RIYADH, 3 November — Riyadh Governor Prince Salman has rejected in unequivocal terms the malicious charges against Saudi charitable societies that they backed terrorism, Okaz reported yesterday.
“I have participated in and headed a number of charitable societies and know personally that they are engaged only in charitable activities. If some individuals have been attempting to turn charitable work into evil acts, the Kingdom cannot be held responsible for that”, Prince Salman said in a statement to the newspaper. “The Kingdom can never support terrorism or involve itself in any act that might defame Islam and Muslims.
“The fact is that Saudi people have always been keen to provide all kinds of assistance not only to their Arab and Muslim brethren but to humanity at large,” he said.
He said that an individual lapse or anything of that nature could not be construed as the government’s or people’s support to terrorism. The prince added that when a man gives zakah to the poor he cannot stipulate the conditions on how the poor man should spend the money. If he spends on some evil acts it is not the responsibility of the donor, he added.
Asked to comment on the report published by an Israeli newspaper charging him and Interior Minister Prince Naif of supporting terrorism by heading committees that provide families of the martyrs with assistance, Prince Salman said: “We feel honored because we extend support to our Palestinian brethren. However, we never supported terrorism.”
“It is wrong to view support to Palestinians as a form of encouraging terrorism,” he said.
He said that he had coined the motto “A riyal you donate saves an Arab” in reply to the Zionist slogan “A dollar you donate kills an Arab.”
On the Popular Committee for Assisting the Palestinian Mujahideen, Prince Salman said the committee was established following the Arab-Israeli war in 1967 with the aim of assisting Palestinians.
Highlighting the great attention being given by the government to charitable works, the prince said the inauguration of the Prince Sultan City for Humanitarian Services by Crown Prince Abdullah, deputy premier and commander of the National Guard, “is a clear proof of the great attention paid by the Saudi officials to charitable works.”
Prince Salman pointed out that Prince Sultan, second deputy premier and minister of defense and aviation, has been devoting his time and efforts to undertake charitable works. He stressed that all charitable projects should be carried out on the basis of well-studied plans so that they will yield positive results.
