Posted on 11/14/2003 7:05:08 AM PST by yonif
RIYADH, Nov 14 (Reuters) - A senior Saudi cleric in Mecca launched a strong condemnation on Friday of the suspected al Qaeda bombers who struck the kingdom this week by comparing their actions to Israeli "terrorism" against the Palestinians.
Sheikh Abdulrahman al-Sudeis, preacher at Mecca's Grand Mosque, told worshippers before Friday prayers that those who killed at least 18 people, mostly expatriate Arabs, at a housing complex in Riyadh were seeking to sow strife among Muslims.
"Is the terrorism of Israel and the terrorism of those (militants) linked?" Sudeis asked in an address broadcast live on Saudi state television. "Is the purpose to kill more Arabs and Muslims and create more violence and instability?"
"It is only inevitable to draw the comparison with the women and children who are being killed in Palestine and the homes that are being razed to the women and children who were killed in Riyadh while they were safe inside their homes."
The comparison of the militants to the Jewish state, widely reviled in the Arab world, underlined the strength of recent rhetoric from the Saudi establishment against al Qaeda following a series of militant attacks in the kingdom and criticism from Riyadh's U.S. allies that it was not cracking down hard enough.
Many of the casualties in Riyadh were women and children and the attack shocked Muslims inside and outside the kingdom as it occurred during Islam's holiest month, Ramadan.
Sudeis urged everyone in Saudi Arabia -- including security forces and media -- to combat terror and radical ideology.
The kingdom, birthplace of Islam and of al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, has come under intense pressure from the United States since the September 11 attacks two years ago to alter its religious and educational establishments, which some accuse of fomenting extremism and hatred towards non-Muslims.
Fifteen of the 19 suicide plane hijackers involved in the attacks on Washington and New York were Saudis.
So the next step will be to blame the Jews?
What an "idiotic cave slug" this cleric is. Israel doesn't send suicide bombers out to kill innocent men, women and children. GOD THIS MAKES ME SOOOO ANGRY!!!
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