9/13/2008: Intel News Brief: Saudi Official: Kill Broadcasters Who
Show Immoral Content:

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia - Saudi Arabia's top judiciary official has
issued a religious decree saying it is permissible to kill the owners
of satellite TV networks that broadcast immoral content.

The 79-year-old Sheik Saleh al-Lihedan said Thursday that satellite
channels cause the "deviance of thousands of people."

Many of the most popular Arab satellite networks — which include
channels showing music videos often denounced as obscene by Muslim
conservatives — are owned by Saudi princes and well-connected Saudi
businessmen. Al-Lihedan did not specify any particular channels. Al-
Lihedan is chief of the kingdom's highest tribunal, the Supreme
Judiciary Council. Saudi Arabia's judiciary is made up of Islamic
clerics whose decrees, or fatwas, on everyday issues are widely
respected. Their fatwas do not have the weight of law. In the courts,
cleric-judges rule according to Islamic law, but interpretations can
vary.

Al-Lihedan was answering listeners' questions during the daily "Light
in the Path" radio program in which he and others make rulings on what
is permissible under Islamic law.

One caller asked about Islam's view of the owners of satellite TV
channels that show "bad programs" during Ramadan.

"I want to advise the owners of these channels, who broadcast calls
for such indecency and impudence ... and I warn them of the
consequences," he said.

"What does the owner of these networks think, when he provides
seduction, obscenity and vulgarity?" he said.

"Those calling for corrupt beliefs, certainly it's permissible to kill
them," he said. "Those calling for sedition, those who are able to
prevent it but don't, it is permissible to kill them."

Among the most viewed Arabic satellite networks is Rotana, which airs
movies and music videos. It is owned by Prince Al-Waleed bin Talal, a
billionaire businessman and member of the royal family whom Forbes
ranks as the world's 13th-richest person.

Al-Lihedan sparked controversy in the past by issuing a decree that
Saudis can join jihadists to fight U.S. troops in Iraq.
Source: Morning Intel News Brief via Internal Company News Wire