Chennai, May 6 (IANS) Expressing their anguish over slain Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden not getting a decent burial as per Islamic rites, around 10,000 Muslims offered special prayers at the Makkah Masjid here Friday.

 
 "Janaza Namaz - prayers offered during Muslim funeral - were offered today (Friday) for bin Laden as he was denied final rites as per Islamic tradition," Moulana Shamsudeen Qasimi, chief imam of Makkah Masjid here and Shariyat Council secretary, told IANS.
 
 He said: "After killing him (bin Laden), the US forces threw his body into the sea. Our prayer is to show that bin Laden is part of the 600 crore global Muslim community and not an orphan."
 
 The chief imam said that bin Laden was only "an accused" in the blowing-up of the World Trade Center in New York Sep 11, 2001 though the US has not given any evidence on his involvement.
 
 "Using its power over the media, the US has branded bin Laden as a terrorist as it did with former Iraqi president Saddam Hussain," Qasimi said.
 
 He said the Indian government has not banned Al Qaeda nor did it declare bin Laden as a proclaimed offender like in the case of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in Sri Lanka and its slain leader V. Prabhakaran.
 
 "Hence there is nothing wrong in offering prayers for bin Laden in India," the chief imam said.