The preliminary outcome of the Egyptian presidential election and the way it was conducted was welcomed by Islamic scholar Dr Sheikh Yusuf al-Qaradawi yesterday. He hailed reports that the preliminary counting of the votes showed that Dr Mohamed Mursi, the Muslim Brotherhood candidate, was at the forefront. “It seems that he did not get the majority and the other forerunner is not yet revealed. However, if the other turns out to be from the remnants of the old regime, those who corrupted political life and spoilt the life of people, nobody should vote for him. It is not permissible to get such people back to political life,” he said. At his Friday sermon at Omar Ibn Al-Khattab Mosque in Doha, Qaradawi explained that the  presidential candidates of the ousted regime were backed by various internal and foreign powers to serve their interests. He argued that the efforts and sacrifices of the people during the uprising would be lost should a candidate of the former regime came to power. He also indicated that the Islamic Shariah law should be the reference and foundation of the new regime. Yet, that did not necessarily mean that clergymen would take over the power or assume authority in the country. “We support the Islamists and the reference has to be the Islamic law. Whoever rejects this we reject him. Competent laymen can assume authority with that reference,” he declared, urging people to compare well and select the best if a re-election took place between Islamist candidates. Regarding the Syrian issue, Qaradawi reiterated his steadfast belief that Assad and his regime were certainly doomed. He described them as “savages eating up the lives, dignity and honour of people and the revenge of heaven would ultimately hunt them down”. He renewed his call for the “honest and sincere personnel” of the Syrian Army to quit serving the regime. “It is a crime to support the tyrant oppressors in killing the innocent faithful citizens calling for their freedom.” He lamented the “severe and miserable” state of Yemenis after they were able to take hold of their freedom. “A week ago the supporters of Yemen met in Riyadh and decided to support Yemen with $4bn. Yemen is in bad need of this sum. People are seriously suffering: 1mn children are in danger of starvation.” He said that  300,000 children could die as a result of famine, calling on all Arab and Muslim countries to hurry with their aid to the Yemeni people  who had been suffering for more than a year to gain their freedom.     The scholar stressed the importance to maintain Yemen’s unity. He called on the Houthis and Al Qaeda followers and other “trouble-makers” to let Yemenis live in honour and prosperity. He urged Arab countries to open their doors for more Yemeni workers. Qaradawi praised the wisdom of HH the Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani, the government and the people of Qatar as well as its Armed Forces for their “great role” in liberating Libya. He said the Qatari Task Force, alongside Nato forces, was highly instrumental in speeding up Libya’s liberation  from Gaddafi’s oppression. Gulf Times .