Saudi clerics urge help for Sunnis in Iraq

RIYADH (Reuters) – A group of prominent Saudi clerics have called on Sunni Muslims around the world to mobilise against Shias in Iraq, although a statement they issued fell short of calling for a jihad, or holy war.

The statement appearing on Saudi Islamist Web sites on Monday said Sunni Muslims were being murdered and marginalised by Shias, backed by Iran, and the US-led forces.

Saudi Arabia, a bastion of Sunni Islam, backs the Shia-dominated government of Nuri al-Maliki largely because it fears that sectarian violence between Sunnis and Shias could lead to the break-up of its northern neighbour and spill over its borders.

“We direct this message to all concerned about Shias in the world: the murder, torture and displacement of Sunnis … is an outrage. We don’t think you would accept to be treated like this,” said the statement, dated Dec. 7.

”Muslims must stand directly with our Sunni brothers in Iraq and support them by all appropriate, well-studied means … Muslims generally should be made aware of the danger of the Shias,” it said.

“Clerics and intellectuals should not stand hands folded over what’s happening to their Sunni brothers in Iraq; all occasions should be used to expose the Shias’ practices … What has been taken by force can only be got back by force.”

Khaleej Times from Dubai runs this Reuters story. The article notes that among those signing the statement are Abdel-Rahman al-Barrak, Safar Al-Hawali and Nasser al-Omar, all hard-line Salafists. Not among the signers, it says, were those clerics most closely associated with the Saudi government.

What the government will do in response is a good question. In trying to open space for the debate of ideas, the government also opens the door to bad ideas. In the past, Al-Hawali, among others, was enprisoned for going too far. Whether this will be repeated is unclear: Internet ‘documents’ are pretty easy to disclaim. I suspect what we’ll see are contrary statements coming out of the formal religious leadership condemning this attitude.