Hezbollah under attack from... Saudis and... HRW

Submitted by Alain Jean-Mairet (Switzerland), Jul 21, 2006 at 14:03

The New York Sun reports:

One of Saudi Arabia's leading Wahhabi sheiks, Abdullah bin Jabreen has issued a strongly worded religious edict, or fatwa, declaring it unlawful to support, join or pray for Hezbollah, the Shiite militias lobbing missiles into northern Israel.

A translation of the fatwa:

The support of this [Shiite] sect is not permissible, and joining under their command is not permissible, and you are neither permitted to pray for their victory and martyrdom. Our advice to the Sunnis is that they renounce [Hezbollah]... [who have shown] their enmity to Islam, Muslims, and their attacks both in the past and present on Sunnis. They try to profit as much as possible from the problems of the Sunnis... cunningly... If anyone joins them, then they should understand Allah's verdict when he said, 'those from among you who support them [the infidels] are in fact part of them.

And HRW's verdict:

Hezbollah's attacks in Israel on Sunday and Monday were at best indiscriminate attacks in civilian areas, at worst the deliberate targeting of civilians. Either way, they were serious violations of international humanitarian law and probable war crimes...

In addition, the warheads used suggest a desire to maximize harm to civilians. Some of the rockets launched against Haifa over the past two days contained hundreds of metal ball bearings that are of limited use against military targets but cause great harm to civilians and civilian property. ...

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