Thursday, December 21, 2006
Al-Sadr calls for Muslim unity
Security
An affiliated website of Shi’ite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr published on Monday, December 18, 2006, a statement from Shi’ite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, responding to the calls of support for the Sunni people in Iraq from the convention held in Istanbul, Turkey last week within the Global Anti-Aggression Campaign, in addition to the fatwa signed by thirty-eight Saudi scholars. Sadr states that the only weapon to face the “Western expansion” against Islam is the Muslims’ unity, and therefore supports every conference that supports the Sunnis. He believes that Sunnis and Shi’ites are not naturally inclined to fight one another, and any individual from one side who does assault someone from the other is not truly a Sunni or Shi’ite, but a Nawasib or Ba’athist. Sadr adds: “if I was qualified to give a Fatwa, I would have without hesitation in order to ban the killing of our brothers (the Sunni people) in Iraq and outside of Iraq”.
The conciliatory statement further explains that the events within Iraq are acts of self-defense of the “righteous” against the Western and hostile forces, and Muqtada al-Sadr does not accept divisions between the Sunni people and Shi’ites. He also states that he will attend any conference in the support of the Iraqi people and he will distance himself from any Shi’ite who kills a Sunni, and vice-versa.
The conciliatory statement further explains that the events within Iraq are acts of self-defense of the “righteous” against the Western and hostile forces, and Muqtada al-Sadr does not accept divisions between the Sunni people and Shi’ites. He also states that he will attend any conference in the support of the Iraqi people and he will distance himself from any Shi’ite who kills a Sunni, and vice-versa.
