does not repent. The report quoted a source in Egypt's Ministry of Awqaf, which is in charge of religious endowments, who said the string of attacks on Hamas was coordinated by the Egyptian government. Officials in Cairo denied this. On Tuesday clashes erupted between members of an aid convoy and Egyptian riot police in the Mediterranean port city of El-Arish after the convoy was delayed due to some of the materials it was carrying, and dozens of protesters and police were injured. Seven convoy members were ordered arrested if they returned to Egypt. A sympathy protest along the Gaza-side of the border Wednesday degenerated into stone-throwing scuffles and exchange of fire between Egyptian security and Palestinian gunmen, killing the Egyptian border guard. On Friday Egypt declared renegade British lawmaker George Galloway persona non grata, accusing him of incitement after his harsh criticism of Cairo over delays in the aid convoy's entry into Gaza. Galloway left Egypt Friday morning from Cairo airport.