Now This is Hopeful

If you had any doubts about the marginalization of al Qaeda read this:

Agence France-Presse reports:

SPAIN'S Islamic Commission said today it was issuing a decree against al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, in the name of whose network last year's Madrid train bombings were claimed."We are going to issue a fatwa (religious decree) against bin Laden this afternoon," said Mansour Escudero, who leads the Federation of Islamic religious entities (Feeri) and is co-secretary general of the Spanish government-created commission.

The commission invited Spanish-based imams (clerics) to condemn terrorism at Friday prayers, when the whole country will be remembering the 191 people who were killed in the train blasts and the 1900 injured exactly 12 months ago.

The attacks have been blamed on mainly Moroccan Islamic extremists loyal to bin Laden.

Read the whole thing here.

I've been waiting a long time for responsible Muslims to speak out strongly against bin Laden. Now it seems to be starting to happen.

UPDATE:

Apparently my take on the fatwa was too optimistic. The WSJ takes a closer look and finds --

there's a catch:

The Commission has also drawn up a document designed to "thank the Spanish people and the government for their attitude towards Muslims" since last March 11, in particular for not taking "disproportionate" measures similar to those which the Sept 11 attacks sparked in the US.

What "disproportionate" measures? Liberating 50 million Muslims from two of the most brutal dictatorships in the world? The message here seems to be: We condemn terrorism, now shut up and take it. The Spaniards may well continue to oblige.

Well, at least it's a first step, even if it is a small one.

Read the whole thing here.