Salafi sectarians

Pakistan's Daily Times reports on a new round of sectarian name calling by Saudi Arabia's Salafi clerics:

Sunni clerics in Saudi Arabia accused the Shia community on Sunday of destabilising Muslim countries and humiliating Sunnis, just days before a Muslim interfaith conference called by Saudi Arabia’s king.

In a statement that appeared on several websites, clerics accused Shias of abusing Sunnis under their control. “If they (Shias) have a country, they humiliate and exert control in their rule over Sunnis, such as the case in Iran and Iraq,” said the clerics. “They sow strife, corruption and destruction among Muslims and destabilise security in Muslim countries,” it said.

In the strongly worded statement, the 22 clerics criticised the Iranian-backed Shia Hezbollah in Lebanon, saying, “Many Muslim intellectuals as well as the masses have been deceived by (Shia) claims ... of enmity toward Jews and Americans, which is what happened with the claims of the so-called Hezbollah in Lebanon.”