In an interview with the Saudi daily Al-Sharq Al-Awsat, Saudi Mufti Sheikh Abd Al-'Aziz Aal Al-Sheikh criticized Al-Qaeda, saying that it was sowing anarchy in the Muslim ummah and was serving the enemies of the ummah.
He also noted that the organization's discourse was based on killing, extortion, and anarchy in the Islamic world.
Source: Al-Sharq Al-Awsat, London, September 29, 2008
The September 27 car bombing in Damascus has ratcheted up tension between Syria and Saudi Arabia.
In an editorial, the Saudi daily Al-Watan refrained from condemning the attack, and stated that it attested to the fact that the Syrian regime was in danger.
In contrast, an editorial on the Champress website, which is close to the Syrian regime, accused Saudi Arabia of gloating over the bloodshed of innocents, and called this behavior between two Arab states unprecedented in modern Arab history.
The Syrian daily Al-Watan stated that Saudi Arabia was the only Arab country that had not condemned the bombing, and quoted Arab diplomatic sources in Beirut as saying that Saudi National Security Council chairman Prince Bandar bin Sultan had helped the bombers.
Also, the Lebanese website Youkal said that the deputy director of the Palestine branch of Syrian military intelligence, Abd Al-Karim 'Abas, had been killed in the blast. 'Abas had been under investigation for the assassination of former Lebanese prime minister Rafiq Al-Hariri.
Sources: Al-Watan, Saudi Arabia; champress.net, Al-Watan, Syria; September 29, 2008; Youkal.net, September 28, 2008
Cartoonist: Eley Saleba
Source: Al-Watan, Qatar, September 27, 2008
The Saudi daily Al-Madina published an extensive investigative article on responses worldwide to a clip released by MEMRI TV of Sheikh Muhammad bin Saleh Al-Munajjid's program in which he called for Mickey Mouse to be killed (see http://www.memritv.org/clip/en/1850.htm).
According to the paper, the aim of its investigation is "to clarify to people the truth on what is attributed to Sheikh Al-Munajjid and to present the opinions of clerics on the media storm."
[MEMRI will publish a detailed report on Al-Madina's investgiation in the near future.]
Source: Al-Madina, Saudi Arabia, September 29, 2008
Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Al-Mu'alem has met in New York with his U.S. counterpart Condoleezza Rice, at her request, and the two discussed the situations in Iraq, Lebanon, and Darfur, peace in the Middle East, and the indirect talks between Syria and Israel.
In an interview with Al-Arabiya TV, Al-Mu'alem called the meeting positive, and said that it was the beginning of dialogue between Syria and the U.S.
Sources: Al-Thawra, Syria; Al-Hayat, London, September 28, 2008
Palestinian Legislative Council member from Hamas Younes Al-Istal has stated that Egypt deceived Hamas by announcing that Israel had agreed to a tahdiya ("calm") in exchange for removing the blockade on Gaza and opening the border crossings, while Egypt had made an agreement with Israel that removing the blockade would be in exchange for the release of Gilead Shalit.
The Egyptians dismissed Al-Istal's claims, saying that they were aimed at improving Hamas's standing in advance of the continuation of the internal Palestinian dialogue in Egypt. They added that Al-Istal had in the past said it was licit to kill them.
Source: Al-Sharq Al-Awsat, London, September 26, 2008
The Lebanese daily Al-Akhbar reported that Syria was intending to fight the Salafist forces in northern Lebanon and that at a September 4-5 quadripartite summit in Damascus, with Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad, French President Nicolas Sarkozy, Qatari Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani, and Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Assad had received a green light to act as he saw fit in dealing with the rise in Salafism and fundamentalism in northern Lebanon.
According to the report, Assad presented to the summit participants intelligence information that some of these Salafist organizations were linked to Al-Qaeda and were planning to move into Europe afterwards.
Source: Al-Akhbar, Lebanon, September 29, 2008
