Saudi Arabia detains 600 terrorists: Envoy

IRNA
Islamabad, Nov 24, IRNA - Saudi Arabia`s Ambassador to Pakistan Ali 
Awadh Asseri has said that his country has so far arrested over 600 
terrorists, according to local press reports on Monday. 
"We are going to hunt them. We are going to make sure that they do
not cause harm to the innocent," he told reporters at an Iftar dinner 
on Sunday. 
He also said Riyadh would chase Al-Qaeda and fail their designs to
destabilise the Kingdom. 
"In the interest of Islamic Ummah, we will deal with the 
terrorists with an iron hand, and the Al-Qaeda members won`t be given 
protection anywhere in Saudi Arabia." 
He said influential hard-line Saudi Ulema had started renouncing 
their edicts about militancy. "The Ulema on television said their 
earlier edicts were wrong that they now surrender," he added. 
About the government policy, he said that there was no leniency 
for these elements as according to the official policy, the only way 
to talk to them is through "rifle and sword". 
However, it was the job of Ulema, scholars, universities and 
psychiatrists and civil society to divert the misled individuals to 
normal life and rescind their activities that do not serve either 
Islam or humanity, he maintained. 
Asseri said terrorism was a phenomenon the Kingdom is tackling 
that had nothing to do with religion. "We have to see how the 
children, who are not well supervised, are affected by just one 
tape-recorded message," he said. 
According to the envoy, there was no support for these groups in 
the Kingdom. 
"They are a group of deviants, misfits and criminals, who have no 
respect for the teachings of Islam and any other faith," Asseri said. 
MHA/TSH/211 
End
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Saudi Arabia detains 600 terrorists: Envoy
