Date: Nov 24, 2011
Source: The Daily Star
At least 2 die as Saudi Shiites protest in Eastern Province

RIYADH/DUBAI: New protests broke out in the Shiite Qatif region of Saudi Arabia’s Eastern Province while local dignitaries said Wednesday authorities promised to probe the death of two Shiites.
Demonstrators marched late Tuesday in the towns of Shweika and Awamiya calling on authorities to hand over the bodies of two protesters killed in clashes with police this week, an AFP correspondent reported.


In a step apparently aimed to diffuse tension, Saudi authorities have decided to form a commission to probe the death of two protesters, a Shiite cleric told AFP.
“The governor of the Eastern Province, Prince Mohammad bin Fahd, has informed us that the Interior Ministry has formed an inquiry commission,” said Sheikh Hussein al-Soweileh.


The cleric was part of a delegation of Shiite dignitaries from Qatif who met Tuesday with the governor – a son of the late King Fahd who died in 2005.
The governor “has asked us to bring calm to the street, mainly as [the annual Shiite commemoration period of] Ashura approaches,” he said.


Medics had said Ali al-Felfel, 24, died Monday of gun wounds after police opened fire at protesters who had taken to the streets in response to the death of 19-year-old Nasser al-Mheishi.
The circumstances surrounding Mheishi’s death were not clear. Speaking earlier to AFP, Mheishi’s father said the police told him his son was killed in crossfire between unknown gunmen and police.


But a witness later said that one of the policemen at the checkpoint shot Mheishi dead, according to the father.
Shiite activists told AFP that one other man was wounded in clashes in recent days with security forces in Awamiya, also in Qatif, while Reuters reported a girl was shot and killed by a stray bullet during clashes Monday.


In October, 14 people, including 11 policemen, were wounded during clashes with security forces and demonstrators in the same area. At the time, the Interior Ministry in the Sunni-ruled kingdom blamed “outlaws” for the violence and hinted at Iranian involvement in instigating the clashes.
The overwhelming majority of the estimated 2 million Saudi Shiites live in Eastern Province, which neighbors Bahrain where authorities, supported by Saudi-led Gulf troops, earlier this year crushed a Shiite-led protest.


Saudi Arabian officials say there are nearly 1 million Shiites out of a total population of 3.4 million in the Eastern Province, but an International Crisis Group report from 2005 said they number around 2 million and a 2008 U.S. diplomatic cable released by WikiLeaks said there are 1.5 million Shiites.
Shiites say they face discrimination in education and government jobs and that they are spoken of disparagingly in text books and by some Sunni officials and state-funded clerics.


They also complain of restrictions on setting up places of worship and marking Shiite holidays, and say Qatif and Al-Ahsa receive less state funding than Sunni communities of equivalent size.
The Saudi government denies charges of discrimination. King Abdullah has appointed three Shiites to the advisory Shura council and included Shiite leaders in “national dialogue” meetings.