Saudi Arabia's top religious body condemned the attack that killed 84 people in the French city of Nice, according to a statement published on Saudi TV channel Ekhbaria's website.

The Secretariat of the Council of Senior Religious Scholars also said the world should not be distracted from the war in Syria and what it called crimes by the "Syrian regime."

"Islam values the sanctity of human blood and forbids terrorism which kills and terrifies peaceful people in their homes, markets and places of work. This terrorist crime ought to remind everyone of its equivalents in stricken Syria," it said.

Saudi Arabia opposes the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and has backed armed groups fighting his rule,

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