Head of Sunni Islam's Al-Azhar says IS are 'criminals'

The head of Egypt's Al-Azhar, Sunni Islam's highest seat of learning, said today that jihadists of the Islamic State were "criminals" serving a "Zionist" plot to "destroy the Arab world."

"These criminals have been able to transmit to the world a tarnished and alarming image of Muslims," Sheikh Ahmed al-Tayyeb said.

"These fundamentalist terrorist groups, whatever their names, and their backers are colonial creations that serve Zionism in its plot to destroy the Arab world.