The ongoing terrorist attacks on targets in Saudi Arabia have led to both consternation and anger in the Arab world, with Saudi leaders and media naturally characterizing the terrorists as "evil" and as "deviant".
The official Saudi Press Agency reported this week that six prominent national religious released a statement condemning recent terrorist attacks on foreigners in the Arabian peninsula. "Any aggression... against any Muslim or non-Muslim" is banned by the Koran and the oral traditions of the Islamic prophet Muhammed, the statement said. According to the scholars, Islam protects expatriates living on Muslim soil.
However, the six also appealed to practical considerations: "Such acts sow disunity among Muslims at a time when they need more than ever to unite against nations strongly opposing us. ...We advise all Muslims and those who are involved in such acts... to repent and take the righteous path to stand alongside their brothers in the face of enemies and not to serve as tools for the destruction of the (Islamic) nation."
The Saudi English-language Arab News last week carried an editorial that said Al-Qaeda is exposing "the nature of its evil and demonstrates clearly that it is also a dedicated enemy of the truth," by attacking targets in Saudi Arabia. The authorities, the daily declared, must destroy "this great disease in our society...." Furthermore, terrorism plagues East and West, the English-language newspaper emphasized.
"Scholars, imams and security forces must go to the doorstep of everyone there who harbors sympathies for Al-Qaeda, who harbors the terrorists themselves. For the sake of all peaceful, decent residents of the district - for all our sakes - extremism must not be allowed to maintain a stronghold in our midst," the paper said. "Anyone who still supports them in the belief that they present some form of legitimate opposition is terribly misguided," the Saudi editorial concluded.
One method of fighting the terrorists, as suggested by the Saudi-backed London-based A-Sharq Al-Awsat this week, is to allow them to speak to the media directly. Of the terrorist groups, the newspaper said, "They claim that they are oppressed movements demanding civil rights, while the truth known to the Saudi people is that they are non-democratic groups that view others as nonbelievers." If the terrorists' ideology was better known outside of Saudi Arabia, the editorial stated, it would shock many. "[It] is better for people to hear about the ideology of these people directly from them, not from others speaking on their behalf," the daily said, warning that some reports give a modicum of justification for the terrorists.
Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia has been frustrated in its efforts to extradite Saudi dissidents in England, reported Arab News last week: "Foreign Minister Prince Saud Al-Faisal said the Kingdom wanted to investigate some London-based opposition figures, two of whom it accuses of links to a shooting spree last month that killed six Westerners in Yanbu industrial city."
According to the report, Prince Al-Faisal had harsh criticism for Britain, saying, "There must be a chance to investigate anyone who it has been proven is involved in terrorism, wherever he is, and handed over to the authorities who want them... We live in exceptional times and all countries must act seriously in this respect. It is not acceptable to say that this [handing over suspects] does not conform to laws because someone is considered 'opposition'."
The kingdom will "combat this isolated deviant group... [performing] cowardly acts," Prince Saud said, adding that if a foreigner "feels unsafe they have to tell us the reasons and what kind of protection they require from us."
Also last week, a dean at the Imam Muhammad Ibn Saud Islamic University in Riyadh defended his institution after the Saudi Ministry of the Interior revealed that nine on a list of 26 most wanted terror suspects were graduates of the university. "Their social behavior," he said of the students, "is accordingly shaped by their perception of what they see, hear or think. Their individual response is the sum total of all that is happening around them, be it the Israeli actions against Palestinians, the bombings of innocent people in Afghanistan, or torture of prisoners in Iraq. How does the university then come into the picture?" In fact, Arab News reported, the dean said that focus on the Ibn Saud University is "part of a Western 'campaign against Islam and Muslims.'"
Not only that, the newspaper stated, "[the dean] was equally defensive about associating terrorism with a particular society. 'Highly educated people, whether in Asia, Africa, Europe or the United States, have also been involved in acts of terrorism,' he said. 'We should not look at things in isolation, while ignoring various other factors that contribute to the development of a particular mindset.'"
The official Saudi Press Agency reported this week that six prominent national religious released a statement condemning recent terrorist attacks on foreigners in the Arabian peninsula. "Any aggression... against any Muslim or non-Muslim" is banned by the Koran and the oral traditions of the Islamic prophet Muhammed, the statement said. According to the scholars, Islam protects expatriates living on Muslim soil.
However, the six also appealed to practical considerations: "Such acts sow disunity among Muslims at a time when they need more than ever to unite against nations strongly opposing us. ...We advise all Muslims and those who are involved in such acts... to repent and take the righteous path to stand alongside their brothers in the face of enemies and not to serve as tools for the destruction of the (Islamic) nation."
The Saudi English-language Arab News last week carried an editorial that said Al-Qaeda is exposing "the nature of its evil and demonstrates clearly that it is also a dedicated enemy of the truth," by attacking targets in Saudi Arabia. The authorities, the daily declared, must destroy "this great disease in our society...." Furthermore, terrorism plagues East and West, the English-language newspaper emphasized.
"Scholars, imams and security forces must go to the doorstep of everyone there who harbors sympathies for Al-Qaeda, who harbors the terrorists themselves. For the sake of all peaceful, decent residents of the district - for all our sakes - extremism must not be allowed to maintain a stronghold in our midst," the paper said. "Anyone who still supports them in the belief that they present some form of legitimate opposition is terribly misguided," the Saudi editorial concluded.
One method of fighting the terrorists, as suggested by the Saudi-backed London-based A-Sharq Al-Awsat this week, is to allow them to speak to the media directly. Of the terrorist groups, the newspaper said, "They claim that they are oppressed movements demanding civil rights, while the truth known to the Saudi people is that they are non-democratic groups that view others as nonbelievers." If the terrorists' ideology was better known outside of Saudi Arabia, the editorial stated, it would shock many. "[It] is better for people to hear about the ideology of these people directly from them, not from others speaking on their behalf," the daily said, warning that some reports give a modicum of justification for the terrorists.
Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia has been frustrated in its efforts to extradite Saudi dissidents in England, reported Arab News last week: "Foreign Minister Prince Saud Al-Faisal said the Kingdom wanted to investigate some London-based opposition figures, two of whom it accuses of links to a shooting spree last month that killed six Westerners in Yanbu industrial city."
According to the report, Prince Al-Faisal had harsh criticism for Britain, saying, "There must be a chance to investigate anyone who it has been proven is involved in terrorism, wherever he is, and handed over to the authorities who want them... We live in exceptional times and all countries must act seriously in this respect. It is not acceptable to say that this [handing over suspects] does not conform to laws because someone is considered 'opposition'."
The kingdom will "combat this isolated deviant group... [performing] cowardly acts," Prince Saud said, adding that if a foreigner "feels unsafe they have to tell us the reasons and what kind of protection they require from us."
Also last week, a dean at the Imam Muhammad Ibn Saud Islamic University in Riyadh defended his institution after the Saudi Ministry of the Interior revealed that nine on a list of 26 most wanted terror suspects were graduates of the university. "Their social behavior," he said of the students, "is accordingly shaped by their perception of what they see, hear or think. Their individual response is the sum total of all that is happening around them, be it the Israeli actions against Palestinians, the bombings of innocent people in Afghanistan, or torture of prisoners in Iraq. How does the university then come into the picture?" In fact, Arab News reported, the dean said that focus on the Ibn Saud University is "part of a Western 'campaign against Islam and Muslims.'"
Not only that, the newspaper stated, "[the dean] was equally defensive about associating terrorism with a particular society. 'Highly educated people, whether in Asia, Africa, Europe or the United States, have also been involved in acts of terrorism,' he said. 'We should not look at things in isolation, while ignoring various other factors that contribute to the development of a particular mindset.'"