Al-Arian: After the Killing of bin Laden, the Time Has Come to End the Occupation of Iraq and Afghanistan

In one of the first reactions to the news of Osama bin Laden’s (the leader of al-Qaida) death in Afghanistan, the Muslim Brotherhood demanded Monday that U.S. forces withdraw from Iraq and Afghanistan, emphasizing that the time has come to end the American and Western forces’ occupation of the Muslim countries that have forever been harmed by this occupation.

In addition, Dr. Essam Al-Arian, the official spokesman of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, said that with bin Laden’s death, one of the reasons for carrying out violence in the world has been eliminated. He also added that the time has come for Obama to withdraw from Iraq and Afghanistan and to end the U.S. and Western forces’ occupation all over the world, something which has vexed Muslim countries for a long time.

Al-Arian also added that “the Revolutions” that the Middle East has witnessed are evidence that democracy has a place in the Middle East and that the region, from now on, is not in need of foreign occupation. He also expected the possibility of a violent reaction to bin Laden’s death in areas of the world in which al-Qaida maintains a foothold.

He said that the reaction in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Morocco and Algeria might be violent because al-Qaida’s influence is widespread there. And he claimed that there is no connection between Islam and terrorism or the type of violence that bin Laden promoted.

Dr. Essam Al-Arian also stressed that the time has come for the world to understand that there is no connection between Islam and violence and that the link between them is a deliberate error on the media’s part.