At least this time he didn’t blame the Jews. Or did he? Does his veiled remark, “You know better who are behind them,” indicate that he is fingering Mossad and the CIA for the crimes of Al-Qaeda? From Arab News, with thanks to the Constantinopolitan Irredentist:
JEDDAH, 21 November 2004 “” Crown Prince Abdullah said yesterday that terrorists were responsible for tarnishing the image of Islam and Muslims around the world.
“Now everybody looks at Muslims, Arabs, Saudis and others as criminals. In fact, we have nothing to do with crimes,” he told top civilian and military officers who came to greet him on Eid Al-Fitr.
Prince Abdullah reaffirmed the government’s determination to stamp out terrorism. “They will be defeated, no matter how long it takes,” he said about Al-Qaeda sympathizers blamed for a series of bombings and shootings across the Kingdom since May 2003.
He said the terrorist group in the Kingdom was receiving support from the enemies of Islam and Saudi Arabia. “You know better who are behind them,” the Saudi Press Agency quoted the crown prince as saying….
Meanwhile, Sheikh Saleh Al-Laheedan, chairman of the Supreme Judiciary Council, has called upon authorities to restrain scholars issuing fatwas or edicts inciting youth to go for jihad (holy war) in Iraq.
“It is up to the authorities to control them,” the Saudi scholar told Okaz Arabic daily when asked how to deal with people issuing such fatwas. “Going to Iraq and participating in armed acts is not jihad. It will only worsen the security situation there,” he said.
He said responsible agencies in the Kingdom must question clerics and scholars and hold them responsible for issuing fatwas hailing fighting in Iraq as a heroic act. He also discouraged people from giving money to militants fighting in Iraq and said it could aggravate the situation. “The mistakes committed in Afghanistan must not be repeated in Iraq,” he added.
“What is happening in Iraq is not jihad. It’s chaos and confusion. Iraqis are killing Iraqis including women and children. Any youth going to Iraq from our country will cause harm not only to himself but also to his family and country,” he pointed out.
Sheikh Abdul Aziz Al-Asheikh, the Kingdom’s grand mufti, had also stated that going to Iraq for jihad would lead to self-destruction. Sheikh Abdul Mohsen Al-Obaikan, another senior scholar, rebuked the clerics issuing edicts calling for jihad in Iraq as “misleading and deceitful.” Jihad is allowed only with the permission of the ruler, he pointed out.
Except when it isn’t. “It is offensive to conduct a military expedition against hostile non-Muslims without the caliph’s permission (A: though if there is no caliph, no permission is required)” (‘Umdat al-Salik, o9.6).