Former Perlis mufti Mohd Asri Zainul Abidin has admonished Muslim terrorists for giving a wrong impression of Islam to the world.

NONECommenting on former Internal Security Act detainee Yazid Sufaat's interview with Malaysiakini, where he glorified the 9/11 terrorists as 'marketers of Islam', Asri (right) said Muslims involved in terrorism and killing civilians were going against the religion.

"This group has given a wrong impression of Islam to the world. Can you imagine why the Western media gives such a negative view on Islam?

"Research shows 75 percent of Americans and Europeans have a negative impression of Islam due to terrorism. Is this good marketing?" the influential cleric asked.

Yazid, who is known as the CEO of Anthrax, in an exclusive interview with Malaysiakini said he had met with the late Al Qaeda leader Osama Laden, and allegedly helped him to develop a biological warfare programme in Afghanistan.

Terrorists are no freedom fighters

He claimed that conversions to Islam have increased since the 9/11 bombing of the World Trade Centre in New York, and as such, the militants were actually doing the 'marketing' work for the religion.

NONE"Their intentions are pure. What they did is a form of worship, and they could have made mistakes here and there. But their faith, their belief in the oneness of God, is true," Yazid (left) said.

"If they made mistakes, it is in their implementation, and insyaAllah, Allah will forgive them," said the former army captain, who is a qualified biochemist.

Asri said there were two groups of fighters - the first are those fighting to drive off the enemy from their lands, like those in Iraq and Palestine.

"This first group are truly fighters as their country had been colonised," the former Perlis mufti said.

However, Asri said that the second group were terrorists and should be condemned.

The killing civilians not involved in a war, he emphasised, is against Islam.