Iraqi Affairs Expert:

Claims by al-Sharq al-Awsat newspaper originate from Saudi hatred of Shi’ahs

Rasa – Abdul-Jalil al-Zubaydi stated that the claims propagated by al-Sharq al-Awsat originate from the spirit, belief and recommendations of the Al Saud regime, especially in regard to their malice and hatred towards Shi’ahs because the Arba’in pilgrimage is a global event which is clearly based on positive Shi’ah ideals.

News ID: 425271

Date: 27 November 2016 - 19:54

RNA – In an interview, Abdul-Jalil al-Zubaydi, an Iraqi affairs expert, pointed to recent accusations and conspiracies published by the Saudi newspaper al-Sharq al-Awsat in regard to an article that the newspaper ran on Sunday in which it accused Iranian pilgrims taking part in the Arba’in pilgrimage of sexually harassing women and said, “The rumour published in this Saudi newspaper was published intentionally and professionally and the newspaper had certain goals in mind.”

The article quoted a World Health Organization (WHO) spokesman as saying that after last year’s Arba’in pilgrimage, more than 169 Iraqi women became pregnant out of wedlock.

The UN’s health agency said the “claim that this information was released by a WHO headquarters communications officer is completely erroneous.”

al-Zubaydi said that condemning the several million-strong Arba’in pilgrimage, diminishing its value and portraying this global gathering in a negative light were some of the objectives of this newspaper and added that the biased al-Sharq al-Awsat newspaper also sought to eliminate the influence of the pilgrimage.

He said that with these allegations, they seek to spread sedition between pilgrims from Iran and pilgrims from other countries and also, with these rumours they seek to target the Basij and emphasize that the pilgrims are not Iranian citizens and that Iranian pilgrims are government workers and are not average people!

His Eminence said that this “malicious and irreverent” Saudi newspaper attempted to provoke ethnic and tribal chaos against the Arba’in pilgrims southern Iraq.

al-Zubaydi stated that he believes that the aim of these rumours is obvious – to diminish the positive image that this pilgrimage of more than twenty million people has brought to Iraq.

The Iraqi expert stated that the claims propagated by al-Sharq al-Awsat originate from the spirit, belief and recommendations of the Al Saud regime, especially in regard to their malice and hatred towards Shi’ahs because the Arba’in pilgrimage is a global event which is clearly based on positive Shi’ah ideals.

The fact that more than twenty million people participated in the pilgrimage and despite the negative and politicized cyber propaganda published by Wahhabi groups, their aberrant and misleading plots against Shi’ahs have failed.

al-Zubaydi said Iraq’s victory over Daesh and over global terrorism as well as the proper management of the Arba’in pilgrimage has reflected in the world and added, “All of the strategies and programs that Saudi Arabia has sought to impose on Iraq over the past thirteen years have failed.”

In conclusion, He referred to the 2015 Hajj tragedy and said that these rumours were directed toward the Arba’in pilgrimage because twenty million people are gathered in a small city called Karbala without the existence of any problems or without the collapse of any crane!

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