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“Stop Syria bloodshed”, cleric urges

The imam of Makkah’s Grand Mosque called on Arabs and Muslims on Friday to take “practical and urgent” steps to stop bloodshed in Syria that has killed some 30,000 people, and urged world states to assume their moral responsibility towards the conflict.

Muslims from around the world on Friday celebrated Eid al-Adha, which marks the end of the annualHaj pilgrimage that attracted some three million people from nearly 190 countries.

“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 Sheik Saleh Mohammed al-Taleb in his sermon during Eid prayers.

“The solution should be practical and urgent because the oppressor becomes even more fierce as the days pass,” he added.

Assad’s forces announced a conditional Eid ceasefire on Thursday evening, responding to an appeal by international mediator Lakhdar Brahimi, though by Friday it had begun to unravel with fighting breaking out in various places.

“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,” Taleb, one of the most senior clerics in the kingdom, said.

“The war and destruction should be stopped and the higher interests should be ahead of personal interests in order to stop the spill of the Muslims’ blood,” he added.