CAIRO, Egypt — A top Saudi Sunni cleric whose ideas inspired Osama bin Laden issued a religious edict Saturday disavowing the Shiite guerrilla group Hezbollah.
Hezbollah, which translates as "the party of God," is actually "the party of the devil," said Sheik Safar al-Hawali.
"Don't pray for Hezbollah," he said in the fatwa posted on his Web site.
The edict reflects the historical stand of strict Wahhabi doctrine viewing Shiite Muslims as heretics, and follows a similar fatwa from another popular Saudi cleric, Sheik Abdullah bin Jibreen, not to support Hezbollah.