Saudi cleric slams ‘fabrications’ over missing journalist

RIYADH: The prayer leader at Makkah‘s Grand Mosque called Friday for “unity” in the face of “fabrications” against Saudi Arabia, over two weeks after a dissident journalist’s disappearance sparked a diplomatic crisis. “Repeated accusations, allegations and biased media campaigns will not discourage (Saudi Arabia) from holding to its principles,” Sheikh Abderrahman al-Sadis said during a sermon accompanying Friday prayers at the mosque in Makkah, the holiest site in Islam. The kingdom “depends on God alone, then on the wisdom of its leadership and the unity of its sons to fight false allegations”, he added. He urged Saudis to “depend on the facts and avoid jumping into speculation and basing positions on... fabrications”, adding that a “campaign” against the kingdom was “a provocation against the feelings of more than a billion Muslims” around the world.