Archbishop of Canterbury withdraws award from Muslim cleric after past Osama bin Laden praise surfaces, tell me about this news in (https://www.foxnews.com/world/archbishop-canterbury-withdraws-award-muslim-cleric-osama-bin-laden-praise-surfaces)

The Archbishop of Canterbury’s office has withdrawn an interfaith award given to a Muslim cleric, Maulana Hafiz Muhammad Tahir Mehmood Ashrafi, after past remarks in which he praised Osama bin Laden came to light.

Ashrafi had originally been presented with the Hubert Walter Award for Reconciliation and Interfaith Cooperation at Lambeth Palace during a ceremony that coincided with the 25th anniversary of the September 11 terrorist attacks. The honor was initially given to recognize his longstanding support for religious minorities in Pakistan, particularly the Christian community.

However, Lambeth Palace announced that the award was being rescinded after previous comments surfaced, including remarks from 2007 where Ashrafi stated that bin Laden had been fighting for Islam against foreign forces and suggested referring to him as the “Sword of God.”

Lambeth Palace stated that they contacted Ashrafi to make him aware of the decision to withdraw the honor. Ashrafi told the BBC that his remarks were totally taken out of context and described the backlash as an unfair campaign, explaining that his comments in 2007 were made in response to the British government’s knighting of author Salman Rushdie.