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Saudi Arabia toughens stance on jihadist groups


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saudi-opposition-salafist-jihadist-groups.html#Al-Monitor:

Abdulmajeed al-Buluwi/Joelle El-Khoury

August 20, 2014

 

A statement issued by the grand mufti of Saudi Arabia on Aug. 19 warned against the danger of the Islamic State (IS) and al-Qaeda. It is part of an escalating Saudi stance against jihadist groups in the region, and comes on the heels of its classification of IS and Jabhat al-Nusra as terrorist groups in March.

 

The harsh statement of the grand mufti was preceded on Aug. 1 by a speech from Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz, in which he addressed IS and warned against the danger of armed jihadist groups that declare Muslims infidels and permit the bloodshed of innocents. This royal statement was followed on the same day by a verbal message from the monarch, in which he criticized the Saudi religious establishment for remaining silent and not assuming its duty regarding the terror phenomenon.

 

This public and candid royal criticism of the religious establishment was seen as a historical precedent in the relationship between the ruling political establishment and its ally, the religious establishment. Khalid al-Dakhil, a Saudi political analyst, said the public royal criticism of the religious establishment pointed out the weakness and declining influence of the religious establishment.

 

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Saudi Arabia and the Trouble with Terrorism

August 20, 2014

 

With ISIS snaking through Syria and Iraq, the Saudis are pouring money into anti-terror efforts abroad, while deterring and even criminalizing extremism at home.

 

Along with its recent gift of $100 million to the UN’s anti-terror center, the Kingdom has bestowed billions of dollars in arms and cash on Lebanon, which has recently come under attack by ISIS. A report by Lori Plotkin Boghardt of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy suggests that it is doing at least as much to counteract extremism within its borders:

 

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Saudi Arabia has reason to be alarmed. In May, Saudi sources stated that a plot to murder government officials had been foiled, and 62 of nearly 100 suspected terrorists were arrested. Meanwhile, ISIS has picked up a large number of Saudi citizens as followers on its race through the Middle East, and they are also well-represented in Jahbat al-Nusra. Worse still, other Saudis find ISIS rather appealing on the whole: According to one informal poll Boghardt cites, “Saudis overwhelmingly believe ISIS ‘conforms to the values of Islam and Islamic law’.”

 

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Our "Good Friends" the Saudis have a problem...and it is the same problem they have had since the founding of The Magic Kingdom.......Wahhabism.

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Saudis Must Stop Exporting Extremism

ISIS Atrocities Started With Saudi Support for Salafi Hate

ED HUSAIN

AUG. 22, 2014

 

ALONG with a billion Muslims across the globe, I turn to Mecca in Saudi Arabia every day to say my prayers. But when I visit the holy cities of Mecca and Medina, the resting place of the Prophet Muhammad, I am forced to leave overwhelmed with anguish at the power of extremism running amok in Islams birthplace. Non-Muslims are forbidden to enter this part of the kingdom, so there is no international scrutiny of the ideas and practices that affect the 13 million Muslims who visit each year.

 

Last week, Saudi Arabia donated $100 million to the United Nations to fund a counterterrorism agency. This was a welcome contribution, but last year, Saudi Arabia rejected a rotating seat on the United Nations Security Council. This half-in, half-out posture of the Saudi kingdom is a reflection of its inner paralysis in dealing with Sunni Islamist radicalism: It wants to stop violence, but will not address the Salafism that helps justify it.

 

Lets be clear: Al Qaeda, the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, Boko Haram, the Shabab and others are all violent Sunni Salafi groupings. For five decades, Saudi Arabia has been the official sponsor of Sunni Salafism across the globe.

 

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