Saudi Arabia executes Shi’itte cleric, 46 others for terrorism

*Angry Iran says Riyadh  will  pay ‘high price’ for action



Nimr al-Nimr was executed this morning along

 with 46 other people convicted by Saudi Arabia

 of "terrorism" (AFP Photo/)

 Riyadh- Saudi Arabia yesterday executed a prominent Shi'ite cleric alongside dozens of al Qaeda members stirring a rise in sectarian tensions across the region.

Most of the 47 executed were convicted of al Qaeda attacks in Saudi Arabia a decade ago, but four, including prominent cleric Nimr al-Nimr, were Shi'ite Muslims accused of shooting policemen during anti-government protests in recent years.

The executions took place in 12 cities in Saudi Arabia, four prisons using firing squads and the others beheading. The bodies were then hanged from gibbets in the most severe form of punishment available in the kingdom's Sharia law.

Riyadh's main regional rival Iran and its Shi'ite allies immediately reacted with vigorous condemnation of the execution of Nimr, and Saudi police raised security in a district where the sect is a majority in case of protests, residents said.

Iran vowed that Saudi Arabia will pay "a high price" for the execution of Shiite cleric Nimr al-Nimr.

Yemeni protesters take part in a demonstration outside the Saudi embassy

 in Sanaa against the death sentence on Nimr al-Nimr in Sanaa, on

October 18, 2014 after his conviction (AFP Photo/Mohammed Huwais)

pokesman for  Iran's foreign ministry Hossein Jaber Ansari strongly condemned the execution, which came after his Shi’ite country repeatedly asked its Sunni-ruled rival to pardon the cleric.

"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.

Nimr, 56, 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.

Ali al-NImr's name is not on the list of

47 people executed in Saudi Arabia (AFP Photo/)

 

"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," said Ansari.

The executions seemed mostly aimed at discouraging Saudis from jihadism after bombings and shootings by Sunni militants in Saudi Arabia over the past year killed dozens and Islamic State called on followers in the kingdom to stage attacks.

The simultaneous execution of 47 people on security grounds was the biggest mass execution for such offences in Saudi Arabia since the 1980 killing of 63 jihadist rebels who seized Mecca's Grand Mosque in 1979.

The 43 Sunni jihadists executed included several prominent al Qaeda figures, including those convicted of responsibility for attacks on Western compounds, government buildings and diplomatic missions that killed hundreds from 2003-06.

Also reacting yesterday,a  top Iranian cleric warned the kingdom's Al Saud ruling family would be "wiped from the pages of history", Yemen's Houthi group described Nimr as a "holy warrior" and Lebanese militia Hezbollah said Riyadh had made "a grave mistake".

Saudi police increased security in Qatif district of Eastern Province, residents said, a Shi'ite majority area and site of the protests from 2011-13 in which several police were shot dead as well as over 20 local demonstrators. Bahrain police fired tear gas at several dozen people protesting against the execution of Nimr, a witness said.

In a statement issued on state television and other official media, the Interior Ministry named the dead men and listed crimes that included both involvement in attacks and embracing jihadist ideology.

                   Saudi Interior Ministry spokesman Maj. Gen. Mansour al-Turki speaks

         during an interview with The Associated Press at a security monitoring center in

Mecca, Saudi Arabia, Saturday, Sept. 19, 2015. (AP Photo/Mosa'ab Elshamy

Mustafa Alani, a security analyst close to the Interior Ministry, commented: "There is a huge popular pressure on the government to punish those people. It included all the leaders of al Qaeda, all the ones responsible for shedding blood. It sends a message."

Analysts have speculated that the execution of the four Shi'ites was partly to demonstrate to Saudi Arabia's majority Sunni Muslims that the government did not differentiate between political violence committed by members of the two sects.

However, human rights groups have consistently attacked the kingdom's judicial process as unfair, pointing to accusations that confessions have been secured under torture and that defendents in court have been denied access to lawyers.

Riyadh denies practicing torture, rejects criticism of its legal process and says its judiciary is independent.

At least three other Shi'ites were executed alongside Nimr, including Ali al-Rubh, who relatives said was a juvenile at the time of the crime for which he was convicted, Mohammed al-Shayoukh and Mohammed Suwaymil.

A portrait of Nimr al-Nimr, displayed at a demonstration in October 2014 in
Saana against his death penalty sentence (AFP Photo/Mohammed Huwais)

Activists in the Shi'ite district of Qatif have warned of possible protests in response to the executions. However, Nimr's brother, Mohammed al-Nimr, said he hoped any response would be peaceful.

"My mobile is getting non-stop messages from friends, all shocked and angry. We know four of the names on the list. The fear is for the children among those detained," an activist in Qatif told Reuters.