By Nir Boms
FrontPageMagazine.com | December 10, 2004
“Fighting the occupiers is a duty for all those who are able,” reads an open letter to the Iraqi people currently posted on the Internet. Issued by more than two dozen Saudi scholars and preachers on November 6, the letter calls on Iraqis to fight coalition forces in their midst.
The Saudi group has also issued a fatwa, or religious edict, forbidding Muslims to assist or support any military operation by an occupying force. Continue reading
4/21/2004
By Nir Boms and Erick StakelbecK
Under the auspices of the United Nations and the Washington-based National Democratic Institute for International Affairs, representatives from 14 Muslim countries gathered in Istanbul on April 12-14 to discuss implementing democratic reforms in the Middle East.
While it came as no shock that Syria and Iran boycotted the event, Saudi Arabia – cited often by the Bush administration as one of America’s closest allies in the region and serious about reform – was conspicuous by its absence.