Saudi police shot and wounded three Shiite protesters in the oil-rich Eastern Province on Thursday while trying to disperse a protest calling for the release of prisoners, a witness said.
The shooting happened when about 600 to 800 protesters, all Shiite and including women, took to the streets of the city of al-Qateef to demand the release of nine Shiite prisoners, said the witness, requesting anonymity.
“As the procession in the heart of the city was about to finish, soldiers started shooting at the protesters, and three of them were wounded,” the witness said.
Photo: Reuters
The three wounded, all men, were hospitalized, but their injuries were “moderate,” he said, adding that the shooting continued for about 10 minutes and about 200 policemen were present.
The incident came as the kingdom braced for street protests yesterday after calls on Facebook and Twitter.
In Washington, the US said it would closely monitor unrest in Saudi Arabia and restated its support for universal values.
“We will of course continue to monitor closely this particular situation,” said Ben Rhodes, a senior foreign policy adviser to US President Barack Obama.
“What we have said is that we are going to support a set of universal values in every country in the region,” he said.
Life was normal in Riyadh late on Thursday, but with “more than normal” police patrols.
Last Saturday, the interior ministry had issued a stern reminder that any demonstration was illegal and warned activists that the security forces had been authorized to crack down on any protests.
The authorities on Sunday released Shiite cleric Sheikh Tawfiq al-Aamer, whose arrest last month provoked demonstrations.
Several hundred people had protested in the east last Friday after Aamer was arrested on Feb. 27, reportedly for calling for a constitutional monarchy in the kingdom, which is an absolute monarchy.
Shiites, who are mainly concentrated in the Eastern Province, make up about 10 percent of the Saudi population and complain of marginalization in a country dominated by the puritanical Wahhabi Sunni doctrine.
The Eastern Province borders Bahrain, a Shiite-majority kingdom ruled by a Sunni dynasty that has been rocked by anti-government protests since Feb. 14.
Cyber activists used Facebook to call for a “Day of Rage” after yesterday’s prayers. Another page calls for a “Saudi revolution” to begin on March 20.
On both pages, activists are calling for political and economic reforms, jobs, freedom and women’s rights.
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