An issue of An-Nahar from August 25th, 1966, printed a plea from Fathi Yakan to Jamal `Abdun-Nasser to spare the life of Sayyid Qutb. On Augsust 30th, 1966, Al-Ahram carried the news of the execution of Sayyid Qutb (and two other leaders of the Muslim Brotherhood). The official statement said that "Islam is innocent of those deceivers [and] enemies of religion, and their refuge will be hell and worst of plights." The Jordanian government swiftly arranged for demonstrations in support of Qutb, and a Jordanian newspaper from the time declared the execution "a declaration of war on Islam and Muslims." (The Hashemites were sponsors of Muslim Brothers at the time). Even the secular Tunisian government praised Qutb and the Tunisian Mufti hailed his "struggle for Islam."