Saudi king asks for religious reconcilliation

Calcutta News.Net
Wednesday 16th July, 2008

At an interfaith conference, King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia has exhorted followers of the world's leading religions to shun extremism and embrace reconciliation.

King Abdullah's comments came at the start of a Saudi-sponsored gathering in Spain, that aims to bring Muslims, Christians and Jews closer together.

King Abdullah said that history's great conflicts were not caused by religion itself but by its misinterpretation.

He said: 'The tragedies we have experienced throughout history were not the fault of religion but because of the extremism that has been adopted by some followers of all the religions, and of all political systems.'

The Saudis have billed the gathering as strictly religious, with no political leanings.

The three-day Madrid conference will also hear a number of Jewish religious figures, including David Rosen, a prominent Irish-Israeli rabbi and
Rabbi David Weiss, who objects to the creation of Israel on the grounds that it violates Jewish religious law.

Have your say on this story