The Lebanese Shiite religious authority Sheikh Muhammad Hussein Fadl Allah, released a statement that dealt with the child-hostage taking in Russia, and with events in Iraq. The statement said: “We reject – strongly – the hostage-taking of children in their school in southern Russia. We also reject and condemn – in accordance with Islamic law – all actions such as the hostage taking of innocent people including journalists, workers and others, for the purpose of bartering over politics or money.”