From: benali@alcor.concordia.ca ( ILYESS B. BDIRA )
Subject: Saudi clergy condemns debut of human rights group!
Keywords: international, non-usa government, government, civil rights, 	social issues, politics
Nntp-Posting-Host: alcor.concordia.ca
Organization: Concordia University, Montreal, Canada
Lines: 34

It looks like Ben Baz's mind and heart are also blind, not only his eyes.
I used to respect him, today I lost the minimal amount of respect that
I struggled to keep for him.
To All Muslim netters: This is the same guy who gave a "Fatwah" that
Saudi Arabia can be used by the United Ststes to attack Iraq . That
Fatwah is as legitimate as this one. With that kind of "Clergy", it might
be an Islamic duty to separate religion and politics, if religion
means "official Clergy".


  	CAIRO, Egypt (UPI) -- The Cairo-based Arab Organization for Human
  Rights (AOHR) Thursday welcomed the establishement last week of the
  Committee for Defense of Legal Rights in Saudi Arabia and said it was
  necessary to have such groups operating in all Arab countries.
  	The London-based and Saudi-owned Al Sharq Al Awsat daily newspaper
  reported Thursday in a dispatch from Riyadh that the Higher Council of
  Ulema (Muslim scholars) on Wednesday had unanimously proclaimed the
  formation of the group illegitimate and unacceptable.
  	In a statement issued in the Saudi capital, the council, Saudi
  Arabia's highest religious authority, said it ``unanimously proclaims
  illegitimate the creation of this committee and the inadmissibility of
  endorsing it because the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is guided by God's
  sharia (law) and the Islamic courts are widespread nationwide.''
  	The statement said no one in the kingdom is prevented from taking
  grievances to those courts or to other concerned authorities and that 
  ``the authors of the bulletin (announcing the founding of the committee)
  are well aware of this.''
  	The council of 21 senior clergymen, which ended its 40th session
  Tuesday under chairmanship of Sheikh Abdel Aziz Ben Baz, warned that the
  formation of the group will have ``serious consequences,'' but did not
  elaborate.
...
>declarations and treaties protecting human rights, particulalrly those
>concerning discrimination against women.
