Prince’s comments

Following are excerpts from Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah’s address to his subjects, according to the Saudi Embassy in Washington:

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The tragic, bloody and painful events that took place in the heart of our dear capital, Riyadh, last night, in which innocent citizens and residents were killed or injured, prove once again that terrorists are criminals and murderers with total disregard for any Islamic and human values or decency....

These tragic events should serve as a warning to the unwary and should restore sanity to the deluded. The perpetrators are but a small group of deviants whose objective is to do harm to our society....

The whole Saudi nation, old and young, men and women, stand shoulder to shoulder in condemning this heinous act and expressing their rejection of those who perpetrated it. We will be steadfast in defending our homeland, the cradle of Islam, and the heart of the Arab world.

If these murderers believe that their criminal and bloody act will shake our nation or its unity, they are mistaken. ....

This is because the Saudi people, who have embraced the Holy Book as their guide and the Sharia [Islamic law] as their way of life, and who have rallied behind their leaders, who in turn embraced them, will not permit a deviant few to shed the blood of the innocent which God almighty, in his infinite wisdom and justice, has sanctified....

There can be no acceptance or justification for terrorism. Nor is there a place for any ideology which promotes it, or beliefs which condone it. We specifically warn anyone who tries to justify these crimes in the name of religion....

....As revealed in the holy Koran, the taking of an innocent life is a crime against all of humanity....

I vow to my fellow citizens and to the friends who reside among us that the state will be vigilant about their security and well-being. Our nation is capable, by the grace of God almighty and the unity of its citizens, to confront and destroy the threat posed by a deviant few and those who endorse or support them.

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Los Angeles Times