King Fahd's attempt to stamp out what he calls extremist preaching from his Saudi kingdom's mosques could backfire, warned clerics and analysts.
| "No, no! Better to just leave them alone. They don't kill that many people..." |
Critics say the clampdown will only serve to drive young Saudi men to Iraq to fight in a holy war against the American "satan".
| "Yasss... Better to keep them here, where they'll stay out of trouble. You know how excitable those Americans are..." |
King Fahd's warning for clerics to stop preaching militant messages was seen as a response to accusations last week by US Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage. Armitage said that some of those attacking occupying forces in Iraq were coming into the country from neighbouring Saudi Arabia. However, in an official statement on Sunday, Saudi Arabia said there was no proof yet that any of its citizens were involved in the bombing in the Iraqi Shiite holy city of Najaf. The statement challenged those who made the accusations to deliver concrete proof.
| "And then we'll deny it's proof..." |
Hours earlier, the leading cleric Mohsen al-Awajy said: "Most youth think the only safe road is to go to Iraq. They are trapped between the international campaign against terrorism and this campaign at home. The only safe haven for them is to go to Iraq. We are hearing stories of families who get mobile phone messages from their sons saying they're going to Iraq."
| It's beyond possibility, of course, that they could consider giving up killing people and blowing things up, maybe even get jobs... |
Awajy said thousands of Saudi veterans of the war against the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan in the 1980s, who at that time were supported by the government, were now being targeted. The Saudi crackdown intensified after the May bombings in Riyadh, which killed 35 people, including nine Americans. Authorities have arrested more than 200 militants believed linked to al-Qaida. . |