JEDDAH, 3 September 2003 — An international Islamic conference in Makkah yesterday warned against possible communal violence in Iraq as a result of assassinations and urged Arab and Islamic countries to help protect the war-torn country from sectarian infighting.
The killings in Iraq were a bid to “incite strife and fuel conflict and division among its people,” the Supreme World Council of Mosques said in a statement issued at the end of a meeting here.
The council “calls on the Arab League and the Organization of the Islamic Conference to try to help Iraq ... establish security, shun sectarian and ethnic conflict, and preserve its unity,” the statement said.
The council, grouping mosque officials in Islamic countries, is affiliated to the Makkah-based Muslim World League.
It issued the warning as hundreds of thousands of Iraqi Shiites turned out for the funeral of Ayatollah Muhammad Baqer Al-Hakim, who was killed in a car bomb attack last Friday.
Al-Hakim’s killing in the Iraqi city of Najaf has sparked fears that the violence in post-Saddam Iraq could take a sectarian turn.
Saudi Arabia has strongly condemned the Najaf bombing which killed more than 100 people, and has denied “baseless” allegations that Saudi citizens were involved in the attacks.
The Makkah meeting also denounced the recent terror attacks in the Kingdom and urged Saudis to stand by their government in its efforts to root out terrorism in the country.
The Kingdom has arrested nearly 200 terror suspects since the May 12 Riyadh bombings on compounds housing Western expatriates. Police have also seized large caches of weapons and explosives.
The statement said the terror attacks in Saudi Arabia and other countries were carried out by “deviant” gangs. “Islam has nothing to do with these terrorist acts,” the council said, adding that all Islamic countries unanimously condemned such attacks.
The meeting called for harsh punishment for terrorists, who caused destruction by killing the innocent, terrorizing the peaceful and destroying property.
“The participation of some deviant Muslims in terrorist acts has tarnished the image of Islam and Muslims,” the council said.
“Enemies of Islam have taken these activities as a pretext to launch smear campaigns against Islam and Muslims,” it added.
The council urged Muslims not to shelter or support terrorists. “Sheltering terrorists means participation in their crimes,” the statement warned.
Dr. Abdullah Al-Turki, secretary-general of the MWL, said the meeting focused on the role of imams and khateebs at mosques in spreading the true message of Islam and cautioning the public against deviant ideas.
In his inaugural address to the conference, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Fahd expressed his hope that the Al-Aqsa Mosque in occupied Jerusalem would return to Muslim control one day.
