Makkah Imam Takes US to Task on Iraq

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http://www.arabnews.com/?page=1§ion=0&article=42851&d=10&m=4&y=2004

JEDDAH, 10 April 2004 — The imam at the Grand Mosque in Makkah yesterday lambasted the United States and its allies in Iraq for double-speak.

“Although they claim they are the advocates of reform and freedom, they are in fact the forces of destruction and devastation,” Sheikh Saud Al-Shuraim said in an apparent reference to the US-led occupation forces in Iraq.

Delivering his Friday sermon to thousands of faithful who packed the large mosque complex, the imam asked how missiles and machine guns could bring peace and freedom to the people of Palestine and Iraq. “They promise them a comfortable life built on torn bodies...They want us to believe that destruction is reform, killing is life, disorder is order and injustice is justice,” he added.

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