The Imam of the Muslim community in Malta said on Monday that he had received news of the death of the head of Islamic State 'with happiness and relief' because he was the enemy of Islam, Muslims and humanity.

Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi blew himself up with a suicide vest after being trapped by US special forces in Syria.

Imam Mohammad Elsadi said al-Baghdadi had caused grave harm to Islam and Muslims.

"He and his gangs hijacked Islam, abused its true human peaceful teachings and turned it into a religion of hatred, bloodshed, savageness and devastation. His criminal acts drove non-Muslims to hate and fear Islam and Muslims, then exposing Muslims all over the world to racism and injustice," the Imam said.

"Isis threatened the peaceful harmonious coexistence of Muslim minorities in Europe, the United States and other parts of the world. He and his gangs killed hundreds of thousands of innocent Muslims and non-Muslims. He destroyed several cities and villages, displacing millions of its inhabitants. He persecuted the Yazidi community and enslaved their women."

The Imam said it was Muslims who were the main victims of Isis.

He recalled that In an article on August 21, 2014, he had written that Isis had no future in the Middle East and was a suicide project based on bloodshed, terror and plunder. It had no pro- life ideology.

The Imam said he hoped that the world would not experience any other Satanic group like Isis and any other criminal mischief like al Baghdadi.