http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/01/22/africa/ME-GEN-Saudi-Shiites.php
A top Saudi cleric declares Shiites to be infidels, calls on Sunnis to drive them out CAIRO, Egypt: A top Saudi Sunni cleric on Monday declared Shiites around the world to be heretics and urged Sunni Muslims around the world to expel Shiites from their land. Abdullah bin Jabrain, a key members in Saudi Arabia's clerical establishment, joined a chorus of other senior figures from the kingdom's hard-line Wahhabi school of Sunni Islam who have deemed Shiites as infidels, the latest sign of increasing sectarianism in the Middle East. "Some people say that the rejectionists (Shiites) are Muslims because they believe in God and his prophet (Muhammad), pray and fast. But I say they are heretics," said bin Jabrain in a statement posted on several Islamic Web sites. "They are the most vicious enemy of Muslims, who should be wary oft their plots," wrote bin Jabrain. "They should be boycotted and expelled so that Muslims spared their evil," he wrote. Bin Jabrain is a member of the Senior Clerics Association, a grouping of Saudi Arabia's top clerics that is closely linked to the government. The statement's authenticity could not be immediately confirmed. It appeared on a Web site where hard-line clerics often post statements. Last month, Abdul Rahman al-Barak, another top Saudi cleric and considered close to the kingdom's royal family, urged Sunnis worldwide to oppose reconciliation with Shiites. Al-Barak said Shiites should be considered worse than Jews or Christians. "By and large, rejectionists (Shiites) are the most evil sect of the nation and they have all the ingredients of the infidels," al-Barak wrote in a fatwa, or religious edict, that was posted on his Web site. Like most hardline Sunnis, al-Barak and bin Jabrain employed the word "rejectionists," used as a derogatory term to describe Shiites because they opted out of the Sunni school of Islamic theology. Also last month, about 30 prominent Saudi Wahhabi clerics called on Sunni Muslims around the Middle East to support their brethren in Iraq against Shiites and praised the anti-American insurgency. Thousands of Iraqis have been killed this year in sectarian bloodshed between the majority Shiites and the Sunni Arab minority, who lost their dominance after the fall of Saddam Hussein. Saudi Arabia, like most Arab countries, is predominantly Sunni but has a significant Shiite minority. Last month, Nawaf Obeid, a former adviser to the Saudi Embassy in Washington, spoke of the possibility of "massive Saudi intervention to stop Iranian-backed Shiite militias from butchering Iraqi Sunnis" if the United States withdraws from the country. Saudi citizens are also reportedly raising funds for Sunni insurgents in Iraq. +++ -------------------------- Want to discuss this topic? Head on over to our discussion list, [EMAIL PROTECTED] -------------------------- Brooks Isoldi, editor [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.intellnet.org Post message: osint@yahoogroups.com Subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] *** FAIR USE NOTICE. This message contains copyrighted material whose use has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. OSINT, as a part of The Intelligence Network, is making it available without profit to OSINT YahooGroups members who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information in their efforts to advance the understanding of intelligence and law enforcement organizations, their activities, methods, techniques, human rights, civil liberties, social justice and other intelligence related issues, for non-profit research and educational purposes only. We believe that this constitutes a 'fair use' of the copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Law. If you wish to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use,' you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/osint/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/osint/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
