ISLAMABAD, Oct 24: Saudi Arabia’s Ambassador to Pakistan, Ali S. Awadh Aseeri, has condemned in very harsh terms both Osama bin Laden and the “Zionist media” —the former for preaching ‘heretical thinking’ and the latter for painting a false picture of Islam.
Speaking at what appeared to be an unusual press briefing here on Wednesday the Saudi diplomat said the attacks on the Saudi Kingdom by the Zionist media were highly slanderous and condemnable.
He said if the objective behind this media onslaught was a pressure tactic to force a change in “our ideology, we reject it categorically. We cannot change our policy that is based on the universally accepted principles and enduring values.”
He appealed to the West to invest some time to understand the Muslim mind which is evident from “our religion, our culture, our value system and our way of life.” He said the Muslims have invested time and effort to understand the Western way of life, their religion, their culture, their value system, and so much else.
“That is how we understand them and can relate to them,” he added.
He said the good-hearted people of the West and the United States of America have been misled by “an irresponsible media that has been attacking Islam and the Muslim world including the Saudis.
“This is so because of an inherent Zionist bias against Islam and the Muslims. We are civilized. We understand the meaning of civilization. The West owes its progress and prosperity to the Muslim world, and the contribution Muslim scientists and scholars made through the years and centuries, he added.
Lashing out at Osama bin Laden, the Saudi ambassador said that what he preaches is “extremist views’ and ‘heretical thinking” which he said contradicts the spirit of Islam.
“Osama’s conduct is not in agreement with the universal principles of Islam. He has harmed the name of Islam by his beliefs and conduct. He is not a friend of Islam. He has damaged the world economy and jeopardized the accepted principles governing human relationship and created a gap between the two civilizations.” he maintained.
Trying perhaps to counter the Western media’s propaganda against Saudi charitable organizations operating all over the world, Mr Aseeri said that Zakat was one of the pillars of Islam and every Muslim believed that his responsibility vis-a-vis Zakat must be fulfilled, “Therefore, the Kingdom has around 146 charitable organizations registered with the ministry of labour and social welfare. These organizations are engaged in charitable activities meeting the needs of the suffering men and women.”
He blamed Taliban for causing so much misery to the people of Afghanistan by refusing “to listen to the voice of reason. They and they alone, are responsible for the sufferings of the people of Afghanistan.”
He, however, assured the people of Afghanistan that his government would not desert them. “We are not happy with what is happening in Afghanistan, we strongly demand that no harm should be inflicted upon the people of Afghanistan,” he said.
He said the government of Saudi Arabia has already donated 10 million dollars for the welfare of the people of Afghanistan and on the special day for Afghan refugees organized in his country as much as 35 million dollars were collected from the Saudi citizens on one single day.
He said his government condemned terrorism in all its forms and “we are ready to extend all legitimate help and assistance to counter terrorism in any part of the world.”
Answering a question he said his country was not contributing to the military efforts of the present campaign against terrorism focused in Afghanistan.
He rejected as wrong the widely held impression that Saudi Arabia has given air bases to the US and that there was a lot of domestic opposition to this in the Kingdom and said that what the US has in Saudi Arabia is only some training facilities.