Saudi crown prince promises ‘a more moderate Islam’
SAUDI ARABIA - As his country experiences the early pangs of a cultural and economic transformation, Saudi Arabia’s crown prince vowed to destroy “extremist ideologies” in a bid to return to “a more moderate Islam.” Speaking at the Future Investment Initiative conference in Riyadh, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman said the moves will put the kingdom in lockstep with many other nations as it seeks to transform its economy over the coming decades. “We want to lead normal lives, lives where our religion and our traditions translate into tolerance, so that we coexist with the world and become part of the development of the world,” he said. It’s a move sure to rile the ultraconservative clerics who have held sway in the kingdom, even if that sway appears to be waning. At the same time, the prince’s declaration will be heralded by Saudi Arabia’s increasingly youthful population and the outside world, on whom the kingdom will rely in its quest to overhaul its finances. “Seventy percent of the Saudi population is under the age of 30. In all honesty, we will not spend 30 years of our lives dealing with extremist ideologies. We will destroy them today and immediately,” bin Salman said.
He continued: “Saudi was not like this before ‘79. Saudi Arabia and the entire region went through a revival after ‘79 . ... All we’re doing is going back to what we were: a moderate Islam that is open to all religions and to the world and to all traditions and people.”
Conference attendees broke into applause.
(CNN.COM/ Photo: The Times)