Western occupations slammed during Hajj sermon

Saudi Arabia's Grand Mufti on Monday condemned Western occupations of foreign lands during a key sermon to millions of Muslims performing Haj. "Islam forbids the occupation of a country, and the unlawful shedding of civilian blood, and the destruction of crops and cattle," Grand Mufti of Saudi Arabia Sheikh Abdul Aziz Al-Sheikh said.
"The rights of people in third world nations is not as it is in other countries, and it is unacceptable that nations occupy these lands and rape them of their riches," the mufti told a crowd of some 3 million people from around the world. "But violence cannot be cured with violence and neither can terrorism be cured with force, but by lifting injustices levied on oppressed peoples," he told the pilgrims. Al-Sheikh stressed that Islam is a religion of "great mercy" and that it preached equality. Saudi Arabia has recently warned that the Haj pilgrimage could be targeted.