Adama Dieng, the United Nations’ Secretary-General’s Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide, and Jennifer Welsh (pictured), Special Adviser on the Responsibility to Protect, have condemned the recent call by clerics in Saudi Arabia for Sunni Muslims and their States to support a “holy war” against Shia Muslims and Christians in Syria.
The Special Advisers have called on religious leaders around the world to refrain from advocating religious hatred and inciting violence. They encourage leaders to counter any use of such rhetoric, emphasizing that “religious leaders should be messengers of peace, not of war.”
“In situations in which tensions are high, as in Syria, religious leaders should call for and foster restraint and dialogue, rather than fanning the flames of hatred,” they cautioned.
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Image source: www.un.org
Text source: UN.org (UN News Centre), October 13th 2015