Ayatollah Nimr Baqir al-Nimr is a Saudi Ayatollah from the mostly Shia Muslim inhabited eastern province of Saudi Arabia.Ayatollah Nimr al-Nimr has being a very strong advocate against the oppression and persecution of Saudi Shia Muslims.the Saudi Shia are mostly found in the oil rich eastern region of Saudi Arabia and also in the holy city of Medina,where an estimate put their population at over 100,000.in Medinah,the indigenous saudi Shia population is known as Nakhawilah.Ayatollah Nimr has made many fiery statements and sermons against the wahhabi saudi tyrannical monarchy.he broke the barrier of fear and spoke out against the oppression and persecution Saudi Shia Muslim citizens have faced.the Saudi Shia Muslims are estimated to make up about 15% to 25% of the total population of Saudi Arabia.Ayatollah Nimr Baqir al-Nimr is also an outspoken critic of the saudi military intervention in Shia majority Bahrain which aims to quell the popular revolt against the al-Khalifa tyrannical Sunni monarchy.

yesterday,Ayatollah Nimr al-Nimr was shot on the leg by saudi forces in al-Awwamiyyah,a Shia city in eastern saudi arabia.after shooting him,he was arrested.Ayatollah Nimr al-Nimr has really being a thorn for the saudi regime.he has inspired the Shia uprising in the eastern province of saudi arabia which gained momentum last year at the beginning of what became known as the "arab spring".Ayatollah Nimr's courage matches his name.his name "nimr" literally means "tiger" in arabic.the shooting and arrest of Ayatollah Nimr yesterday stirred angry protests in al-awwamiyyah and al-qatif in the eastern province that led to the shooting and martyrdom of two Shia Muslim youths who were taking part in the protests.

in my coming posts,i would post pictures of Ayatollah Nimr drenched in his own blood after being shot and arrested.i would also post videos from youtube of the fearless and courageous speeches of Ayatollah Nimr challenging the oppression.marginalization and persecution by the saudi regime.his sermons many of which are found in youtube with english translation would give insight to people like us who are strangers to saudi society and politics.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RSEG34wxgaY


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nb-OSh5Hnvw

below are pictures of Ayatollah Nimr Baqir al-Nimr when he was shot on the leg in his car and arrested by the saudi tyrannical regime.

below are the pictures of the two protesters who were killed by the waahabi saudi forces in the angry protests that followed the shooting and arrest of Ayatollah Nimr.

the below picture of the young man in football dress shown above.

[size=18pt]Nimr al-Nimr[/size]


From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Nimr Baqr Al-Nimr (Arabic: نمر باقر النمر‎) (or Nimr Baqir al-Namr,[4] Nimr Bakir al-Nimr,[5]Nemr Baqir al-Nemr[6]) is an independent[1] Shia Sheikh in al-Awamiyah, Eastern Province, Saudi Arabia.[7] He is popular among youth[1][8] and critical of the Saudi Arabian government.[1] He was arrested and beaten by Mabahith in 2006.[1] In 2009, he criticised Saudi authorities and suggested secession of the Eastern Province[9] if Saudi Shias' rights were not better respected.[2][7] A warrant for his arrest was issued and 35 people were arrested.[2][4] During the 2011–2012 Saudi Arabian protests, al-Nimr called for protestors to resist police bullets using "the roar of the word" rather than violence,[6][10] predicted the overthrow of the government if repression continued,[3] and was seen by The Guardian as having "taken the lead in [the] uprising".[8]

Religious career

Al-Nimr has been a Shia Sheikh in al-Awamiyah since 2008 or earlier.[1] He studied for about ten years in Tehran and also studied in Syria. He initially followed Grand Ayatollah Mohammad Hussaini Shirazi and as of 2008, followed Grand Ayatollah Mohammad Taqi al-Modarresi.[1]

As of 2008, he was independent of the two main political groups in the Eastern Province Shia community, Islahiyyah (the Shirazis) and Hezbollah Al-Hejaz (Saudi Hezbollah).[1]

Al-Nimr has been the Friday prayers leader in al-Awamiyah since 2009 or earlier.[2]

Points of view

Al-Nimr supports "something between" individual and council forms of guardianship of the Islamic Jurists as a form of government.[1] He supports Kurdish majoriy control of Iraqi Kurdistan.[1] Al-Nimr believes that Shia ayatollahs would not promote violence and "murder in the name of God". He supports "the idea of elections".[1]

Al-Nimr stated that the United States (US) "wants to humiliate the world."[1] In August 2008, he said that he sees US citizens as a natural ally of Shia as the thinking of both US citizens and Shia is "based on justice and liberty".[1]

He believes that the Saudi government is "particularly reactionary" and that "agitation" is needed to influence governments in general and the Saudi government in particular.[1] Al-Nimr has made statements "perceived as supporting Iran".[1] In August 2008, he stated that he believes that Iran and other states outside of Saudi Arabia act mainly out of self-interest, not out of religious solidarity.[1]

Al-Nimr stated that in the case of internal conflict in Saudi Arabia, the Saudi Shia would have the right to ask for international intervention in analogy to requests for foreign military intervention by Kuwaitis and Saudis to the US in the 1990–91 Gulf War and people from Darfur during the War in Darfur.[1]

Popularity

Al-Nimr was described by US diplomat Gfoeller as "gaining popularity locally" in 2008[1] and by The Guardian as "[seeming] to have become the most popular Saudi Shia cleric among local youth" in October 2011.[8]

2006 arrest

Al-Nimr was arrested by Mabahith in 2006 and beaten during his detention. Residents of al-Awamiyah campaigned to support him and he was released.[1]

2009 sermon and arrest order

In February 2009, an incident occurred in Medina involving differences in Shia and Sunni customs at the tomb of Muhammad, filming of Shia women by the religious police, protests by Shia in Medina and arrests. Six children were arrested during 4–8 March for taking part in a 27 February protest in Safwa.[4]

Al-Nimr criticised the authorities' February actions in Medina and the Minister of Interior in particular for discrimination against Saudi Arabian Shia.[4][5] In a sermon, he threatened secession,[7][9] stating "Our dignity has been pawned away, and if it is not ... restored, we will call for secession. Our dignity is more precious than the unity of this land."[2]

A warrant for his arrest was issued in response. Protests took place in al-Awamiyah starting 19 March. Four people were arrested, including al-Nimr's nephew, 'Ali Ahmad al-Faraj, aged 16, who was arrested on 22 March.[4] The police started tracking al-Nimr in order to arrest him and tried to take his children hostage.[5] By 1 April, a total of 35 people had been arrested and security forces installed checkpoints on roads to al-Awamiyah. As of 1 April 2009, al-Nimr had not been arrested.[2]

The Arabic Network for Human Rights Information said that the authorities were "persecuting Shia reformist Nimr Bakir al-Nimr for his criticism of policies of sectarian discrimination against the Shia in Saudi Arabia and for his call for reform and equality."[5]

2011–2012 Saudi Arabian protests

See also: 2011–2012 Saudi Arabian protests

In October 2011, during the 2011–2012 Saudi Arabian protests, al-Nimr said that young people protesting in response to the arrests of two al-Awamiyah septuagenarians were provoked by police firing at them with live ammunition. On 4 October,[6] he called for calm, stating, "The [Saudi] authorities depend on bullets ... and killing and imprisonment. We must depend on the roar of the word, on the words of justice".[10] He explained further, "We do not accept [the use of firearms]. This is not our practice. We will lose it. It is not in our favour. This is our approach [use of words]. We welcome those who follow such [an] attitude. Nonetheless, we cannot enforce our methodology on those who want to pursue different approaches [and] do not commit to ours. The weapon of the word is stronger than the power of lead."[6]

In January 2012, he called on authorities to "stop bloodshed", predicting that the government would be overthrown if it continued its "month-long crackdown" against protestors.[3] He criticised a list of 23 alleged protestors published by the Ministry of Interior. The Guardian described him as having "taken the lead in [the] uprising".[8]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nimr_al-Nimr

Saudi police arrest prominent Shi'ite Muslim cleric

JEDDAH, Saudi Arabia | Sun Jul 8, 2012 7:58pm EDT

JEDDAH, Saudi Arabia (Reuters) - A prominent Shi'ite Muslim cleric wanted for "sedition" was arrested in Saudi Arabia's Eastern Province late on Sunday after being shot in the leg by police in an exchange of fire, the Interior Ministry said.

Activists said reports that Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr had been arrested prompted demonstrations in the mostly Shi'ite Qatif region of the Eastern Province, which has been the focal point of protests alleging discrimination, and where the cleric was seen as a leading radical.

Shi'ite activists and websites reported that at least two men had been killed in the protests, but there was no independent confirmation of the deaths and a government spokesman was not immediately able to comment on the reports of demonstrations or casualties.

"When the aforementioned person and those with him tried to resist the security men and initiated shooting and crashed into one of the security patrols while trying to escape, he was dealt with in accordance with the situation and responded to in kind and arrested after he was wounded in his thigh," the state news agency reported, citing Major General Mansour Turki, an Interior Ministry spokesman.

Turki said Nimr, who was accused of sedition, had been taken to hospital.

Tawfiq al-Seif, a Shi'ite community leader, said reports of the arrest had sparked protests in the village of Awamiya, which is in the Qatif district.

An activist in Awamiya said he had witnessed a protest march of thousands of people and that he had seen 20 injured in a clash with riot police.

Activists from the Eastern Province, where most of Saudi Arabia's Shi'ites live, posted pictures on the Internet of a grey-bearded man they identified as Nimr inside a vehicle. He was covered with what appeared to be a blood-stained white blanket.

Sheikh Nimr's brother said the cleric was detained by police while driving from a farm to his house in al-Qatif.

"They (police) took him from his car and blood can be seen near his car," said his brother Mohammed al-Nimr.

"He had been wanted by the Interior Ministry for a couple of months because of his political views. In the past couple of months he has adopted a lot of Shi'ite issues and expressed his views on them, demanding their rights," Nimr's brother added.

RADICAL CLERIC

Nimr was previously detained for several days in 2004 and 2006, his brother said.

American diplomats who met Nimr in August 2008 described him as a second-tier figure in Saudi Shi'ite politics, but one who was growing in popularity, according to two contemporary diplomatic cables released by WikiLeaks.

In January 2008, he gave a sermon calling for the creation of a "righteous opposition front", said the cables.

The cleric represents a more radical strain among Saudi Shi'ites, who feel the community's established leaders have failed to make headway with ending what they see as systematic discrimination.

"The general feeling is that (older leaders) couldn't deliver what they promised or what the government promised them. Then there was Nimr who could represent the radical forces - the forces that deny the state has the ability to follow its promises. That's why a good part of the new generation have listened to him," said Seif.

Saudi Arabia, the world's biggest oil exporter and a key U.S. ally, has largely escaped the kind of protests that have toppled four Arab heads of state since last year.

Shi'ites say they struggle to get government jobs or university places, that their neighborhoods suffer under-investment and that their places of worship are often closed down. The government denies charges of discrimination.

Small and sporadic protests had taken place in the Eastern Province, where the oil sector is concentrated and where most of the kingdom's Shi'ites live, leading to four deaths earlier this year.

The protests have been centered in Qatif, an oasis district on the Gulf coast consisting of the town also named Qatif and fishing and farming villages. No protests have been reported in recent months in al-Ahsa, the other main Shi'ite population centre in the Eastern Province.

A government census from 2001 showed there were just over a million Shi'ites in Saudi Arabia. However an International Crisis Group report from 2005 said they numbered around two million.

In January, the kingdom ordered the arrest of 23 Shi'ites in Eastern Province accused of being responsible for unrest that had led to shootings and protests in previous weeks.

(Reporting by Asma Al Sharif; Writing and additional reporting by Angus McDowall in London; editing by Sami Aboudi and Christopher Wilson)

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/07/08/us-saudi-arrest-idUSBRE8670GH20120708

Saudi Arabia says two killed after cleric's arrest


DUBAI | Mon Jul 9, 2012 1:53pm EDT

DUBAI (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia said on Monday two men had been killed following Sunday's arrest of a prominent Shi'ite Muslim cleric that stirred some limited protests in the oil-producing east of the country.

An Interior Ministry spokesman said the deaths followed a protest in the village of Awamiya over the arrest on sedition accusations of Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr. According to Saudi authorities Nimr was shot in the leg after police came under fire on trying to stop his car.

Nimr, seen as a leading radical cleric promoting Shi'ite interests, was taken to hospital. Shi'ites say they struggle to get government jobs or university places, their neighborhoods suffer under-investment, and their places of worship are often closed down. The government denies such accusations.

The Interior Ministry said there was no clash between protesters and police at the protest following the arrest. It did not make clear how the two were killed.

"Security authorities were notified by a nearby medical center of the arrival of four individuals brought in by their relatives," spokesman Major General Mansour Turki said in a comment sent to Reuters.

"Two of them were dead, the other two were slightly injured. Competent authorities initiated investigations into the incident."

Shi'ite activists and websites had reported that at least two men had been killed in the protests. The Rasid website named the men as Akbar al-Shakhouri and Mohamed al-Felfel.

"In the aftermath of the arrest ... a limited number of people assembled in the town of Awamiya," the Interior Ministry statement said. "Gun shots were overheard in random areas of the town. However, there was no security confrontation whatsoever."

APPEALS FOR CALM

Across the causeway that links Saudi Arabia with its island neighbour Bahrain, leading Shi'ite opposition group al-Wefaq released a statement offering condolences to the families of the "martyrs" and calling for Nimr's release.

It said peaceful activism and dialogue were the only way of solving the situation.

Bahrain has been in turmoil since its Sunni rulers first tried to extinguish a popular uprising driven by the Gulf kingdom's Shi'ite majority. Saudi Arabia sent troops to help put down the protests last March.

Both Bahrain and Saudi Arabia accuse non-Arab Shi'ite giant Iran of fomenting unrest among their Shi'ite populations.

Saudi activists said authorities were expected to hand over the bodies of the two men later on Monday for burial.

One activist said officials of the Eastern Province authorities had summoned the fathers of the two deceased men to discuss burial arrangements. There was no independent confirmation of the report.

Islam calls for honoring the dead by burying their bodies as quickly as possible.

The Rasid website quoted Sheikh Abdallah al-Khuneizi, a former Shi'ite religious court judge, as urging residents to avoid any escalation and appealing to security forces to exercise restraint.

"This tense and difficult period that Qatif is passing through requires us all to do all we can to preserve society from any security deterioration to protect lives and sanctities," the website quoted Khuneizi as saying in a message circulating on social media.

Activists from the Eastern Province, where most of Saudi Arabia's Shi'ites live, posted pictures on the Internet of a grey-bearded man they identified as Nimr inside a vehicle.

He was covered with what appeared to be a blood-stained white blanket.

Activists said Nimr had been taken to the capital Riyadh.

(Writing by Andrew Hammond; Editing by Sami Aboudi and Ralph Boulton)

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/07/09/us-saudi-protest-dead-idUSBRE8680V520120709

[size=14pt]'US fears consequences of Bahrain revolution'[/size]


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v612ctTSs8w&feature=youtu.be

Why he be say the only thing wey una sabi for this short life na to promote and pracxice intollerance, strife, hatred, violence and killing. Na wa for una o!!!
I pray the true God open ur eyes to wat it means to love thy neighbor as thyself, even if he or she does not share thesame faith and belief with you.

rafhell: Why he be say the only thing wey una sabi for this short life na to promote and pracxice intollerance, strife, hatred, violence and killing. Na wa for una o!!!

why are you trying to vindicate the wahhabi terror and intolerance by generalizing here?

please review this thread and tell us who is promoting hatred and strife:
https://www.nairaland.com/961495/timeline-sectarian-terrorism-against-shia

the saudi shia as the shia in bahrain are fighting against persecution as the shia have a long history of suffering from persecution by Sunnis in the middle east and elsewhere.

I pray the true God open ur eyes to wat it means to love thy neighbor as thyself, even if he or she does not share the same faith and belief with you.

the wahhabi kingdom are agents of america.both saudi arabia and qatar are working 24/7 to topple the regime in syria inspite of the fact that bashar al-assad (who is from an alawite- an offshoot shiite sect) has a majority of syrians on his side.they have been exporting terrorists into syria:
https://www.nairaland.com/948839/silence-betrayal-houlamassacre-syria/2

in bahrain,the US stations its fifth fleet in the persian gulf.again the US have ignored the cries of the majority in bahrain against the persecution of the sunni monarchy.saudi arabia even sent troops to kill peaceful anti-monarchy protesters in bahrain.

now see what is happening in saudi arabia.and this same "love thy neighbor people" are the ones who engineered alqaeda and used the lethal wahhabi ideology in afghanistan to fight the soviets.when the thing got out of control,they want to use the deadly wahhabi ideology to tarnish the image of islam and muslims.this is unacceptable.there is nothing your pretense of "love thy neighbor" justifies here when the US is the one fueling,supporting,engineering,and promoting wahhabi terror.this is not what i am saying but what americans have admitted:

https://www.nairaland.com/863512/hilary-clinton-confesses-funded-wahhabis

if you really do not have an idea of what is going on then keep silent.no one is begging for your input.

Subhanallah.

when i listened to the sermon of Sheikh Nimr i believe that Islam and Muslims through the Shia still have hope in this world of injustice when Sunni muftis have being turned mere government employees issuing fatwas that please the unjust and corrupt rulers.Sheikh Nimr represents the justice and truth the Quran offers humanity to stand up against the strong who oppress and terrify the weak and helpless.terrorism? that is not Islam.and listening to Sheikh Nimr you will identify that truth that terror is allien to Islam.

Sheikh Nimr is following the legacy of Imam Hussain (a) by standing up to injustice and tyranny.insha'Allah Ta'ala Sheikh Nimr will triumph against the oppression of the saudi regime,whether in death or life.

Two Martyrs in Protests against Saudi Sheikh Shooting, Arrest

Local Editor
Clashes erupted overnight in the town of Qatif in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia between demonstrators and security forces what led to the martyrdom of two protesters.

Sayyed Akbar Al-Shakhouri and Mohammad Filfel were martyred and a dozen other were wounded during the clashes that erupted when police opened fire to disperse a demonstration against the arrest of Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr.

Security forces set up an ambush for the Imam of Awamiya mosque Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr. He was seriously injured after being shot as he returned to his home, and there were reports that his health is at risk.

The reported deaths come after Amnesty International said in May that seven people had been killed and a number of others injured in clashes between the authorities and protesters in the country since November.

Nimr's arrest came 10 days after he had said he was confident that his arrest or killing would be a "motivation" for protests to reignite in the Eastern Province, during a speech at a mosque in Al-Awamiya.


http://www3.almanar.com.lb/english/adetails.php?eid=61277&cid=23&fromval=1&frid=23&seccatid=28&s1=1

[size=14pt]Hezbollah denounces Saudi arrest of Shiite preacher [/size]

July 10, 2012 01:21 AM

The Daily Star

[img]http://dailystar.com.lb/dailystar/Pictures/2012/07/10/80848_mainimg.jpg[/img]
Hezbollah Flag

BEIRUT: Hezbollah issued a statement Monday condemning Saudi authorities’ arrest of a Shiite preacher and their violence against protesters in the town of Awamiya in Qatif district. Hezbollah expressed concern over Saudi authorities’ “attack against religious figures, the latest of which was the arrest of Sheikh Nemr al-Nemr, not for a crime he committed but because of his demand for minimum civil rights.” The statement strongly condemned the arrest as well as the “security forces’ violence against peaceful demonstrators in the town of Awamiya and Qatif district, causing deaths and injuries.” Hezbollah also called for immediately releasing Nemr and providing him with proper treatment, as well as respecting religious figures and putting an end to all undemocratic measures in dealing with the peaceful and legitimate demands of Saudi citizens.

http://dailystar.com.lb/News/Politics/2012/Jul-10/179983-hezbollah-denounces-saudi-arrest-of-shiite-preacher.ashx#axzz20ATYqlya

the Saudi Shia youths of al-Qatif in eastern saudi arabia protesting in response to the arrest of Sheikh Nimr and un-detered even when faced with live bullets fired by saudi wahhabi forces.the youths chanted "HAIHAT MINAZZILLAH" meaning "down with humiliation"-a chant of Imam Hussain (a) during the tragedy of Karbala.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UOllJk-IuPs&feature=share

Saudi Arabia's Shiite escalation

Posted By Toby Matthiesen Tuesday, July 10, 2012 - 4:01 PM

The arrest of the Shiite cleric Nimr al-Nimr in his hometown of Awwamiya in Saudi Arabia's oil-rich Eastern Province on Sunday afternoon, July 8, has been long in the making. In some ways many observers had been wondering why he had not been arrested earlier, since he had become the spiritual leader of the protest movement in Eastern Saudi Arabia and his outspoken views put him clearly at odds with the Saudi ruling family. But while Nimr al-Nimr repeatedly called upon the local youth to be ready to die as martyrs, he urged them not to "return bullets with bullets" but use peaceful means instead. He acknowledged that Shiites would suffer much more if they were to attack the overwhelming firepower of the Saudi regime, and therefore called for peaceful demonstrations and civil disobedience.

In cables released by Wikileaks, U.S. diplomats tried to come to grips with Nimr's role from marginal cleric to a rallying figure for young Shiites, meeting personally with him on one occasion. The diplomatic reporter wrote: "Al-Nimr resides in Awamiyya, which is a notoriously radical Shi'a village in the Qatif oasis referred to half-jokingly by other Qatifis as ‘Little Falluja.'" As one Shiite contact told PolOff, (political officer)"every house in Awamiyya has a gun... seriously." The U.S. diplomats in Saudi Arabia wondered why Nimr was not arrested earlier, after repeatedly being highly critical of the government, even demanding secession of the Eastern Province in 2009. Three theories abound. Firstly, there are conspiracy theorists who argue that the hardliners within the ruling family, such as the former Crown Prince and Interior Minister Prince Naif bin Abdulaziz, had been using Nimr to scare the Sunnis and oppose King Abdullah's interfaith dialogue and tentative outreach to the Shiites. Secondly, that the arrest of Nimr would create heightened unrest that the government wants to avoid. Nimr had been in hiding from 2009 to 2011, and thereafter only appeared in large crowds of people, at funerals or in his mosque, all places where an arrest would be difficult without causing casualties or creating upheavals. And thirdly, the Wikileaks cable goes on to say that the government will ultimately react, but "on its own timeline." It did so on July 8, and the manner of Nimr's arrest outside of his mosque suggests that he will not be out anytime soon. According to the ever Orwellian ministry of interior, when Nimr "and those with him tried to resist the security men and initiated shooting and crashed into one of the security patrols while trying to escape, he was dealt with in accordance with the situation and responded to in kind and arrested after he was wounded in his thigh."

Nonetheless, it is curious why he was arrested now, one and a half years after protests started in the Eastern Province in February 2011, particularly as the protest movement had fizzled out since March. The youth movement that led the mass protests between November 2011 and February, when seven young Shiites were shot dead and their funerals turned into the largest protests the country had seen since a former uprising in the Saudi Eastern Province in 1979. Saudi Shiites are discriminated against in the country, which anyway lacks basic political freedoms, and were therefore thrilled to capitalize on the regional changes brought about by the Arab Spring.

But these protests had lost steam and the Eastern Province was relatively calm for several months. Now, on the other hand, the Shiite youth again have a cause that brings thousands to the streets, and the demonstrations are in full swing, an escalation brought about by Nimr's arrest. Immediately after his arrest, large demonstrations erupted in Qatif and two protesters were shot, al-Sayyid Akbar al-Shakhuri from Awwamiyya and Muhammad al-Filfil from Shuwaikha, putting the total number of people killed at nine in this long-simmering conflict, perhaps the most under-reported uprising in the Arab Spring protests. Who would have an interest, then, in such an escalation? The arrest and shooting of Nimr al-Nimr is certainly an answer to the question whether the replacement of Prince Naif with the new Crown Prince Salman bin Abdulaziz and the new Interior Minister Prince Ahmad bin Abdulaziz would change the position of the ruling family on political reform or on the Shiite question. Prince Naif, who died in June in Geneva, was a hardline figure that personally regarded the Shiite as a threat and with suspicion, and advocated a zero-tolerance policy on popular dissent and protests. Many believe his influence led to the decision to send Saudi troops to Bahrain in March 2011 to quell pro-democracy protests, in order to prevent demonstrations from spilling over into the Eastern Province. The answer then is no, his death has not changed the position of the ruling family, and the arrest of Nimr might be seen as a move by the new Interior Minister Prince Ahmad to assert a hardline position domestically. But Shiite youth also did not change their attitude. While Shiite notables went to pledge allegiance (bai'a) to the new crown prince, others celebrated the death of Prince Naif in the streets of Awwamiyya and Qatif, allegedly inspired by a critical sermon by Nimr.

Indeed, while Nimr retains a lot of popularity amongst the Shiite youth, he is a hated figure for many other Saudis. On Twitter and Facebook he is frequently insulted, as his sermons over the last years have broken a whole range of political taboos in Saudi Arabia, including calling for the fall of the royal family. It might be, then, that the newly appointed senior royals want to play tough on the Shiites by arresting a controversial cleric, and thereby boosting their popularity amongst the Sunnis in other parts of the country. Hence, relations between the Shiites and the government have probably never been as bad since the Iranian revolution.

But there is another dimension that is even more worrisome. The arrest of Nimr comes amidst a military buildup in the Gulf and a similar crackdown in Bahrain. On Monday July 9, the prominent Bahraini human rights activist Nabil Rajab was sentenced to three months in prison for some Twitter posts, and was taken from his home by masked security forces. His was one of the few voices that continued to speak out publicly against human rights abuses and for profound political reform in the Island Kingdom, and who had not been arrested. Indeed, conspiracy theories similar to the ones about Nimr had surrounded him, mainly that the Bahraini ruling family had let him continue to speak his mind in order to frighten the Sunnis, even though he had been repeatedly attacked and intimidated. Also on July 9, the Bahraini Shiite political group Amal was officially disbanded by the regime, even though it had been defunct as almost all of its leaders were arrested last year. Both Amal and Nimr follow the Kerbala-based Ayatollah Muhammad Taqi al-Mudarrisi, whose brother Hadi al-Mudarrisi has taken a very critical stance against the Saudi and Bahraini ruling families. It seems this crackdown also goes against the transnational Shiite current that is a branch of the Shirazi political movement, named after its founder Muhammad Mahdi al-Shirazi, whose more politically minded branch has increasingly come to be known as the mudarrisiyya.

In addition, the United States has stepped up its military presence in the Gulf region, sending additional warships, and the Gulf states put their militaries on high alert in late June amidst reports of significant troop deployments in the Eastern Province. The silencing of the most outspoken dissident voices then, goes hand in hand with possible preparations for war, and is probably also taken as a precautionary measure in the event of an attack on Iran. While the accusation that Nimr is an Iranian proxy, often leveled by Sunni Saudis, is an exaggeration: he follows the Kerbala-based Ayatollah Muhammad Taqi al-Mudarrisi and not the Iranian leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, he has repeatedly defended Iran, and has spoken out against an attack on Iran. In that sense, he would have probably denounced an attack on Iran vehemently, and called for more demonstrations in the Eastern Province.

He had also become popular in Bahrain, whose uprising he fiercely supports, as seen in demonstrations in his support in various Shiite villages in Bahrain over the last few days. So, the question remains whether Saudi Arabia's allies, above all the United States, condoned this crackdown. David Petraeus, the Director of the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency met Saudi King Abdullah in Jeddah on the same day, July 9.

From a local perspective, the timing seems strange, and indeed counter-productive. The protests in the Eastern Province had stopped, many youth activists were frustrated that after one and a half years of protests they had not achieved any political goals, bare the death of several martyrs and the mobilization of a particular segment of shabab, young men. Now, however, they have a new battle cry that they will use to mobilize other segments of Saudi Shiite society. But the calculations of the Saudi and perhaps U.S. security establishments seem to be that, with Nimr behind bars, the protests will eventually stop, and above all, in the event of a confrontation in the Gulf, a popular figure that could rally protesters is eliminated. It is difficult to predict which way things are going to turn out. But this untimely arrest, particularly after shooting the cleric in the leg, may well be a shot in the foot and give new momentum not just to the protest movement in Eastern Saudi Arabia, but also in Bahrain. There, the youth activists have shown that even with the most prominent opposition leaders in jail, they can sustain organized demonstrations, and have increasingly returned to the pre-2011 tactics of street fighting with police. It seems a strange conclusion that this could not happen in Saudi Arabia with Nimr in jail.

Toby Matthiesen is a research fellow in Islamic and Middle Eastern studies at the University of Cambridge. Follow him at @TobyMatthiesen.

http://mideast.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2012/07/10/sable_rattling_in_the_gulf

[size=14pt]Saudi Arabia is Israel’s last hope: report[/size]

[img]http://previous.presstv.ir/photo/20120506/asohrabi20120506015932217.jpg[/img]
Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah bin Abdul-Aziz Al Saud (file photo)


Wed Jul 11, 2012 5:10PM GMT

The Al Saud family is very important to Israel because Saudi Arabia is very actively working in countries such as Yemen, Egypt, Iraq, and Lebanon to reduce Iran's influence in those countries.”

Tel Aviv University Report


A recent report by Tel Aviv University says Saudi Arabia is the last hope and defense line for Israel and describes the Saudis as Tel Aviv’s last chance to protect its political interests in the Arab world.


The report said most of Israel’s allies in the region have collapsed and cannot play a significant role in the Arab world.

It added that Saudi arabia is the only country that stands against the Islamic Republic of Iran and thus it is Tel Aviv’s last line of defense against Tehran.

The report noted that the Al Saud family is very important to Israel because Saudi arabia is very actively working in countries such as Yemen, Egypt, Iraq, and Lebanon to reduce Iran's influence in those countries.

In a paragraph entitled "Preparing for the final battle: the struggle for the survival of the House of Saud," the report added that Israel, Saudi Arabia and less effective countries such as Jordan and Persian Gulf littoral states are trying to reduce the resulting instability.

The report said that because of the challenges in the Saudi royal family, Iran may obtain the ability to abolish a known regional system. Also, there are fears of strategy shifts resulting from a generational change in the leadership of the Al Saud dynasty.

last March, a senior Egyptian cleric accused Saudi arabia and Qatar of meddling in the internal affairs of other Muslim nations, calling the two states “Israel’s servants.”

Sheikh Mohammad Alaedin Madhi said the two countries were implementing an Israeli-US plan in Syria.

He also criticized the Saudi-owned television network Al-Arabiya and the Qatar-owned broadcaster Al-Jazeera for "serving Israeli interests."

Moreover, in emails leaked by WikiLeaks and obtained by the Beirut-based newspaper Al-Akhbar, it was revealed that Saudi arabia had reached out to the Mossad, which assisted the kingdom with, as Al-Akhbar reports, "intelligence collection and advice on Iran."

According to a source quoted in the emails, "Several enterprising Mossad officers, both past and present, are making a bundle selling the Saudis everything from security equipment (to) intelligence and consultation."

AS/MYA/HGL/IS

http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2012/07/11/250449/saudi-arabia-is-israels-last-hope/

(below attached) a picture from memory of Ayatollah Nimr doing pilgrimage in Makkah and in a state of Ihram.

Shias in Saudi Arabia and Bahrain

Shooting the sheikhs

Violence against Shia clerics troubles Saudi Arabia and Bahrain

The Economist:
http://www.economist.com/node/21558637

Jul 14th 2012 | from the print edition

ANGER is rising in Saudi Arabia’s Eastern Province after security forces arrested and wounded one of the government’s harshest critics, a Shia cleric called Nimr al-Nimr (pictured). Two young men were shot dead in the protests that followed. This takes the total number of Saudis killed since the start of the Arab spring a year and a half ago to ten, all from the Shia minority that makes up about a tenth of the country’s 27m-odd people.

Sheikh Nimr has long been a thorn in the side of the ruling family. A warrant for his arrest was first issued in 2009 after he said that if Saudi Shias were not allowed to “live with dignity”, the eastern provinces should secede from the kingdom. Such talk is particularly inflammatory, since most of Saudi Arabia’s oilfields are in the east.
In this section

Yet he was not actually arrested. Security forces may have been mindful of the fact that some households in his town, Awamiyeh, were known to have stashes of guns smuggled in from Yemen and Iraq. Recently, however, the sheikh had again irked the ruling Al Saud family with a speech marking the death of the long-standing interior minister, Prince Nayef, who had also recently become the crown prince, as well as having been in charge of the religious police since 1975. The prince was hardly beloved by Saudi Arabia’s Shias, who saw him as more hostile towards them than his gentler half-brother, King Abdullah.

Saudi Shias feel they are treated as second-class citizens in a state that embodies a puritanical Sunni version of Islam. But the interior ministry dismisses unrest in the Eastern Province as “foreign meddling”, a charge invariably laid against Iran, though Saudi Shias tend to revere Saudi or Iraqi clerics rather than Iranian ones. Prince Nayef was also a driving force behind last year’s Saudi-led military intervention in neighbouring Bahrain, where protesters mainly from the Shia majority had been massing on the streets to demand more rights.

The late prince’s long-standing deputy and half-brother, Prince Ahmed bin Abdel Aziz, who has replaced him, is not generally seen as a bringer of change. But some Shia leaders look more hopefully to Prince Nayef’s son, Muhammad, the deputy interior minister, who is admired in Western government circles for pioneering a rehabilitation programme for captured or surrendering jihadists.

Sheikh Nimr told his followers in a posting on YouTube to celebrate Prince Nayef’s death. Some young Shias even held parties. The sheikh said he was not afraid of being arrested and would even be willing to die if it helped his people to earn some dignity. The police soon responded, injuring him during his arrest. As pictures of his bloodied white robes circulated on social networking sites, young Saudi Shias took to the streets to shout for him and clashed with the police.

Some Shia elders wish the sheikh had held his tongue. After all, it was too soon for changes at the interior ministry in the wake of Prince Nayef’s death to have taken effect. And some Sunni dissidents sigh that the government thrives on the sort of provocative statements issued by Mr Nimr, whom the Sunni majority in Saudi Arabia already finds easy to demonise.

The arrest of the Saudi sheikh came two weeks after Bahrain’s Saudi-backed security forces wounded another popular Shia cleric, Ali Salman, who was raked with birdshot as he addressed a clutch of flower-holding protesters outside his home. This peaceful gathering was unlicensed, so it was technically a crime. But the sheikh’s shooting was likewise a response to a speech he had made a few days earlier, when he said that Bahrain’s Shias had yet to display half of their power and could bring thousands onto the streets, dressed for death, at the drop of a fatwa.

Mr Salman’s political group, Wefaq, won 45% of the vote in parliamentary elections in 2010, enjoying roughly the same level of support as Egypt’s powerful Muslim Brotherhood or the Islamists that won a general election in Tunisia. Yet Bahrain’s government routinely dismisses it as a group of traitors in thrall to Iran. The Saudis say much the same of their eastern Shias. Pointing a finger at foreign plots is easier than accepting the need for reform at home.

from the print edition | Middle East and Africa

A huge crowd of Saudi Arabian Shia Muslims gathered this evening in al-Awwamiyyah,in the oil-rich eastern province calling for the fall of the al-Saud tyrannical monarchy.see picture attached below.

Sheikh Abdul-Karim Jubayl leading the Salat Janaza on a Shia Muslim youth-Saeed al-Lajamy-shot dead yesterday by Saudi forces in the eastern province.see picture below attached.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8AbcxQgFTq8&feature=g-all-u

Saudi Arabia's jailed Sheikh Shia cleric Nemr goes on hunger strike

Relatives of jailed Saudi cleric Sheikh Nemr al-Nemr have expressed concern over his health condition, saying the mistreated Shia figure has started an open-ended hunger strike.

(Ahlul Bayt News Agency) - On July 8, Sheikh Nemr was attacked, injured and arrested by Saudi security forces while driving from a farm to his house in the flashpoint city of Qatif, in the kingdom's oil-rich Eastern Province.

Nemr’s relatives were allowed to visit him for the first time a week after his detention, at the military hospital in Dhahran in the Eastern Province. They said the very brief visit was closely monitored by security forces who told them not say anything more than exchanging general statements.

They said the cleric bore signs of severe torture on his body, his face was bruised in several places and some of his teeth were broken. The relatives had been warned by security forces to keep silent about what they had witnessed.

In 2011, Saudi Arabia's Eastern Province turned into a scene of regular anti-regime demonstrations demanding reforms, an end to widespread discrimination and the release of political prisoners from jail.

The demonstrations soon turned into protests against the Al Saud regime, especially after Saudi security forces killed five protesters and injured many others in November.

The protests have been met with an iron fist in the brutal crackdown by the security forces.

Anti-regime protests have intensified ever since Nemr's detention, with demonstrations spreading to the capital, Riyadh, and the holy city of Medina over the past week.

/106

http://abna.ir/data.asp?lang=3&Id=330740

code: 330751 Date: 2012/07/22 - 01:08 source: Moqawama

[size=14pt]Saudi Shia Cleric Urges Gov’t to Meet Popular Demands, Issue Amnesty for Political Prisoners[/size]

[img]http://abna.ir/a/uploads/217/4/217407_m.jpg[/img]

Prominent Saudi cleric of the Abbass Mosque in the Eastern Saudi town of Rabieya, Sheikh Abdul Karim al-Hubeil, called upon the government "to open a new page in dealing with the demands of the area's people, to contain the crisis with the onset of the holy month of Ramadan."

(Ahlul Bayt News Agency) - During his Friday preach, Sheikh al-Hubeil indicated, "The state working on the basis of power and responsibility, should act in a civilized manner with the popular movement in the region."

Also on this level, he confirmed that "the state which doesn't meet its people's demands, and displays no opposition, is either a dictatorship or its people are retarded."

Moreover, he added, "The state must comprehend the causes of the people through meeting their legitimate demands, and issuing amnesty on behalf of all "freedom of expression" prisoners; on top of which is Sheikh Nemr Baqer al-Nemr, and other forgotten prisoners."

"All displays of militarism, and checkpoints should be retreated, and the state should stop its pursuit of youth activists," Sheikh al-Hubeil asserted.

He further hoped that one day, the people would hear tender rhetoric from the Saudi King or Crown Prince, saying the Shiite sect is one of the country's spectrums [...] in order to retreat hatred among the people of the country, so that everyone can live in love and peace.

Addressing the youth activists, Sheikh al-Hubeil called on them to remain civilized in demanding their deprived rights, and give the world a bright image while raising their rightful demands.

In addition, the prominent Saudi cleric recalled the Saudi authorities' practices against the year and a half old popular movement. He noted that the crackdown includes neglecting the people's demands, accusing protesting youth of implementing a foreign agenda, doubting allegiance to the country, installing military checkpoint at all entrances and exits of towns, exploiting live ammunition against protesters, holding mass-arrest campaigns, and threatening to kill the country's prominent figures.

Furthermore, Sheikh al-Hubeil underscored the victory anniversary of the Islamic Resistance in Lebanon, during the 2006 "Israeli" aggression, believing that "what was achieved in the hands of the resistance is a great victory that frightened atheism, and relieved the hearts of the believers."

/106

http://abna.ir/data.asp?lang=3&Id=330751

Zhul-Fiqar.:


why are you trying to vindicate the wahhabi terror and intolerance by generalizing here?

please review this thread and tell us who is promoting hatred and strife:
https://www.nairaland.com/961495/timeline-sectarian-terrorism-against-shia

the saudi shia as the shia in bahrain are fighting against persecution as the shia have a long history of suffering from persecution by Sunnis in the middle east and elsewhere.



the wahhabi kingdom are agents of america.both saudi arabia and qatar are working 24/7 to topple the regime in syria inspite of the fact that bashar al-assad (who is from an alawite- an offshoot shiite sect) has a majority of syrians on his side.they have been exporting terrorists into syria:
https://www.nairaland.com/948839/silence-betrayal-houlamassacre-syria/2

in bahrain,the US stations its fifth fleet in the persian gulf.again the US have ignored the cries of the majority in bahrain against the persecution of the sunni monarchy.saudi arabia even sent troops to kill peaceful anti-monarchy protesters in bahrain.

now see what is happening in saudi arabia.and this same "love thy neighbor people" are the ones who engineered alqaeda and used the lethal wahhabi ideology in afghanistan to fight the soviets.when the thing got out of control,they want to use the deadly wahhabi ideology to tarnish the image of islam and muslims.this is unacceptable.there is nothing your pretense of "love thy neighbor" justifies here when the US is the one fueling,supporting,engineering,and promoting wahhabi terror.this is not what i am saying but what americans have admitted:

https://www.nairaland.com/863512/hilary-clinton-confesses-funded-wahhabis

if you really do not have an idea of what is going on then keep silent.no one is begging for your input.

wat will you say about the many injustice, persecution and terror that other religion and faith has endured under islam. let us learn to be peaceful and tolerant at least for Christ sake!!!!!!!!!!!
it should not be by shia or sunni or kurds or christian or "infidels". as long as we all acknowledge the Almighty God in heaven, we should see ourselves as creatures of God. the all powerful God that has the power to judge us all. let God be the judge and let us learn to "love thy neighbor as thyself, just like God commanded.
stop spreading and promoting strife, hatred, anger and intolerance!!

rafhell:



wat will you say about the many injustice, persecution and terror that other religion and faith has endured under islam. let us learn to be peaceful and tolerant at least for Christ sake!!!!!!!!!!!
it should not be by shia or sunni or kurds or christian or "infidels". as long as we all acknowledge the Almighty God in heaven, we should see ourselves as creatures of God. the all powerful God that has the power to judge us all. let God be the judge and let us learn to "love thy neighbor as thyself, just like God commanded.
stop spreading and promoting strife, hatred, anger and intolerance!!

the oppression,persecution,terror and injustice happening in saudi is not the work of Islam.you want to live in peace then you hypocritically try to drag the name of Islam into the mud.how caring of you! Saudi is a monarchy and monarchy is not justified in Islam.so how much more when this monarchy is tyrannical,oppressive,unjust,and terrorizing its citizens?

yes we should live in peace.but supporting the weak,oppressed and downtrodden is what someone who claims to be a follower of Jesus (as) should identify himself with unlike what your pastors are doing today:

https://www.nairaland.com/1003494/save-oyedepos-muslim-sister

LagosShia:

the oppression,persecution,terror and injustice happening in saudi is not the work of Islam.you want to live in peace then you hypocritically try to drag the name of Islam into the mud.how caring of you! Saudi is a monarchy and monarchy is not justified in Islam.so how much more when this monarchy is tyrannical,oppressive,unjust,and terrorizing its citizens?

yes we should live in peace.but supporting the weak,oppressed and downtrodden is what someone who claims to be a follower of Jesus (as) should identify himself with unlike what your pastors are doing today:

https://www.nairaland.com/1003494/save-oyedepos-muslim-sister

this is the problem with you guys. you will never make effort or even try to see reasons. anyway good luck with ur strife, intolerance and hatred.

rafhell:

this is the problem with you guys. you will never make effort or even try to see reasons. anyway good luck with ur strife, intolerance and hatred.

people ar being persecuted for their beliefs by a tyrannical government.and all you could say is support them morally by creating awareness on their plight is strife and hatred.how do you think? are you for real? or may be you did not take time to review this thread properly.

code: 336937 Date: 2012/08/15 - 10:22 source: presstv

Saudi Wahhabi Officials Indict Prominent Shia Cleric 'Sheikh Tawfiq al-Amer' After Year in Jail

[img]http://abna.ir/a/uploads/223/6/223681.jpg[/img]

Saudi Arabian officials have issued an indictment against prominent Shia cleric Sheikh Tawfiq al-Amer, who has been held in jail for one year without trial.

(Ahlul Bayt News Agency) - Saudi Arabian officials have issued an indictment against prominent Shia cleric Sheikh Tawfiq al-Amer, who has been held in jail for one year without trial.

On Sunday, the authorities issued a list of charges against Sheihk Amer, accusing him of making false statements against the Saudi king, calling for political reform and encouraging people to demand a transformation of the ruling system.

The authorities also accused the cleric of insulting Saudi religious scholars.

The charge refers to Amer’s response to a statement issued by a number of radical Salafi clerics who described Shia Muslims as infidels and called for a war on them.

Moreover, Sheikh Amer has been also charged with collecting donations, and raising the calls for prayers (Azan) in the Shia way from the mosques at which he used to be the imam.

The cleric was presented to Central Criminal Court in Riyadh 9 August, one year after security forces arrested him while the cleric was returning home after leading congretional prayers in a mosque in Hafouf of al-Ahsa governorate, Eastern province.

Sheikh Amer was detained and is being prosecuted over his calls for the establishment of a constitutional monarchy in Saudi Arabia and an end to widespread discrimination in the country.

Saudi Arabia, viewed as the Middle East’s powerhouse, is an absolute monarchy with zero tolerance for public dissent.

On Monday, Sweden's Defense Minister Karin Enstrom criticized the violation of human rights in Saudi Arabia, describing the kingdom as "an authoritarian regime and an absolute monarchy, where serious human rights crimes are committed."

/129


http://abna.ir/data.asp?lang=3&id=336937

Published On: Wed, Mar 27th, 2013

‘Death by Crucifixion’ for Ayatollah Al-Nimr, demands Saudi prosecutor



A Saudi Arabian prosecutor has demanded “death by crucifixion” for an anti-government cleric whose arrest last summer led to deadly protests in the Saudi kingdom, local media reported on Wednesday.

Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr, long seen as an opposition leader in the country’s restive eastern province of Qatif, appeared in court on Monday for the first time since his arrest in July, the Saudi Gazette reported.

National newspaper Al-Hayat Tuesday said the prosecutor has pushed for haraba, a form of Islamic punishment used against thieves and charlatans, that involves crucifixion. Al-Hayat did not name the case’s defendant, but mentioned characteristics that matched those of Nimr.

The prosecutor, accusing him of “aiding terrorists” and instigating unrest, said he was guilty of “waging war on God”, a crime in sharia, or Islamic law, that automatically carries the death penalty, al-Riyadh daily reported.

Saudi Arabia has no written legal code and judges have wide discretion to deliver verdicts based on their interpretation of sharia and without reference to precedent.

Tension is already running high over this month’s arrest of 16 anti-government protesters accused of spying for Riyadh’s regional rival Iran. Tehran has denied spying in the kingdom and community leaders in Qatif have said they do not believe the charges.

Police and protesters have clashed repeatedly in the past two years in the Eastern Province’s Qatif area where 16 demonstrators and a security officer have been killed.

The government has attributed all the deaths to exchanges of fire with rioters. Activists say police shot the 16 during peaceful demonstrations or during attempted arrests.

Nimr was based in al-Awamiyah, a neighborhood in Qatif that has been a hotbed of unrest. When he was arrested in July the authorities said he had rammed a police car and possessed weapons. Local activists denied both accusations.

Three demonstrators were killed during protests in the days immediately after Nimr’s arrest.

Early last year the Interior Ministry issued a list of 23 people wanted over the unrest in Qatif, saying they were acting on behalf of an unnamed foreign power, widely seen as Iran.

Nimr was accused of meeting some of these people while they were on the run.

He was also accused of interfering in the internal affairs of Bahrain, separated from Eastern Province by a 25 km causeway, where protestors have demanded that the ruling family introduce democracy.

Saudi minorities, particularly Shia, have long complained of persistent discrimination in the kingdom, where the majority follow the rigid Wahhabi school of Sunni Islam that sees Shi’ism as heretical. The authorities deny charges of discrimination.

Last week 37 Saudi Shia leaders signed a statement accusing the government of using the spy ring allegation to stir sectarian tensions and distract Sunnis from demands for reform.

Source: Reuters, Al-Akhbar

http://www.aimislam.com/death-by-crucifixion-for-ayatollah-al-nimr-demands-saudi-prosecutor/