Yemeni cleric campaigns to soften hardliners

[PsychoDad]

Yemeni cleric campaigns to soften hardliners
Wednesday 15 October 2003, 0:00 Makka Time, 21:00 GMT

A moderate Yemeni cleric is leading a campaign to fight Islamic hardliners with a message of peace and tolerance in one of the hotbeds of religious activism.

snip

Hafeed, who teaches at the Dar al-Mustafa Centre for Islamic Research in the eastern Yemeni town of Tarim, said Islam had greatly suffered from acts such as the September 11 attacks.

"Islamic militancy has not only created a gap between the West and Islam, but has caused an even greater split within the Muslim community itself," he said in an interview on Tuesday.

snip

More here:
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/1FBA9151-B5D5-4DA8-AE45-3945F71E320E.htm

[La_Serpiente]

1. Is he part of Sufism?

Is he part of Sufism? They're pretty moderate and don't believe in extreme acts of violence.

[Devils Advocate NZ]

2. I wonder if he...

is one of the Islamic clerics that the CIA is paying to try and fight Islamic militancy? Remember that story that came out a while ago where the CIA admitted it was paying moderate clerics to try and spread a pro-US stance amongst Muslims?