RIYADH, Jan 3: A top Saudi cleric and justice official has branded protests in support of Gaza’s Palestinians as corrupt, saying that they only serve to foment anger and aggression, a newspaper reported on Saturday.

Sheikh Saalih al-Fawzaan, chief justice of the Supreme Judicial Council and one of the country’s top scholars of Islamic Shariat law, said the protests represent “corruption on Earth, and not righteousness or reform”, according to Al Hayat daily.

His statement came in the wake of protests last Monday in eastern Saudi Arabia against Israel’s attacks on Gaza. A protest was broken up by police firing rubber bullets and 11 people were arrested.

Such demonstrations are rare in Saudi Arabia, and Interior Ministry spokesman General Mansur al-Turki said earlier this week that they were banned.

Fawzaan, who also serves on the Council of Scholars which advises the Grand Mufti, Saudi Arabia’s highest Muslim figure, said demonstrations result in chaos and can become acts of sabotage and destruction.

“What good do demonstrations and rallies serve?” he asked.

Fawzaan meanwhile strongly criticised Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden as someone bent on spreading corruption and maltreatment. —AFP