The prosecutor General office ordered the arrest of Al-Azhar University professor Mahmoud Shaaban for his controversial fatwa which stipulated Egyptian opposition leaders should be punished by death for attempting to bring down a leader elected by the public.

Shaaban, a fiery Salafist preacher, issued the religious edict last week on a television show he hosts on the Islamic satellite Al-Hafez channel granting a green light for the killing of the National Salvation Front (NSF) leaders Mohamed ElBaradei and Hamdeen Sabbahi.

Lawyer Khaled Taher filed a complaint against Shabaan accusing him of inciting murder.

Shabaan's statements triggered condemnations from a large number of Egyptian figures, Islamists and non-Islamists alike.

Prime Minister Hesham Qandil expressed his rejection of such "extreme" statements, stating that such statements directly incite murder and raise dissent and unrest in the country.