DHAKA: The head of Al-Azhar, one of the most prestigious centres of Sunni Islam learning, on Wednesday condemned ‘barbaric crimes’ committed by the Islamic State (IS).

Militants of the extremist Sunni Islam group are acting ‘under the guise of this holy religion and have given themselves the name ‘Islamic State’ in an attempt to export their false Islam’, Sheikh Ahmed al-Tayeb said at an international conference in Cairo on fighting extremism.

The Straits Times publishes this report.

BDST: 1610 HRS, DEC 03, 2014