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Saudi Editor Says Article On
Jewish Pastry Was Wrong

3-21-2

RIYADH (Reuters) - A Saudi editor said on Thursday that an article published by his newspaper claiming that Jews add human blood to pastries they eat at a religious festival was wrong and that he had ended a contract with its author.
 
"What has been mentioned by this writer is wrong. It neither reflects the opinion of al-Riyadh newspaper nor the Saudi government. We have full respect for all religions," said Turki Abdullah al-Sudairi, editor-in-chief of al-Riyadh daily.
 
State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said on Wednesday that Washington had complained to the Saudi government about the article, saying it was baseless and inflammatory.
 
The article by Omayma Ahmed al-Jalahma, who teaches at King Faisal University, appeared in the newspaper on March 10 and has been widely circulated in translation.
 
Sudairi said he was outside Saudi Arabia when the article was published and that Jalahma has been stopped from writing for the paper since then.
 
"Anyway, she's not working full-time for us. She only started last month as a freelancer," he told Reuters.
 
Jalahma's article said: "This (Purim) feast requires the Jewish people to provide human blood so that their men of religion can prepare the feast pastry, in other words the rituals of their feast can take place properly only if they shed human blood."
 
It said shedding human blood to make pastries was a permanent feature of Jewish history and law and a fundamental reason for the persecution and eviction of the Jews.
 
Al-Riyadh newspaper is privately owned but, like all Saudi media, it stays within limits set by the government of Saudi Arabia, a key U.S. ally in the Middle East.
 
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