Shiites move to have cordial ties with Sunnis

Riyadh: Eleven Shiite activists and cultural figures have issued an online statement seeking rapprochement with the major Sunni section of the Muslim Ummah across the world, especially in the GCC States.

They also expressed their readiness to abandon several religious principles that promote sectarianism and friction within Muslim society.

The statement, signed by 11 Shiite writers and activists who belong to the Twelvers, the largest Shiite sect, underlines the need to improve the image of their sect across Arab countries. The signatories, most of them Saudis, called for a new era of fruitful and positive relations between Arab Shiites and their brothers, who are their fellow citizens.

Promoting tolerance

In the statement, carried by the Arabic website of Ukhdud from the southern Saudi region of Najran, the Shiite figures said that, "being members of the new generation of the Shiite sect of Ithna Ashariya (Twelvers), we agreed to reject several religious principles that stand in the way of promoting tolerance and love with our brothers in Islam."

"We are issuing this statement to pronounce our ideology, understandings and goals for liberating the Shiite Islam from hegemonic trends and put an end to all those factors that hamper good relations with our brothers in religion, nation, and humanity," the statement added.