JEDDAH: The government is printing 1.5 million copies of an edict by religious scholars outlawing protests as un-Islamic. Religious scholars issued their fatwa, or religious edict, and senior officials issued warnings in the face of calls for protests in major cities of the Kingdom earlier this month. “The Grand Mufti requested that a number of government and private firms print and distribute more than a million copies,” Saudi Press Agency (SPA) said Tuesday, adding that 500,000 copies already had been printed. The news agency said the fatwa “called for strengthening cohesion and affinity” and called on the Saudi people to “have a united front... under its wise and legitimate leadership, warning (against) and forbidding demonstrations”. Grand Mufti Sheikh Abdul Aziz Aal Al-Sheikh is the country's highest religious official.
