DURING his sermon at a mosque in the eastern city of Qatif last Friday, Sheikh Hassan Al-Saffar (a renowned Saudi Shiite scholar) dismissed the uncovering of an espionage network consisting of 16 Saudis, an Iranian and a Lebanese as sheer fabrication aimed at distracting people and settling accounts. The same opinion was expressed by a statement issued by a number of Saudi Shiite intellectuals. They said the whole matter was no more than a manufactured falsehood or an attempt to settle scores. In fact what Sheikh Al-Saffar and the Shiite intellectuals have said was not much different than the mindset of people who mistakenly believe that they are being persecuted and eternally targeted. It is the same tone we had heard from the extremist Shiites during their recent battles with the security men, who were dealing with terrorists and outlaws in Qatif. Therefore, the people who today defend espionage and treason even before the investigations are completed are not at all different from those who exploded Molotov cocktails and fired gun shots killing innocent people in broad daylight in Qatif. Frankly speaking, there is a crisis in the relations of some citizens with their country. These citizens are not yet able to determine their identities. The matter by far surpasses the attitude regarding espionage and acts of terrorism being practiced by some Shiites. Sheikh Al-Saffar never targeted the lists of wanted Al-Qaeda terrorists announced by the Ministry of Interior as an act of fabrication or a settlement of accounts. On the contrary, he wrote articles and delivered sermons in which he strongly supported the government and lashed at the extremists and their fanaticism. The intellectuals who signed the statement did not consider the government's war against Al-Qaeda a fabrication. They supported the government's efforts to protect their society against the evils of the terrorists. I would like to ask Sheikh Al-Saffar a simple question. Can a Sunni scholar in Iran take up the dais at a mosque to accuse the government of fabrication and conspiracy and then go home safely to wait for his next Friday sermon? The Shiites are part of our social fabric. They have duties and rights on equal footing with the other Saudi citizens regardless of their religious beliefs. Some of them have reached high positions in the service of their country and some are still struggling in their journey similar to many Sunni Saudis. There are some Saudi Shiites who have fallen prey to the misconception that they are being repressed and persecuted. However, when it comes to espionage and treason, the only factor that can unite or divide us is loyalty to the homeland.
