Saudis executed Shiite cleric

[MikeWB]

This is gonna rile up minorities there. KSA will experience the next uprising... just like Turkey will as well.



http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Middle-East/2016/Jan-02/329892-saudi-arabia-executes-shiite-cleric-nimr-al-nimr-on-charges-of-terrorism-interior-ministry.ashx

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia: Saudi Arabia executed 47 prisoners convicted of "terrorism" charges Saturday, including a prominent Shiite cleric who was a central figure in 2011 Arab Spring-inspired protests in the kingdom.

The killing of Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr may spark new unrest among Saudi Arabia's Shiite minority, largely concentrated in the kingdom's east, and in Bahrain, which has seen low-level violence since 2011 protests by its Shiite majority demanding greater rights from its Sunni monarchy.

The cleric's name was on a list of the 47 carried by the state-run Saudi Press Agency. It cited the Interior Ministry for the information. Saudi state television also reported the executions.

Of those executed, Saudi Arabia said 45 were Saudi citizens, one was from Chad and another was from Egypt.

Saudi Arabia said a royal court order was issued to implement the sentences after all appeals had been exhausted. The executions were carried out Saturday in the capital, Riyadh, and 12 other cities and towns, it said.

Al-Nimr had been a vocal critic of Bahrain's Sunni-led monarchy, which harshly suppressed the 2011 Shiite-led pro-democracy protests. Saudi Arabia sent troops to help Bahrain quash the uprising, fearing it would spread.

Amnesty International has called the verdict against the cleric, who was in his mid-50s, part of a campaign by Saudi authorities to "crush all dissent."

Before his arrest in 2012, al-Nimr had said the people do not want rulers who kill and carry out injustices against protesters. He was asked at his trial if he disapproves of the Al-Saud ruling family.

"If injustice stops against Shiites in the east, then (at that point) I can have a different opinion," the cleric responded, according to his brother Mohammed, who attended court sessions and spoke to The Associated Press before the verdict.

Al-Nimr did not deny the political charges against him, but said he never carried weapons or called for violence.

In announcing the verdicts, Saudi state television showed mugshots of all those executed. Al-Nimr was No. 46, expressionless with a gray beard, his head covered with the red-and-white scarf traditionally worn by Saudi men.

After listing the names and images of those executed, Saudi state television showed black-and-white footage of previous terror attacks in the kingdom, one showing bodies in a mosque after an attack. Soft, traditional music played in the background.

Saudi Arabia carried out at least 157 executions in 2015, with beheadings reaching their highest level in the kingdom in two decades, according to several advocacy groups that monitor the death penalty worldwide.

Coinciding with the rise in executions is the number of people executed for non-lethal offenses that judges have wide discretion to rule on, particularly drug-related crimes.

[MikeWB]

Saudi execution of Shiite cleric sparks outrage

Tehran (AFP) - Saudi Arabia's execution Saturday of a prominent Shiite cleric and 46 other men prompted outrage in parts of the Middle East, with Iran warning Riyadh would pay a "high price".

But several Saudi allies offered their support after Riyadh implemented death sentences against cleric Nimr al-Nimr, Shiite activists and Sunnis accused of involvement in Al-Qaeda attacks.

Iran's foreign ministry spokesman Hossein Jaber Ansari strongly condemned Riyadh for executing Nimr despite repeated Iranian requests for clemency.

"The Saudi government supports terrorist movements and extremists, but confronts domestic critics with oppression and execution... The Saudi government will pay a high price for following these policies," he said, quoted by the official IRNA news agency.

"The execution of a figure like Sheikh al-Nimr, who had no means to follow his political and religious goals but through speaking out, merely shows the extent of irresponsibility and imprudence."

Parliament speaker Ali Larijani also condemned Nimr's death, saying Riyadh would not emerge "easily from the quagmire they created by the martyrdom of this great sheikh".
View gallery
Ali Larijani says Riyadh will not emerge "easily …
Ali Larijani says Riyadh will not emerge "easily from the quagmire they created by the martyrdo ...

All Iran's seminaries will be closed Sunday to protest Nimr's execution, with a demonstration expected in the Grand Mosque of Qom, the heart of Shiite faith in Iran, the ISNA news agency said.

The Basij student militia connected to Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards called for a demonstration Sunday afternoon in front of the Saudi embassy in Tehran.

Shiite Iran and Sunni Saudi Arabia are major rivals in the Middle East and are arrayed on opposing sides in several regional conflicts.

Nimr was a driving force of the protests that broke out in 2011 in Eastern Province, where the Shiite minority of Saudi Arabia complains of marginalisation.

He was arrested in 2012, with the interior ministry describing him as an "instigator of sedition".
View gallery
Saudi King Salman, who many in Iran would like to see …
Saudi King Salman, who many in Iran would like to see overthrown (AFP Photo/)

- 'Serious consequences' -

His execution also drew fire in Iraq, where the head of the Shiite Dawa party's parliamentary bloc urged Baghdad to close the Saudi embassy, expel the ambassador and "execute all Saudi terrorists in Iraqi prisons."

Khalaf Abdelsamad also warned the execution would have "serious consequences and bring about the end of the Al-Saud (ruling family's) rule."

Iraq's Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi and his predecessor Nuri al-Maliki both belong to the Dawa party.

In the holy Shiite city of Karbala, hundreds demonstrated and urged the closure of the newly opened Saudi embassy.
View gallery
Saudi Shiites protest in Awamiyah in eastern Saudi …
Saudi Shiites protest in Awamiyah in eastern Saudi Arabia on October 24, 2014 against the death sent ...

"I swear to God that the sheikh's blood was not spilled in vain," said Said Saad al-Mussawi, one of the protesters.

"We will make the earth shake under your feet," he said, addressing Saudi's royal family.

In Lebanon, the powerful Shiite movement Hezbollah accused Riyadh of "assassinating" Nimr.

It accused Washington of "direct and moral responsibility for this crime" because of its longstanding alliance with Riyadh.

Meanwhile, Syrian Information Minister Omran Zohbi described the executions as a crime, saying they were "an assassination of freedoms and human rights."
View gallery
Bahraini women take part in a protest against the execution …
Bahraini women take part in a protest against the execution of prominent Shiite Muslim cleric Nimr a ...

He urged international organisations to hold Riyadh accountable, saying "this group assassination is a horrific humanitarian and political crime."

Rights group Amnesty International said it appeared the kingdom was "using execution to settle political scores".

Middle East and north Africa director Philip Luther told AFP the kingdom was using "the guise of counter-terrorism" to clamp down on dissent.

The trials of Nimr and the others "were politicised on the one hand and grossly unfair, because the international standards for fair trial were grossly flouted.

"What is going on is an attempt to silence criticism of Saudi Arabia particularly among the Shia activist community".

The United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, members of a Saudi-led coalition battling Iran-backed Shiite rebels in Yemen, praised the executions.

UAE Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed al-Nahyan called them a "clear message against terrorism and those who call for and incite sedition and unrest to tear apart the society's unity and threaten social peace in the kingdom".

Bahrain, which has itself faced unrest from its Shiite majority population, also backed Riyadh in "all deterrent and needed measures it takes to confront violence and extremism".

Police used tear gas to disperse small demonstrations condemning the executions.

[MikeWB]

Iran & KSA are on the brink of war IMO. There's a chance they will escalate their conflict soon.





Nimr al-Nimr execution: Former Iraq PM al-Maliki says death will 'topple Saudi regime'
Elsewhere, demonstrators carrying pictures of the Shi'ite cleric were involved in a clash with police in the Bahraini village of Abu-Saiba

    * Harriet Sinclair
    * Saturday 2 January 2016 17:14 BST
    *
The former prime minister of Iraq, Nuri al-Maliki, has said that the execution of the prominent Shi'ite cleric Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr by Saudi Arabia will be the downfall of the Gulf kingdom's government.

Mr al-Maliki, who was prime minister of Iraq between 2006 and 2014, said in a statement that his countrymen "strongly condemn these detestable sectarian practices and affirm that the crime of executing Sheikh al-Nimr will topple the Saudi regime as the crime of executing the martyr al-Sadr did to Saddam," referencing the death of another prominent cleric in Iraq in 1980.

Hundreds of armoured vehicles were sent to Qatif in Saudi Arabia to contain protests in response to the execution, while demonstrators in Bahrain have been tear-gassed.

    large numbers of men and women gathering now in Qatif to protest Saudi execution of Sheikh Nimr. pic.twitter.com/ulDNguvX8x
    — Rori Donaghy (@roridonaghy) January 2, 2016

Several protests have taken place in majority Shia Qatif and in Bahrain, following the execution of Sheikh al-Nimr and 46 others for 'terrorism offences'.

Demonstrators carrying pictures of the Shi'ite cleric were involved in a clash with police in the Bahraini village of Abu-Saiba, where dozens were tear-gassed, according to witnesses.
Read more

    * Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr: Profile of the cleric executed by Saudi Arabia
    * Nimr al-Nimr execution 'will bring down the House of Saud'
    * Saudi Arabia executes 47 people in one day

It is feared that the death of the outspoken cleric will exacerbate tensions in the region, with activists calling for further protests in Bahrain, and several demonstrations breaking out in Saudi Arabia's Eastern Province.
Bahrain-EPA-2.jpg
A Bahriani protester holds up a picture of Nimr al-Nimr after his execution

Armoured vehicles have been seen entering Qatif, with resistance groups in the area calling for people to join the protests against the execution of Sheikh al-Nimr, who had much popular support in the Shia community.
Bahrain-EPA-3.jpg
Protesters clash with security services in Bahrain

Security forces in other Shia-populated areas are also said to be on high alert, while many police stations and security posts have been closed following al-Nimr's execution in case of repercussions from Saudi Arabia's Shia community.

However, al-Nimr's brother Mohammed al-Nimr has asked that any reaction to the execution be peaceful.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/nimr-al-nimr-execution-protesters-tear-gassed-in-bahrain-after-saudi-arabia-carries-out-death-a6793761.html