RIYADH, April 11: The imam of Makkah’s Grand Mosque called on Friday for an immediate halt to bloodshed in Iraq and for Muslims not to lose faith over the “defeat”.

“The bloodshed in Iraq and Palestine must stop immediately ... The killing of civilians, destruction of property, looting and robberies must all be stopped,” Sheikh Abdul Rahman al-Sudais said.

He urged the international community to put an end to the war in Iraq and warned that “wars only breed wars and aggravate a clash of civilizations”.

The imam called on Muslims to “rationally study the causes of the defeat” in Iraq.—AFP

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