Iraqi Muslim Scholars Head Visits Saleh
This is the same guy who visited Yemen in December 2005 for the al-Quds conference along with Khaled Mashal (Hamas), Hussein Hadrooj (Lebanese Hezbullah), and Sheikh Yusuf al-Qaradawi (who collected four million dollars for his foundation), all of whom at the time met with President Saleh.
Sana’a- The head of the Sunni Association of Muslim Scholars in Iraq, Sheikh Harith al-Dhari is due to arrive in Sana’a late Saturday for talks with Yemeni officials on Iraq, Yemeni government officials said. Dhari, one of Iraq’s most prominent Sunni figures, is to meet with Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh to discuss a Yemeni plan to host Iraq’s political rivals for reconciliation talks, a senior Yemeni official told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa.
Last week, Yemeni Foreign Minister Abu-Bakr al-Qerbi said his country was negotiating with the Iraqi government and its rivals to convince them attend a reconciliation conference in Yemen.
The minister said the Arab League and Iraq’s neighbours were also involved in the discussions but gave no date for the proposed conference.
Some news sources report that al-Dhari is currently in Yemen to mobilize support for his opposition to the current regime in Iraq, and will be meeting President Saleh and Sheikh AL-Zindani. Al-Dhari is known in Iraq for his auspices of hard-line Islamic armed resistance to the Americans and Iraqi government. At a press conference, Al-Dhari said his purpose in visiting Yemen is to unite those factions and groups opposing the US and what better place to do it:
‘We call on all those opposing the American occupation to meet for dialogue,’ Sheikh Harith al-Dhari, who heads the Association of Muslim Scholars in Iraq, said in the Yemeni capital Sana’a. He said the Shiite-dominated Iraqi government ‘was brought in by the American occupation, which is taking advantage of it to exclude other Iraqi (political) forces,’ he said referring to the Sunni minority.‘We reject this government,’ said al-Dhari, who is one of Iraq’s most prominent Sunni figures. He added that ‘this government has brought evil from which Iraq and Iraqis are suffering.’ Al-Dhari said efforts by some Arab countries to bring together Iraqi officials and opposition leaders for talks were aimed at ‘giving further chances for the occupation to continue destruction and exclusion.’
More on al-Dhari’s background and more from al-Motamar:
This came in a symposium organized by the Yemeni Popular Committee to Support Palestinian, Lebanon, Iraqi Resistance at Sana’a University.
Al-Dhari affirmed Iraqi resistance will stop only after the departure of last American soldier from Iraq. “Resistance existed only to resist occupation, and so it will go on so long as the occupation remains there,” he added. In his speech, al-Dhari accused the US intelligence and its agents in Iraq of inciting sedition among Iraqis, making it clear the killings of hundreds of Iraqis result from a political sedition run by the occupation forces. The American occupation resorted to criminal acts as it failed to achieve its aims and plans in Iraq, he noted.
For his part, Yahya Mohammed Abdullah Saleh chairman of the Popular Committee, praised the Iraqi resistance that could prove itself and cause loses to the occupation forces. He considered the siege imposed by the US on Iraq as a clear example of the hostility of the US and its allies.
Yahya Mohammed Abdullah Saleh, who praised the deaths of US troops, is the Commander Of the Security Central Forces and President Saleh’s Nephew. He also handles a lot of the funds and fund raising as Chairman of the Yemeni Public Committee to Support the Resistance.
Also from News Yemen: Member of the Association of Muslim Scholars, Dr. Abdul-Salam al-Kebsi, who delivered a speech in ceremony….suggested specifying a day to be called “Curse Day” in which Iraqis curse the day US occupation forces have entered Iraq, according to al-Kebsi.
Meanwhile, that Saleh also a buzy guy. According to 26 Sept on Friday he met with Iran’s Ahmadinejad, Syria’s Assad and Hamas’ Ismail Hayiyeh in Qatar:
On Friday, Ahmadinejad, Haniyeh and Syrian President Bashar al-Assad joined Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh and Kuwait’s Prime Minister Nasser al-Hamad Al Sabah at the opening ceremony of the 15th Asian Games. Hamas chief Haniyeh was the only visitor to the games received at Qatar’s airport by the country’s Emir Sheik Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, according to Qatar’s news agency.
