Haram imam condemns assassination bid
Arab News
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MAKKAH: Sheikh Saud Al-Shuraim, imam of the Grand Mosque in Makkah on Friday denounced the attempt to assassinate Prince Muhammad bin Naif, assistant minister of interior for security affairs, describing it as a heinous crime.
The sheikh made the comments while delivering a Friday sermon to thousands of people who thronged the large prayer complex. The imam also lambasted the Al-Qaeda terror networks deviant ideology that promotes killings and assassinations.
This confusing ideology first targeted non-Muslims including contracted workers. Now they are targeting the people of Islam ... including top officials appointed by the ruler for the countrys security, Al-Shuraim said in an apparent reference to the assassination attempt on Prince Muhammad.
The imam urged wanted militants to surrender and correct their way of living during the holy month of Ramadan by making use of the concessions offered by the countrys leadership. A suicide bomber, posing as a well wisher, blew himself up at Prince Muhammads residence on Aug. 27 while he was receiving people who came to greet him on the occasion of Ramadan.
Press reports said the bomber, identified as Abdullah Hassan Tali Asiri, carried no less than half a kilogram of explosives inside his body. Security officers have not yet determined the type of explosive used for the operation. The explosives were detonated by a mobile phone carried by the bomber while inside the princes home. The bomber was in touch on mobile phone with other militants in Yemen while at the princes home.
Security sources said Asiri called his friends in Yemen asking them to talk to the prince, which was in fact a signal to them to detonate the bomb as he was in close proximity to the prince. The sources added that Asiri was rigged with the explosives prior to leaving Yemen for the Kingdom. Asiri arrived in Jeddah on Thursday morning accompanied by a policeman and a National Guard officer from the southern province. Sources said he abstained from eating and drinking for 40 hours. They also pointed out that there was only a single sofa between the prince and the bomber.
Prince Muhammad, meanwhile, surprised the bombers father, Hassan Tali Asiri, by calling him on the phone to convey his condolences on the death of his son. He told the father that the state would not take any action against the family for his sons wrongdoing. The Kingdoms anti-terror chief also told militants that the door is still open for them to return to the straight path. Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah has instructed us to deal nicely with all those who want to return to righteousness, he added.
Asiris father thanked Prince Muhammad for his kind gesture and said it reflected the princes nobility. He blamed Al-Qaeda for misleading his son and injecting destructive thoughts in his mind.
Source:
http://www.arabnews.com/?page=1§ion=0&article=126111&d=5&m=9&y=2009