Cairo, Dec 3 (IANS): The head of al-Azhar, Egypt's top Muslim body and the global centre of Sunni Muslim learning, Wednesday condemned the extremism of Islamic groups, especially the Islamic State (IS) group.

"IS has committed barbaric crimes through beheading the opponents in an attempt to export their false Islam," Sheikh Ahmed al-Tayyeb said while addressing the opening session of a two-day international conference in Cairo on fighting extremism.

"The extremism by some terrorist groups have exceeded all norms," Sheikh Tayyeb said, adding IS militants were acting "under the guise of this holy religion and have given themselves the name Islamic State".

Religious, political and economic factors were behind the emergence of groups such as the IS, Al Qaeda and other armed groups, Xinhua cited him as saying while arguing that there was no logical reason for the destruction that claimed the souls of innocents.

Tayyeb expressed wonder over the division that has overwhelmed the Arab world, blaming Israel for part of "the plot to remain the most powerful country in the region".

However, the al-Azhar chief said, "We shouldn't ignore our responsibility for the rising of extremism in the region that led also to the creation of armed groups."

He called on the US-led alliance to fight IS in Iraq and Syria to confront the countries who support terrorism financially and militarily.

Egypt has been suffering a series of terrorist attacks, mainly in the restive Sinai peninsula since the ouster of Islamist leader Mohamed Morsi in July last year.

More than 600 Muslim and Coptic scholars from 120 countries took part in the Cairo conference, organized by al-Azhar under the name "Al-Azhar Combats Terrorism and Extremism".