Saudis storm Shi'ite city in crackdown on unrest
Saturday, April 4, 2009 E-Mail this story Free Headline Alerts
LONDON Ñ Saudi security forces were said to have stormed a Shi'ite city in the oil-rich Eastern Province.
Saudi opposition sources said Saudi troops, backed by combat vehicles, entered the Shi'ite city of Awamya on March 25. The sources said the security forces cut off electricity and launched a search for Shi'ite insurgents.
"Hundreds of soldiers entered the city's sprawling date groves and blocked the entrance to the city north of Qateef, the regional capital, and Shia stronghold in the Sunni-dominated country," the opposition Saudi Information Agency said.
SIA said Shi'ites were left without electricity for the third time in a week. The agency said thousands of Shi'ite residents of Awamya shouted anti-Saudi slogans from their roofs.
The Saudi operation was said to have been part of a crackdown on the Shi'ite majority in the Arab kingdom. The sources said Riyad, under Interior Minister Prince Nayef Bin Abdul Aziz, has sought to quell rising Shi'ite unrest within the Eastern Province in 2009.
A leader of the Shi'ite unrest was identified as cleric Niner Al Nimer. In mid-March, Al Nimer condemned the Saudi royal family in a speech in Awamya, which led to the latest crackdown by authorities.
Over the last week, Al Nimer has gone underground. But the sources said he still relays orders to Shi'ite dissidents.
"The city was drowned in the chants that lasted for 45 minutes while police patrols drove through the city's empty roads," SIA said.
Saudi security forces arrested several Shi'ite activists in Awamya. One of them was identified as Nouh Abdul Jabar, a U.S. citizen arrested on March 19. The State Department has confirmed Abdul Jabar's arrest.
The opposition has asserted that four million Shi'ites or more than 20 percent of the population, live in Saudi Arabia. Shi'ites were said be banned from civil service and public office.