Britannia Radio

Special Dispatch|5395| August 7, 2013 Saudi Daily: Al-Qaeda, Which Distorts The Image OfIslam, Must Be Vanquished MEMRI | MEMRI TV | JIHAD AND TERRORISM THREAT MONITOR | SOUTH ASIA STUDIES PROJECT

Following the terror alert declared by the U.S. last week, that prompted the closure of nearly 20 U.S. embassies throughout the Middle East and the issuing of a travel advisory to U.S. citizens warning of possible terror attacks in the region, particularly in Yemen, the Saudi government daily Al-Madina called for dealing harshly with and vanquishing Al-Qaeda. In its August 7, 2013 editorial, it condemned Al-Qaeda's terrorist actions and called them "a grave crime and a sin that cannot be expiated" and added that they were giving Islam a distorted and terrorist image. Below are translated excerpts from the editorial.   "The terror activities perpetrated by the Al-Qaeda organization and its supporters throughout the Arab and Islamic worlds are unacceptable. They are totally unrelated to our monotheistic religion and its tolerant directives that call for protecting the lives of Muslims and of others, and their souls and property, and not to immerse oneself in human blood – which is considered a grave crime and a sin that cannot be expiated. "However, every day the Al Qaeda organization and its terror arms carry out bombing attacks, prepare massacres, and commit violent actions. These are totally unrelated to confronting attacks on Islam, and they only create a distorted, and terrorist, image of the [Islamic] religion – [which is a religion] of justice, tolerance, moderation, and conciliation. "In this [terrorist] tendency, Al-Qaeda conspires with other factions that spread its poison within our societies and market its misleading and polluted ideas. [These factions] aspire to promote a terrorist agenda that has no connection with religion, and they embrace the ideas and tendencies of questionable foreign elements – and this is unacceptable. "It should be noted that Al-Qaeda is currently attempting to undermine stability in Yemen, disrupt the peaceful transfer of power [there], and prevent the country's residents from attaining security via the national dialogue [round] table, in which all political groups and all elements of society social components participate. Because this will permanently exclude Al-Qaeda and its supporters from the [framework of the] Yemeni state, this organization and its sleeper cells have begun damaging Yemen's security and stability and are attempting to booby-trap the plan for Yemen's renaissance with bombing attacks… which by every criterion constitute terrorism that must be fought and forcibly crushed. "We are relying on the understanding of the Yemeni people and its local leadership. We consider them to be ready for any emergency situation, whether it comes during the holiday vacation or at another time, and [also ready] to thwart opportunities for terrorism. "We are relying on Yemen's capability, as a leadership and as a people, to deliver preemptive blows to Al-Qaeda, to vanquish [that organization] with all types of weapons, and to bury its criminality, its inclination to murder and violence, and its attempt to impose its deadly model on Yemen. This [imposition] is totally inconceivable and must not happen."