Saudi Arabia’s top scholars have issued an edict forbidding attacks on non-Muslims as anti-U.S. sentiment sweeps the region ahead of a possible war in Iraq. The influential council of Sunni Muslim scholars said it was a crime to randomly judge people as infidels and target them, in apparent reference to attacks on U.S. citizens and interests in the region, most recently in neighbouring Kuwait. “The council declares that…what is happening in some countries from the shedding of innocent blood and the bombing of buildings and ships and the destruction of public and private installations is a criminal act and against Islam,” said the statement carried on Thursday by Saudi newspapers. “Those who carry out such acts have deviant beliefs and misleading ideologies and are responsible for their crime… Islam and Muslims should not be held accountable for their actions,” the statement added. Full Story