Ex-Egypt mufti escapes assassination bid: State TV

By Rabie al-Sokkari

CAIRO (AA) – Egypt’s former mufti, Ali Gomaa, survived an assassination attempt while on his way to perform Friday prayers in western Cairo, according to reports by Egyptian state television.

Four unidentified assailants reportedly opened fire on Gomaa in the capital’s 6 October City district before fleeing the scene.

A member of Gomaa’s security detail was reportedly injured in the attack.

In a statement issued shortly afterward, Gomaa’s office accused "extremist groups" of targeting him.

In March of last year, Gomaa’s summer home in Egypt’s Fayyoum province south of Cairo was blown up by unknown attackers.

The home was empty when the attack occurred.

Gomaa, 63, who served as Egypt’s grand mufti from 2003 to 2013, was known for his controversial opinions.

He was succeeded as grand mufti by Shawki Allam in February 2013, during the term of Mohamed Morsi, Egypt’s first democratically-elected president and a Muslim Brotherhood leader.

Some five months later, Morsi was ousted and imprisoned in a bloody military coup.

A mufti is a Muslim scholar given the power by a country’s temporal authorities to issue religious edicts (fatwas).