Sheikh Youssef al-Qaradawi, the Egyptian Islamozoid who was invited to Britain recently for a series of speeches to Islamic groups, now says it is a “religious duty” for Muslims to kill Americans in Iraq, including American civilians: Cleric Says It’s Right to Fight U.S. Civilians in Iraq.

French journalists, however, should be freed immediately, because they’re doing a great job on behalf of Islam, and because France’s foreign policy towards Islam is a model for the rest of the world.

CAIRO (Reuters) - An Egyptian cleric based in Qatar and often described as a moderate has ruled that it is a religious duty for Muslims to fight Americans in Iraq, including U.S. civilians, his office director said Thursday.

But Sheikh Youssef al-Qaradawi said that two French journalists kidnapped in Iraq should be freed immediately.

Qaradawi gave his opinion at a meeting Tuesday evening at the Egyptian journalists’ syndicate in Cairo.

“All of them (U.S. military personnel and civilians) are invaders who came from their country to invade our country and fighting them is a duty,” said his office director Essam Talima, quoting a fatwa or ruling on religious law by Qaradawi.

Qaradawi is revered in much of the Muslim world for his intellectual rigor and ability to adapt the fundamental tenets of Islam to the modern world.

The cleric was quoted by pan-Arab daily newspaper al-Hayat as saying during the Tuesday meeting that the French journalists should be freed.

“If those kidnappers care about the reputation of Islam then they should free the two French journalists,” the newspaper quoted him saying.

Qaradawi said the presence of the French journalists “broke the American monopoly on relaying information and facts (on the situation in Iraq) to the outside world.”

He also referred to France’s foreign policy in dealing with the Islamic and Arab worlds, which he said could serve as an example to other countries.