Image copyright ISNA Representatives of the Shiite minority in Saudi Arabia reached the mass protests following the execution of a preacher Nimrah Bakr al-Nimrah, which took place this Saturday.
The execution of Shiite theologian, often called Sheikh Nimr also provoked outrage in the Shiite communities throughout the region and beyond.
More than a thousand people took to the streets of the Saudi city of Qatif, despite operating in the country ban mass protests.
In the crowd there were calls to deal with the royal family of Saudi Arabia.
The leader of Iraq’s Shiite Muqtada al-Sadr, according to Reuters, called on the people of Iraq, Saudi Arabia and other Gulf countries take to the streets to express their anger over the executions of al-Nimrah, pointing out that the shares must be peaceful.
Peaceful protests of Shiites, he said, will help in the future to cope with the “state terrorism “.
The Shiites make up about 10-15% of the population of Saudi Arabia and live mainly in the eastern provinces of the country.
Iran, the majority of the population is Shiite Muslims, called the Saudi charge d’affaires in Tehran to declare him an official protest of the execution of al-Nimrah.
Tehran has condemned the execution of a preacher in the strongest possible terms. In a statement, the Iranian Foreign Ministry said that the Sunni kingdom would pay a high price for his actions.
Shia Council in Lebanon, called the penalty preacher major mistake, while the radical Shiite group “Hezbollah” stated that it was a political assassination.
The protests were also held in Bahrain, where they clashed with police, and in addition that in Yemen and Pakistan.
The government of Saudi Arabia on Saturday led to execute 47 convicted of terrorism, among whom was al-Nimr.
The authorities accused the famous Shiite preacher and activist, that he sought foreign interference in the affairs of the country and did not obey its rulers, and used the weapons against the security forces.
47 executed
In turn, relatives and supporters of Nimrah claim that he had not been involved in terrorist activities, and served only for peaceful protests.
In this regard, the verdict was appealed, but in October the Court of Appeal upheld the lower court.
Sheikh Nimr in 2011 supported the massive anti-government demonstrations of Shiites that erupted in the eastern province of the country.
This preacher was very popular among some of the Arab youth.
A year later he was arrested. During the arrest the preacher got gunshot wounds, which caused a new mass protests, has been simmering for several days.
Death sentences Saturday were executed simultaneously in 12 locations scattered throughout Saudi Arabia. Among the 47 executed one was the owner of Canadian citizenship, another – an Egyptian national; others – Saudi nationals.
According to reports, among those sentenced was Adel al-Dubayti convicted in 2014 for taking part in an armed attack committed ten years earlier, during which the cameraman was killed Bi BBC Simon Kambers.
Al-Dubayti participated in a series of attacks by “al-Qaeda”, including the attack in Riyadh, during which was also seriously wounded correspondent Bi-bi-si Frank Gardner.
__________________________________________________________________
ANALYSIS
Middle East editor of the BBC BBC Alan Johnston
Sheikh Nimr was very influential and daring to the language preacher, expresses the idea of the representatives of the Shiite minority in Saudi Arabia, who felt thrown by the wayside, and discriminated against by the Sunni majority.
He was a figure very active through inter-religious rift between Sunnis and Shiites, which creates tension in the kingdom, and far beyond it.
As a powerful Shiite power, which has serious influence in the region, Iran has a serious interest in the affairs of the Shiite minorities throughout the Middle East. And it was absolutely inevitable that Tehran and Riyadh will face each other on the treatment of Sheikh Nimr.
The Iranian side has performed with a warning that the death sentence against him should not be executed. However, one of the major concerns of the ruling dynasty of the Saudis is all rising, as they seem to be Iran’s influence in places such as Syria, Iraq and so on.
So, perhaps it is not surprising that they began to feel vibrations under pressure from Iran on this, the most sensitive issue for them in their own backyard.
__________________________________________________________________
No comments:
Post a Comment