Manama: Bahrain’s foreign minister has called for common mosques for Sunnis and Shiites, saying that the separation of their worship houses was not acceptable.
“The separate mosques for Shiites and for Sunnis are a huge bidaa (unacceptable innovation in religious matters),” Shaikh Khalid Bin Ahmad Al Khalifa said. This separation has encouraged those bidding for sedition and divisions. We must have the same mosques and the same prayers,” he posted on his Twitter account.
Shaikh Khalid was reacting to the dramatic bombing in a Shiite mosque in Kuwait that killed 27 worshippers and wounded dozens during the Friday prayers. Shaikh Khalid quickly described it as a terrorist crime targeting innocent people.
“This is not a matter of sectarianism. It is a war on Islam and the sedition is carefully calculated. National unity is required in order to confront those who are working on dividing us,” Shaikh Khalid posted to his more than 226, 000 followers. “I do respect other opinions, but I will never respect the view of anyone who refuses common mosques for all Muslims, It is pure sectarianism,” he said.
In Kuwait, reports say the interior ministry has found a car parked behind the blast-hit Al Sadiq Mosque that was used by the bomber.
The security authorities launched raids and arrested several suspects as it started its investigation into the blast that shocked the nation to the core.
United in their grief, Kuwaitis across the nation’s wide ideological spectrum condemned the terrorist attack.
“The targeting and killing of innocent people is a cowardly act that cannot be understood or explained in any way,” former lawmaker Faisal Al Musallam said. “May God preserve Kuwait and protect its people from all evils.”
Osama Al Munawer, another ex-MP, said that only a lunatic would blow himself up in a bid to trigger sedition in the country.
Former lawmaker Khalid Al Tahoos offered his condolences and insisted that the bomber was a coward.
The Salafi movement said in a statement it issued a short time after the attack that the security agencies should not rest until the culprits are identified and brought to justice.
Law expert Fawaz Al Jidai said that terrorism could live only in an environment polluted with sectarianism.
“What they have just done in Kuwait is not an objective, it is rather the means to create an environment where terrorism could thrive,” he said.
The Blood Bank said that 300 people had donated blood and there were no shortage issues.
The donors responded to calls to ensure enough blood was available to deal with the dramatic suicide bombing.
