Who needs enemies.
WASHINGTON - Sheik Saleh Al Luhaidan, seen in video seated to the right of the crown prince, is chief justice of Saudi Arabia's Supreme Judicial Council. His sermons and words carry great significance.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7645118A quick addition:
I praise the jihad against the occupiers in Iraq," said Sheik Ai'dh Al-Qarni on Arabic-TV. "Throats must be split and skulls must be shattered."
Another cleric says suicide bombings are forbidden inside Saudi Arabia, but outside they can be "a good thing."
"There is nothing wrong with
if they cause great damage to the enemy," said Sheik Abdallah Al-Muslih, also on Arabic-TV.
In fact, in November 2004, 26 Saudi clerics published a religious statement urging Muslims to wage holy war in Iraq. "Jihad against the occupiers is a must," said the statement. " not only a legitimate right but a religious duty."
NBC News went to Saudi Arabia to talk to some of the clerics, including Sheik Safar Al-Hawaly, who signed the letter.
"It is the right of all the people in the world to push and to resist the occupier," he says.
Sheik Mosa al-Garni — who receives a government salary — told NBC News that jihad is justified because Americans are aggressors against a Muslim country.
"The terrorist in Iraq is the American Army," he says.
He urges young Saudis to go to Iraq to fight.
"If you are physically capable, don't hesitate. Go with God's blessings," he says.
The Saudi government acknowledges that none of the four clerics has been reprimanded or punished.