Saudi Call for Jihad

A group of Saudi religious scholars have signed an open letter urging Iraqis to support jihad against US-led forces.

"Fighting the occupiers is a duty for all those who are able," they said in a statement posted on the internet at the weekend. "Resistance is a legitimate right. A Muslim must not inflict harm on any resistance man or inform about them. Instead, they should be supported and protected."

The 26 signatories - some of whom have been in trouble with the authorities - made their appeal to Iraqis only and stopped short of calling on Muslims outside Iraq to join the struggle.

They also said Iraqis should not target people from countries whose governments have not taken part in the war.

"At no time in history has a whole people been violated ... by propaganda that has been proved false," Sheikh Awad al-Qarni, one of the scholars, told al-Arabiya TV. Other signatories included Safar al-Hawali, Nasser al-Omar, Salman al-Awdah and Sharif Hatem al-Aouni.

Mr Hawali, imprisoned for five years during the 1990s because of his militant views, was once close to Osama bin Laden but has been acting as an intermediary between the Saudi government and al-Qaida elements in the kingdom.

In July he reportedly tried to negotiate the surrender of Salih al-Awfi, al-Qaida's leader in Saudi Arabia, but without success. Although some of the scholars have been hostile towards Shias in the past, the statement stressed the importance of a unified Iraq, urging Iraqis to forsake personal, regional or tribal interests for the benefit of the country.