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Isis cleric who objected to pilot Muath al-Kasaesbeh being burned alive is arrested

Saudi cleric 'could be killed by group' for criticising his brutal death

Heather Saul
Friday 06 February 2015 16:40 GMT
An Isis propaganda video purporting to show fighters near the Iraqi city of Tikrit
An Isis propaganda video purporting to show fighters near the Iraqi city of Tikrit (AFP/Getty)

An Isis cleric who objected to burning a Jordanian pilot alive has been arrested and faces trial, a Syrian human rights watchdog has said.

The Saudi national reportedly objected to the execution during a meeting of Isis’ clerical body in the city of al-Bab in Aleppo province.

The cleric also said those responsible for Lieutenant Muath al-Kasaesbeh’s death should face trial, according to the London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

It said Isis had “isolated one of its Sharia judges” in al-Bab city, in Aleppo, during the meeting of Amirs.

The SOHR's director Rami Abdulrahman told The Independent the cleric was later arrested for speaking out and could be sentenced to death.

A gruesome video showing al-Kasaesbeh’s death emerged earlier this week, although it is now believed he was killed in January.

He was captured by the group when his F-16 aircraft crashed over Syria as he conducted US-led coalition air strikes.

A second video entitled ‘Muslims' joy at burning of Jordanian Pilot’, surfaced shortly after showing crowds cheering as footage of his death was projected onto large screens in Raqqa.

His wife Anwar Tarawneh said she only discovered her son’s fate when she checked Facebook and saw the post “Rest in peace, Muath”.

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