Saudi’s Council of Ministers have vowed to come down hard on anyone who aims to “politicise” Islam and destabilise its principle of moderation, saying the kingdom is “determined to combat deviant thoughts that harm Islam and Muslims”.
Saudi’s weekly Cabinet session discussed its decree issued last Friday to declare a number of organisations, including the Muslim Brotherhood, as a terrorist organisation as well as issuing a 15-day “grace period” for all Saudis fighting abroad to return home.
In a statement issued after the session, Minister of Culture and Information Dr Abdulaziz Khoja said the decision was taken to maintain security and stability as well as to fight against everything that aims at destabilising the national cohesion and harming Islam’s principle of moderation, Saudi Gazette reported.
“The Kingdom is determined to combat deviant thoughts that harm Islam and Muslims,” the statement said.
It said the Cabinet backed the correct understanding of the teachings of Islam, which rejected dissension, extremism and the politicisation of Islam for partisan purposes.
Khoja said the Cabinet appealed to the international community, through the UN Human Rights Council, to act on the situation in Syria where more than 140,000 people have been killed and more than 2.5 million displaced, the Gazette reported.
Meanwhile, Saudi also slammed as “aggressive and irresponsible” accusations by Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Al Maliki that the kingdom was supporting global terrorism.
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“The kingdom condemns the aggressive and irresponsible statements made by the Iraqi prime minister,” an official source told Saudi Press Agency.
“Nouri Al Maliki knows very well, more than anyone else, the clear and categorical position of the kingdom against terrorism… and is aware of the kingdom’s efforts to combat this phenomenon locally and globally.
“Instead of making haphazard accusations, the Iraqi prime minister should take measures to end the chaos and violence that swamp Iraq.”
