MAKKAH – The Imam of the Grand Mosque called on Arabs and Muslims Friday to take “practical and urgent” steps to stop bloodshed in Syria that has killed some 30,000 people, and urged the international community to assume its moral responsibility toward the conflict. “The world should bear responsibility for this prolonged and painful disaster (in Syria) and the responsibility is greater for the Arabs and Muslims who should call on each other to support the oppressed against the oppressor,” said Sheikh Saleh Mohammed Al-Taleb in his Eid Al-Adha sermon. “The solution should be practical and urgent because the oppressor becomes even more fierce as the days pass,” he added. “The world should take moral and legal responsibility against the massacres and the oppression that the Syrian people are subjected to as well as the continuing violations in Palestine,” Al-Taleb said. “The war and destruction should be stopped and the higher interests should be ahead of personal interests in order to stop the spilling of the Muslims' blood,” he added. “The Muslim Ummah has been suffering because Palestine, Syria, Burma (Myanmar) and other Muslim states have been suffering immensely. The world's trust in international organizations has been shaken. It has become obvious that these organizations only take action when their interests are threatened. They don't care about the babies and children who have been crying and the injured writhing in pain,” said Al-Taleb. – SG
