Western Countries Ordered Spread of Wahhabism: Saudi Crown Prince

Alwaght- The Wahhabi extremist ideology was spread by Saudi Arabic across the world at the request of Western countries, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman has revealed.

Speaking to Washington Post, bin Salman said that Saudi Arabia's Western allies urged the country to invest in mosques and madrassas (religious schools) overseas during the Cold War, in an effort to prevent encroachment in Muslim countries by the Soviet Union.

He added that successive Saudi regime had lost track of that effort, saying "we have to get it all back." Bin Salman also said that funding now comes mostly from Saudi-based "foundations," rather than from the ruling regime.

Saudi Arabia is widely believed to be a key sponsor of the Takfiri terrorists, who have been operating to topple the Syrian government since 2011. Takfirism is largely influenced by Wahhabism, the extremist ideology officially practiced in Saudi Arabia and freely preached by the regime-paid clerics. All leading Takfiri terrorist groups in the world such as ISIS, Taliban, al-Qaeda, al-Shabaab and Boko Haram adhere to the Wahhabi ideology.

The crown prince’s 75-minute interview with the Washington Post took place on March 22, the final day of his US tour. Another topic of discussion included a previous claim by US media that bin Salman had said that he had White House senior adviser Jared Kushner "in his pocket."

Bin Salman, who is the de facto ruler of Saudi Arabia, denied reports that when he and Kushner – who is also Donald Trump's son-in-law – met in Riyadh in October, he had sought or received a greenlight from Kushner for the massive crackdown on alleged corruption which led to widespread arrests in the kingdom shortly afterwards. According to bin Salman, the arrests were a domestic issue and had been in the works for years.

The crown prince also spoke about the four-year aggression on Yemen, where a Saudi-led coalition continues to launch a bombing campaign against Ansarullah movement in an attempt to reinstate ousted Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi as president. The conflict has killed over 14,000 Yemeni’s mostly women and children, displaced many more, driven the country to the brink of famine, and led to a major cholera outbreak.

The interview with the crown prince was initially held off the record. However, the Saudi embassy later agreed to let the Washington Post publish specific portions of the meeting.