Shabby Reputation
Grand Mufti tells Saudis not to give their money to people with “shabby reputations.” Meanwhile, Saudis who have donated to “an organization that is known for its evil” lately have a grace period in which to report themselves. Or else. Arab News:
JEDDAH, 9 March 2008 — The Interior Ministry has warned anyone who may have positively responded to Al-Qaeda leader Ayman Al-Zawahri’s calls for donations that they will be penalized if they do not contact the ministry within a week to clarify their position.
In a statement issued yesterday, a ministry spokesman said it had obtained information about citizens and residents who received the voice message sent by Al-Qaeda’s second in command, while questioning 28 terror suspects arrested last week.
“The bearer of this message is one of our trusted brothers; therefore, please give him your donations to help hundreds of families of captives and martyrs in Pakistan and Afghanistan,” Al-Zawahri said in the audio recording sent with a man who had come to the Kingdom to visit Makkah.
“The ministry calls upon all those who have established contacts with him on the basis of the message to inform it through telephone No. 990 within a week,” the statement said, adding that the grace period would end on Saturday evening.
The spokesman said contacting the ministry was essential to prove their innocence and clarify their position. “Measures will be taken in accordance with the law against the suspects after the expiry of the grace period,” he added.
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Since December 2007, Saudi security forces have arrested 56 suspects of different nationalities for allegedly planning to attack sites outside the holy cities of Makkah and Madinah during the last Haj season.
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Meanwhile, Sheikh Abdul Aziz Al-Asheikh, the Kingdom’s top religious authority, asked wealthy people to exercise vigilance on where they donate their money.
He also warned young Muslims against becoming tools in the hands of foreign groups “which play with their feelings in the name of jihad.”
The mufti warned Saudis against giving money to charities and organizations that finance suspicious groups.
“It is bad to give funds to just anyone who asks and to parties with shabby reputations or unknown backing,” the mufti said in a statement carried by Okaz newspaper.
“It’s even worse to give it to an organization that is known for its evil and for hurting Islam and its followers,” he added, in an apparent reference to Al-Qaeda, which is blamed for a series of terror attacks in the Kingdom since May 2003.
Grace period for people who finance terrorism? So is that a bluff to reel them in, or sort of like a parking ticket amnesty? Presumeably any big fish on the list have already been informed they are putting the Kingdom of Saud in an awkward position with the Christian dogs at a time of important arms sales. But it would be interesting to see what the “or else” is for people who don’t self-report.
Topics: al qaeda, money, saudi arabia
Posted by Jules Crittenden at 9:44 pm on Sunday, March 9, 2008
4 Responses to “Shabby Reputation”
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March 10th, 2008 at 12:43 am
I never read anything about Saudi Arabia that doesn’t give me the willies. I’m so glad I was born and American girl.
March 10th, 2008 at 12:43 am
Well, I AM glad I was born American and a girl, but the sentence ought to read “born AN American girl.”
March 10th, 2008 at 2:01 am
We understand Salty, it was the last libation that did it.
March 10th, 2008 at 6:14 am
You know me too well.