Tuesday 20 January 2015

Pope Francis: Saudi Arabia is responsible for Middle-East’s current bloodshed


Published on Monday, 19 January 2015 13:25


As Pope Francis bids farewell to Philippines, he urged U.S. administration to alter its general policies in regard to Arab-Israeli peace process which reached impasse.
“… I believe the crux of today’s Middle-East problem is laid in the stalled Arab-Israeli peace negotiations, I mean when you side by one group against the other; you are giving the totalitarian regimes and radical groups a plausible excuse for their criminal deeds and heinous crimes,” said the plaintiff as he travelled to the airport in Manila.
For the first time, Pope Francis explicitly criticized U.S. oil-rich Arab ally-- Saudi Arabia—for fomenting sectarian tension in Middle-East by invariably supporting hard-line militants.
 “…for several times I importuned Saudis to end their catastrophic support for terrorist groups in the Middle-East but my appeals fell on deaf ears,” Qatari News Agency quoted the Pope as saying on Monday.
The pope added by saying that it would be totally inane and hypocritical of Saudis  to condemn Charlie Hebdo attack while they expand their support for the very terrorists who perpetrated the most heinous crimes against the humanity .
Meanwhile a Saudi blogger will be viciously flogged 50 times in the second of 20 such weekly punishment sessions he will receive this year.
Raif Badawi’s crime? Suggesting reforms for Islam.

The blogger has been sentenced to a total of 1,000 lashes and 10 years in prison for insulting Islam.
Amnesty International said a prison doctor concluded Mr Badawi's wounds had not yet healed properly and he would not be able to withstand another round of lashes.
The UN human rights chief this week urged the Saudi king to pardon Mr Badawi and review the "cruel" penalty.
"Flogging is, in my view, at the very least, a form of cruel and inhuman punishment," UN commissioner Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein said in a statement.
River to Sea Uprooted Palestinian   
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