![Senior Egypt pro-government cleric escapes shooting](https://photo-cdn.urdupoint.com/media/2016/08/_2/740x404/pic_1470418282.jpg)
Senior Egypt Pro-government Cleric Escapes Shooting
Umer Jamshaid Published August 05, 2016 | 10:31 PM
![Senior Egypt pro-government cleric escapes shooting](https://photo-cdn.urdupoint.com/media/2016/08/_2/740x404/pic_1470418282.jpg)
CAIRO, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 4th August, 2016) - Gunmen opened fire at former Egyptian mufti Ali Gomaa in a Cairo suburb on Friday, missing the pro-government cleric but wounding a bodyguard, the interior ministry said. Gomaa was on his way to a mosque near his house in the October 6 suburb when the assailants hiding in a park started shooting, the ministry said. His guards exchanged fire with the gunmen and forced them to flee, it said, adding that one of the guards was lightly wounded. Gomaa later told Egyptian state television of how he had taken shelter behind a mosque wall when the shooting started. After the attack, he "conducted the Friday prayers as a message to these people", the cleric said in a telephone interview. "This attempt is a message aimed at creating fear," he said. The private CBC Extra news channel showed footage of armed guards with pistols drawn escorting Gomaa out of the mosque after the shooting. In an interview with the channel, Gomaa said this was not the first attempt on his life and derided the assailants as "very stupid".
"They blew up my house in Fayoum," he said, referring to a province southwest of Cairo.
And assailants had also "tried before from the park" outside his Cairo home. Gomaa was the mufti -- the government's official interpreter of Islamic law -- for a decade until 2013. He strongly backed the army's overthrow of Islamist president Mohamed Morsi that year and the subsequent deadly crackdown on his supporters. Since stepping down as mufti, Gomaa has remained one of the country's top Islamic scholars. Gomaa is known for his moderate views on religion but is reviled by the Islamist opposition for supporting the crackdown against them that has killed hundreds of protesters. He is a member of the council of senior scholars in the Al-Azhar institute, the top body in Sunni islam's most prestigious centre of learning, and has hosted a religious affairs programme on television.
Related Topics
Recent Stories
![Cricket: England v West Indies 3rd Test scoreboard](https://photo-cdn.urdupoint.com/media/2024/07/_1/235x155/pic_1722019914.jpg)
Cricket: England v West Indies 3rd Test scoreboard
![Finance minister briefs Chinese officials on refor ..](https://photo-cdn.urdupoint.com/media/2024/07/_1/235x155/pic_1722019922.jpg)
Finance minister briefs Chinese officials on reform agenda, engagement with IMF
![Finland says Russian vessel violated its territori ..](https://photo-cdn.urdupoint.com/media/2024/07/_1/235x155/pic_1722019912.jpg)
Finland says Russian vessel violated its territorial waters
![Olympic opening ceremony under way on River Seine](https://photo-cdn.urdupoint.com/media/2024/07/_1/235x155/pic_1722019266.jpg)
Olympic opening ceremony under way on River Seine
![West Indies' treble strike rocks England in third ..](https://photo-cdn.urdupoint.com/media/2024/07/_1/235x155/pic_1722019264.jpg)
West Indies' treble strike rocks England in third Test
![Ukraine court orders detention of suspect in murde ..](https://photo-cdn.urdupoint.com/media/2024/07/_1/235x155/pic_1722019262.jpg)
Ukraine court orders detention of suspect in murder of nationalist ex-MP
![Long queues, ticketing problems ahead of Paris ope ..](https://photo-cdn.urdupoint.com/media/2024/07/_1/235x155/pic_1722019015.jpg)
Long queues, ticketing problems ahead of Paris opening ceremony
![Rana Sanaullah Khan joins Paris 2024 Olympics inau ..](https://photo-cdn.urdupoint.com/media/2024/07/_1/235x155/pic_1722019638.jpg)
Rana Sanaullah Khan joins Paris 2024 Olympics inauguration reception
![Glowing tributes mark 69th birthday of President Z ..](https://photo-cdn.urdupoint.com/media/2024/07/_1/235x155/pic_1722019637.jpg)
Glowing tributes mark 69th birthday of President Zardari at Governor's House
![Players unaware of spying scandal as Canada Olympi ..](https://photo-cdn.urdupoint.com/media/2024/07/_1/235x155/pic_1722019635.jpg)
Players unaware of spying scandal as Canada Olympic coach sent home: official
![Naqvi hails Pak women cricketers for going down fi ..](https://photo-cdn.urdupoint.com/media/2024/07/_1/235x155/pic_1722019013.jpg)
Naqvi hails Pak women cricketers for going down fighting against SL
!['Sabotage' on French rail network before Olympics: ..](https://photo-cdn.urdupoint.com/media/2024/07/_1/235x155/pic_1722019634.jpg)
'Sabotage' on French rail network before Olympics: What we know
More Stories From World
-
Biden talks Gaza ceasefire efforts with king of Jordan
5 hours ago -
Sinaloa Cartel co-founder pleads not guilty after stunning US capture
5 hours ago -
Panama says Venezuela blocked ex-presidents going to observe polls
5 hours ago -
Ethiopia mourns victims of landslide tragedy
5 hours ago -
Khan Yunis fighting displaces 180,000 Gazans in four days: UN
5 hours ago -
Trump slams rivals as he meets Netanyahu in Florida
5 hours ago
-
Obama & his wife, Michelle, officially endorse US VP Kamala Harris for president
5 hours ago -
Rain, cooling slow huge blaze in Canada's Jasper park
5 hours ago -
Airbus and Boeing supremacy secure despite turbulence
5 hours ago -
S.African police detain 95 Libyans at suspected military camp
6 hours ago -
'Slapping therapist' guilty over UK diabetic woman's death
6 hours ago -
Panama says Venezuela blocked flight of ex-presidents going to observe polls
6 hours ago