One of al-Qaeda's most prominent members took a shot at Saudi Arabia's king Monday, accusing him of wanting to "spawn a new religion" and issuing a call to kill him for having betrayed Islam.
In a video message posted on several Islamic websites, Afghanistan terrorist Abu Yahya al-Libi strongly criticised the recent inter-faith meeting that drew Islamic, Jewish, and Christian leaders to the city of Madrid.
"The Prophet (Muhammad) ordered us to drive unbelievers from the Arabian Peninsula," he said, according to Italy-based Adnkronos International. "Today, the Saudi royal family is destroying our Islamic tenets by showing Muslims it is possible to spread Christian principles.
"By sitting side by side in public, they are taking part in the Crusader campaign," Libi added.
It has been nearly two weeks since Saudi Arabia hosted the high profile inter-faith meeting in Spain's capital city to highlight the shared heritage of Jews, Christians and Muslims as children of Abraham and to ease tensions between the three faith groups.
At the conclusion of the conference, religious leaders issued a joint statement asking the UN General Assembly to call a special session to help foster dialogue between "followers of religions, civilisations and cultures" and prevent "a clash of civilizations".
"Terrorism is a universal phenomenon that requires unified international efforts to combat it in a serious, responsible and just way," representatives at the three-day World Conference on Dialogue said in their final statement, according to Agence France-Presse.
"This demands an international agreement on defining terrorism, addressing its root causes and achieving justice and stability in the world."
In his opening address, Abdullah had exhorted to attendees how extremism rather than religion should be blamed for history's conflict.
"My brothers, we must tell the world that differences don't need to lead to disputes," the Saudi king said through a Spanish interpreter, according to The Associated Press. "The tragedies we have experienced throughout history were not the fault of religion but because of the extremism that has been adopted by some followers of all the religions, and of all political systems."
