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ICC Note:

“Christians across the Middle East are expressing anger and frustration after the Grand Mufti of Saudi Arabia said it is ‘necessary to destroy all the churches of the region.’ In Cairo and Beirut, the anger was loudest, but also through their calls were gestures of tolerance,” Bikya Masr reports.

By Joseph Mayton

3/16/2012 Saudi Arabia (Bikya Masr) – Christians across the Middle East are expressing anger and frustration after the Grand Mufti of Saudi Arabia said it is “necessary to destroy all the churches of the region.” In Cairo and Beirut, the anger was loudest, but also through their calls were gestures of tolerance.

“I mean from a regular, end of the street mosque, this stuff happens all the time, but for the Grand Mufti of a country to say it is simply shocking,” Beirut resident Hani told Bikyamasr.com.

The mufti’s statements had followed Kuwait’s move to ban churches from being constructed in the country.

Ironically, the Saudi religious leader’s comments come only months after Saudi Arabia partnered with Switzerland on an institute of tolerance. At the time, many observers called the move “unsubstantiated” in reference to Saudi’s ultra-conservative Islamic views.

Speaking to a delegation in Kuwait, Sheikh Abdul Aziz bin Abdullah, stressed that since the tiny Gulf state was a part of the Arabian Peninsula, it was necessary to destroy all of the churches in the country, Arabic media have reported.

Saudi Arabia’s top cleric made the comment in view of an age-old belief that only Islam can be practiced in the region.

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