CAIRO, Nov 8 (Reuters) - Egypt's highest authority on Islamic law said on Thursday that drivers cannot be blamed for killing people who stand in front of their vehicles, just days after a police van ran over a woman who tried to stop it.
Dar al-Iftaa, the government agency which issues around 1,000 fatwas a day, denies its rulings are influenced by politics but opponents said the statement could have been issued to defuse criticism of the government linked to Sunday's death.
Human rights groups say that in northeast Cairo on Sunday a police minibus ran over Reda Shehata when the driver tried to dislodge her from the front of the vehicle.
She was clinging to the minibus to plead for the release of her sister-in-law, who had just been detained, they said. Police officials said the woman threw herself in front of the vehicle.
"Murder resulting from the intention of the murdered to commit suicide (by) standing in front of cars so that the driver cannot avoid him is not manslaughter," Dar al-Iftaa said in a statement sent to Reuters.
The statement appeared to be a summary of a fatwa issued in response to a question posed in June and posted on the organisation's Web site www.dar-alifta.org, but it was not clear why the organisation had chosen only to publicise it now.
Two officials at the office of the Grand Mufti could not say whether the statement was linked to Sunday's incident, which drew criticism of the Interior Ministry from rights groups.
The organisation's press office, which sent the edict to Reuters, was unavailable for comment.
Hafez Abou Seada, secretary-general of the Egyptian Organisation for Human Rights (EOHR), said: "This is a very dangerous fatwa. I have strong doubts about certain fatwas that have political motivations."
The EOHR said that although Shehata was clinging to the front of the vehicle, a police officer ordered it to drive off. After about 100 metres (yards), Shehata fell under the wheels but the minibus sped up, leaving her dead.
Egypt has a secular legal system, so theoretically a fatwa such as this would have no role in establishing legal guilt, although it could help influence court officials. (Reporting by Alaa Shahine; Editing by Oliver Bullough)
