Saudi Arabia: Soldier shot dead in Eastern Province

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Saudi Arabia: Soldier shot dead in Eastern Province

A soldier has been shot dead and another injured during a clash with protesters in eastern Saudi Arabia, according to state media.

An interior ministry spokesman said that a security patrol was fired at by rioters on motorbikes in Qatif.

A protester was also killed in a firefight following the incident, according to news agency AFP.
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The oil-rich Eastern Province is home to a Shia majority that has long complained of marginalisation.
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Protests erupted in the region in March 2011 when a popular uprising in neighbouring Bahrain, which has a Shia majority and a Sunni royal family, was crushed with the assistance of Saudi and other Gulf troops.

Source: BBC News - Saudi Arabia: Soldier shot dead in Eastern Province

 

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Earlier:

Saudi crackdown takes on sectarian character

In late November in the Saudi Arabian city of Qatif, four young men were shot and killed by security forces over a four-day period.

Qatif, a port in the oil-rich Eastern Province, has a population of roughly half a million, almost all of whom are Shia. The men who were killed were Shia.

Eastern Province has a Shia majority which has long complained of discrimination at the hands of the Sunni ruling family, the Al Saud.

Emboldened by the Arab Spring and a popular uprising in neighbouring Bahrain, also with a Shia majority controlled by a Sunni royal family, protests flared up in March.

Prince Nayef is known as a hardline conservative who is deeply distrustful of Shia.

He views dissent in the Eastern Province as evidence of Iranian meddling as Saudi anxiety grows over Iran's nuclear weapons ambitions.

People in Qatif have called for the downfall of Saudi Arabia and Bahrain's rulers

Source: BBC News - Saudi crackdown takes on sectarian character