(AFP) Two Shiite protesters were killed in clashes with Saudi police following the arrest of prominent Shiite cleric Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr, activists said on Monday. Police opened fire to disperse a demonstration against the arrest in Qatif city in Eastern Province. The interior ministry described Nimr as an "instigator of sedition." Nimr has called for separating the Eastern Province's Shiite-populated Qatif and Al-Ihsaa governorates from Saudi Arabia and uniting them with Shiite-majority Bahrain. Saudi Arabia's two million Shiites live mostly in the east, where the vast majority of the kingdom's huge oil reserves lie.
2012-07-13 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive