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发帖数: 61690 | 1 Saudi Arabia's Interior Ministry warns it will crack down on protesters who
take their grievances to the streets.
(CNN) -- Coming off two days of demonstrations, Saudi Arabia's Interior
Ministry warned Saturday that it would crack down on protesters who continue
to take their grievances to the streets.
Saudi security forces will be "authorized to take all measures against
anyone who tries to break the law and cause disorder," the ministry said,
according to the country's state-run news agency.
The government cited how some were trying "to get around the systems" and "
achieve illegitimate goals."
The Interior Ministry spokesman said that kingdom law prevents all kinds of
demonstrations, protests, strikes and even a call for them because they're
against Sharia law and Saudi values and traditions.
In response, Ibrahim al-Mugaiteeb, president of the Human Rights First
Society, told CNN that the Interior Ministry is "not at all sensitive" to
the massive unrest sweeping the Arab world.
"I'm hoping that the Ministry of the Interior and the government of Saudi
Arabia will not choose to take the security solution road because that was
already tested in other Arab countries and, by God, it did not work," said
al-Mugaiteeb, who's in Saudi Arabia.
On Saturday, the Saudi government downplayed Friday's protests in the
Eastern Province, saying the people weren't calling for a regime change.
"The protests that took place in the Eastern Province were small and were
not political in nature," a Saudi government official told CNN. "The
protesters weren't calling for regime change, they were asking for more jobs
and calling for release of prisoners they feel were imprisoned unjustly."
The official, who asked not to be named because he was not authorized to
speak to the media, said Friday's protest was not worrisome. "We don't feel
they will spread throughout the kingdom or become bigger in nature," he said.
Demonstrators who protested in Eastern Province were demanding the release
of Shiite prisoners they feel are being held without cause.
An outspoken Shiite prayer leader who demonstrators say was arrested more
than a week ago was a focal point of the "day of rage" protest, said Ibrahim
al-Mugaiteeb, president of the Human Rights First Society.
Sheikh Tawfeeq Al-Amer was arrested Sunday after he gave a sermon two days
earlier, on February 25, stating that Saudi Arabia should become a
constitutional monarchy, human rights activists said.
Friday's protest comes on the heels of two similar demonstrations held in
the province Thursday, al-Mugaiteeb said, when about 200 protesters in the
city of Qatif and 100 protesters in the city of Awamiyya called for the
release of Shiite prisoners.
Al-Mugaiteeb said authorities arrested 22 people who participated in
Thursday's protest in Qatif.
"We deplore this action by the Saudi security forces," he said.
Another protest took place in Riyadh after Friday prayer, according to two
Saudi activists. The sources asked not to be identified because of concerns
for their safety.
According to the activists, as many as 40 anti-government demonstrators
gathered outside Al-Rajhi Mosque for a short protest. At least one man
involved in organizing the protest was arrested by Saudi police, the
activists said.
The activists said the protesters attracted a crowd of worshipers leaving
the mosque. Some of the protesters carried signs showing a map of Saudi
Arabia that did not contain the words "Kingdom of Saudi Arabia," a clear
affront to the Saudi royal family.
The government official told CNN that he was not aware of any protests or
arrests in Riyadh.
When asked about the various rights groups in the kingdom who have been
calling for the creation of a constitutional monarchy over the course of the
past 2 weeks, the government official on Saturday stated, "Yes, there are
groups here asking for more rights, calling for constitutional reforms, and
that is their right to do so. King Abdullah has always encouraged a national
dialogue and continues to do so."
The official insisted that the king "is doing all he can to improve things
for Saudis."
"But in Saudi Arabia -- it's not like other countries -- we don't have or
allow protests here. If people have a grievance, they can go and address it
with the governors of their provinces or they can go to the Royal Court and
address grievances directly there," the official said.
Saudi Arabia has cracked down on protests in the past.
Shiites are a minority in Saudi Arabia. They live primarily in the Eastern
Province, where many major oil companies operate.
The protests come as sectarian violence between Shiites and Sunnis flares in
neighboring Bahrain.
Analysts believe protests in Bahrain could spill over into Saudi Arabia's
oil fields, located mostly in Shiite provinces.
After three months abroad for medical treatment, Saudi King Abdullah
returned home late last month to a Middle East shaken by unrest, and
announced a series of sweeping measures aimed at relieving economic hardship
and meeting with Bahrain's beleaguered monarch.
The Saudi government released three Shiite political prisoners ahead of the
king's return. | b*****d
发帖数: 61690 | 2 一切手段都可以用
Saudi security forces will be "authorized to take all measures against
anyone who tries to break the law and cause disorder," the ministry said,
according to the country's state-run news agency. | f*****e
发帖数: 2992 | 3 还有人说it doesn't work.
【在 b*****d 的大作中提到】
: 一切手段都可以用
: Saudi security forces will be "authorized to take all measures against
: anyone who tries to break the law and cause disorder," the ministry said,
: according to the country's state-run news agency.
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