Riyadh (AsiaNews/Agencies) - Saudi Arabia's Grand Mufti Abdulaziz al-Shaikh reiterated his fatwa (religious edict) against drivers who cross with red lights.
The grand mufti, who is the most senior religious authority in Saudi Arabia, said that such a violation of traffic-law is a "major sin".
He issued the edict referring to a Qur'anic verse that says, "if you kill one person unjustly it is as if you killed the whole humanity, and if you saved once person it is as if you saved the whole humanity."
This is not the first time the Saudi cleric issued this kind of fatwa. In 2010, he made a similar proclamation, saying the person who caused the death of another person because of such a violation is guilty of involuntary man-slaughter.
Saudi Arabia has one of the highest rates of car accidents in the world with an average of 17 fatalities a day.
In 2010, a report by the Kingdom's General Directorate of Traffic indicated that almost a third of all traffic accidents in the Saudi capital Riyadh were due to drivers violating traffic signals.