Saudis Rattled by Terror Attacks; Bombings Kill 4
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SUBSCRIPTION WEDNESDAY, JULY 6, 2016 SHAWWAL 1 , 1437 AH www.kuwaittimes.net Saudis rattled by terror Min 32º Max 47º attacks; bombings kill 4 High Tide 01:42 & 12:16 Low Tide Suicide bombers hit 3 Saudi cities, Pakistani attacker identified 06:59 & 19:59 40 PAGES NO: 16926 150 FILS RIYADH: Outrage spread yesterday after a deadly sui- EID GREETINGS cide bombing at Islam’s second-holiest site in the Kuwait Times Editor-in-Chief Abd Al-Rahman Al-Alyan Saudi city of Medina, one of three attacks in the king- wishes HH the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah, dom on a single day. Religious and political leaders HH the Crown Prince Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al- across the Middle East denounced the attack near the Sabah, HH the Prime Minister Sheikh Jaber Al- Prophet’s Mosque that left four dead and came as Mubarak Al-Sabah, Cabinet members, heads of states Muslims prepare for the feast this week marking the around the world, Kuwaitis, expatriates and our val- end of the holy month Ramadan. ued readers Eid Mubarak. Kuwait Times will not be published from July 7 to 9. Our next issue will be pub- There were no claims of responsibility for Monday’s lished on Sunday, July 10. bombings in Medina, Jeddah and the eastern city of Qatif, but the Islamic State group had urged its sup- porters to carry out attacks during Ramadan. The jihadist group has claimed or been blamed for a wave Ramadan Kareem of shootings and bombings during the holy month this year, including in Orlando, Bangladesh, Istanbul Farewell! Ramadan and Baghdad. The suicide bombing in Medina came during sunset prayers at the mosque-where Islam’s Prophet By Teresa Lesher Mohammed (PBUH) is buried and which attracts mil- lions of pilgrims each year. The Saudi Interior Ministry lthough the hardship of Ramadan is about to end and said officers became suspicious of a man heading for festivities of Eid are about to begin, there will be sadness the Prophet’s Mosque through a parking lot. “As they in every devout Muslim’s heart that Ramadan has A tried to stop him, he blew himself up with an explosive passed. Barely having had their last breakfast at sunset, they will immediately start looking forward to the next Ramadan and belt causing his death and the death of four police,” counting the months and weeks until it comes again. the statement said, adding that five others were They will begin to greet one another with the phrase wounded. The targeting of Medina caused widespread “Aasakom min awadah” which means, “May you repeat it.” outrage, both in Saudi Arabia and across the Muslim Some people may tilt their head in confusion and wonder world. The head of Saudi Arabia’s Shura Council, the MEDINA: People stand near an explosion site in Medina. (Inset) Undated photo shows Abdullah Qalzar Khan, why would anyone look forward to a month of daily 16- kingdom’s main government advisory body, called it who is alleged to have carried out a suicide attack in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia identified the suicide hour fasts in 45 degree temperatures? What is so special an “unprecedented” incident. bomber as a Pakistani resident of the kingdom who arrived 12 years ago to work as a driver. — AP about Ramadan? First of all, Ramadan is an opportunity Continued on Page 13 to express your devotion to Allah. Everything on the earth was created for us, according to many verses in the Quran (eg, 2:29). Many use their time and the earth’s resources to satisfy themselves through acquiring News Killing of Saudi mother sparks things, entertaining themselves and seeking sensual pleasures. in brief Doing so is not necessarily forbidden but it shouldn’t be the debate about Islamic scholar goal of ones’ life. So why were we created? Allah gave us life and He hopes that we will voluntarily give it back to him through Muslim teens beaten worship and submission to His will. outside a NY mosque Twins accused of killing their mother Almost everything we do in life has some sort of return NEW YORK: Two Muslim teenagers were beaten outside DUBAI: Driven by radical beliefs, twin brothers alleged- father and their 22-year-old brother at the family home for us, even if it is done purely for Allah’s sake. For exam- a New York City mosque by an attacker who shouted ly killed their mother in Saudi Arabia after she tried to in the capital Riyadh. The mother, who died of her ple, when we give charity, others benefit and we feel their slurs at them, a rights group said on Monday, calling for stop them from joining Islamic State in Syria in a case wounds, had objected to her sons joining Islamic State happiness too. But fasting in Ramadan is a chance to police to investigate the incident as a bias crime. The that outraged Saudi Arabians worried about rising jihadists in Syria, Saudi media reported. show our devotion to our Lord, because nobody benefits attack early on Sunday was at least the third involving Islamic militancy. The June 24 killing, in a country The father and brother were in hospital in a serious from the fast. Nobody even knows if you are fasting, so Muslims in the United States over the weekend. A law where respect for elders is seen as a bedrock of society, condition, while the alleged attackers were arrested this expression of faith is purely for Allah. enforcement source said investigators had ruled out the whipped up a storm of debate over the possible influ- trying to flee across the border to Yemen, media said. Another reason many people are sad to bid Ramadan incident as a bias crime. The New York chapter of the ence of a mediaeval Islamic scholar revered as a fore- Reuters was unable to confirm the status of family farewell is because the atmosphere of intensified worship Council on American-Islamic Relations, or CAIR, said in a runner of Saudi Arabia’s Wahhabi school of Sunni Islam. members or the whereabouts of the suspects. “Had this and charity will pass, as well as the extra rewards that we statement that a 16-year-old boy was attacked outside Saudi Interior Ministry spokesman General Mansour come from drug addicts or ignorant youth, it would not are promised. Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) said that one Brooklyn’s Muslim Community Center as he took a Al-Turki said the pair were suspects in the killing. “The have been unusual,” Saudi writer Mohammad Ali Al- who fasts during Ramadan with faith and hope in Allah’s break from prayers. A surveillance video released by only thing (we have established) is that they (the twins) Mahmoud said. “The shock is that it came from a pair of reward will have his past sins forgiven. One who prays at CAIR showed a man punching, kicking and stomping follow Takfiri ideology,” Turki said, using a phrase which religious children acting in the name of Islam.” This is night in Ramadan with faith and hope in Allah’s reward the youth as he lay in the street. Another teenager on a Saudi authorities use to refer to Islamist militancy. “The the fifth killing of family members by suspected mili- will also have his past sins forgiven. bicycle was chased and attacked when he rode past the case is still under investigation,” said the spokesman, tants in Saudi Arabia since July last year, the online And only in Ramadan can we experience Lailatul-Qadr, boy. CAIR said the man was reportedly heard shouting: who declined to give further details. Saudi news website akhbaar24 reported on June 26. whose merit is worth a thousand months, according to the “You Muslims are the cause of all the problems of the Reuters was unable to contact the 20-year-old twins, There have been similar cases of other killings of Quran. These holy days and nights are treasures to devout world” and calling the youths “terrorists.” Muslims. And soon this unique holy season will pass and life will or their lawyers or family members, and could not close relatives by Islamic state members, including a go on as usual. I will miss Ramadan and all the lessons it teaches independently confirm if the alleged killing was influ- widely reported incident in January in which a suspect- me. I have learned so much about myself - about how my body Iraqi interior minister enced by Islamic State or religious ideology - or what ed militant killed his mother in public in the Syrian city can adjust to extreme circumstances, and about how dedicated the mother actually said. In a statement after the of Raqqa because she had encouraged him to leave the I can be when I am striving to accomplish something important. resigns after bombing attack, the interior ministry said that the twins, Khaled group. The killings compounded fears of radicalization BAGHDAD: Iraq’s Interior Minister says he submit- Continued on Page 13 and Saleh Al-Oraini, were arrested on suspicion of stab- in the kingdom. ted his resignation in the wake of Sunday’s devas- bing their 67-year-old mother Haila, their 73-year-old Continued on Page 13 tating suicide bombing in central Baghdad, which Nasa Juno spacecraft killed at least 200 people. Mohammed Salem Al- Ghabban told reporters yesterday that the gov- Gulf Cables crowned champions loops around Jupiter ernment “has failed in having the different array of security forces work under a unified plan in MIAMI: NASA celebrated a key triumph yesterday as its Baghdad.” He says Prime Minister Haider Al-Abadi $1.1 billion Juno spacecraft successfully slipped into has not yet accepted his resignation.