Saudi preachers blame sinners for lack of rain

Saudi preachers on Saturday conducted prayers for rain in their desert kingdom and blamed the empty skies on sinfulness.

"Misfortune does not befall (a country) unless sins have been committed there," said the imam of the Grand Mosque in Mecca, Sheikh Abderrahman bin Abdel Aziz al-Sudeiss.



The sheikh, a critic of what he calls the "goodly number of people who chase after forbidden pleasures," singled out as particularly responsible for the lack of rain "corruption, bribery and the search for ill-gotten gain."

He also exhorted the faithful to "avoid the forbidden and the illicit," before calling on God to "shower the country with beneficial rains, for the good of the land and of men."