“We are saying this not to please anybody but out of our conviction that showing mercy and compassion to our fellow human beings is the hallmark of Islam,” he added. He said it was the duty of the Muslims to provide full support for the government in its fight against terror.

Sheikh Saleh ibn Muhammad Al-Taleb, imam and khateeb of the Grand Mosque in Makkah, also called upon Muslims to mind the noble qualities of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him). “The life of the Prophet is full of examples of noble qualities and strong morality,” the imam said while delivering his Friday sermon.

Taleb noted that the Prophet prayed for mercy for the non-believers who had hurt him and his companions, expelled them from their homes, tried to kill them and waged wars against them. “O God, forgive my people for they do not know,” he quoted the Prophet as saying during the battle of Uhed.

The Haram imam emphasized the significance of showing mercy to one’s fellow beings, citing it as one of the outstanding qualities of the Prophet. “The Shariah is benevolence in its totality, in its objectives, applications and means. Islam is the religion of mercy not only in times of peace but also during war,” he said.

Turki’s statement and the imam’s sermon follow the announcement by the Interior Ministry on Wednesday that its security officers foiled major terror attacks in the Kingdom by a 19-member group linked to the Al-Qaeda network.

Meanwhile, Dr. Muhammad ibn Saad Al-Salim, rector of the Imam Muhammad ibn Saud Islamic University in Riyadh, rejected suggestions that his institution was one of the breeding grounds of terrorists. “Our university has no relationship with these people (the terrorists),” he told Okaz newspaper.

“We advise our students to follow the noble teachings of Islam, which calls for tolerance and cooperation for the welfare of all,” the rector said. He added that the university was revising its curriculum regularly to accommodate modern developments. More than 80,000 students have graduated from the university over the past 50 years.

Asharq Al-Awsat, a sister publication of Arab News, reported yesterday that Khaled Muhammad Al-Johani, one of the 19 Al-Qaeda suspects was believed to be the gang’s leader.

The Arabic daily said Johani’s picture had appeared on the website of the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) among 17 others more than a year ago.

The FBI listed Johani among Al-Qaeda suspects after its agents saw his picture in a video seized from the house of a former Al-Qaeda military commander, Muhammad Atef (Abu Hafs Al-Masri), who was killed in US bombings in Afghanistan in October 2001, the paper said.

Johani, who settled in Afghanistan in 1993 along with a number of Arab Afghans, had visited the Kingdom several times using forged travel documents but did not meet his father. Informed sources told the Arabic daily that Johani might have sneaked into the Kingdom a few months ago.