BERUIT — An Islamic State cleric who objected to the group's decision to burn to death a captive Jordanian pilot has been removed from his post and will be put on trial, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Friday.
The cleric, a Saudi national, had voiced his objections during a meeting of an Islamic State clerical body in the town of al-Bab in Aleppo province, said Rami Abdulrahman, who runs the Observatory.
The killing was been widely condemned by Muslim clerics. Even some al Qaida-linked figures denounced it as un-Islamic. A video released by Islamic State militants on Tuesday showed the pilot, Muath al-Kasaesbeh, being burnt alive in a cage.
The Saudi cleric had said those responsible for the killing should face trial, the Observatory said.
Abdulrahman, whose organization gathers information via a network of sources on the ground, said the group may now kill the cleric.
The Islamic State posted a religious edict on Twitter, which ruled that it is permissible in Islam to burn an infidel to death. Muslim clerics have said it is forbidden to kill anyone that way.
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