Thread: Saudi Arabia executes 47 people, including top Shiite cleric

Saudi Arabia executed 47 people on Saturday, including a prominent Shiite cleric behind anti-government protests and Sunnis convicted of involvement in deadly Al-Qaeda attacks, the government said.

The 56-year-old cleric, Nimr al-Nimr, was a driving force of the protests that broke out in 2011 in the Sunni-ruled kingdom's east, where the Shiite minority complains of marginalisation.

But the list does not include Nimr's nephew, Ali al-Nimr, whose arrest at the age of 17 and alleged torture during detention sparked condemnation from human rights groups and the United States.

Announcing the executions, the Saudi interior ministry said the 47 had been convicted of adopting the radical "takfiri" ideology, joining "terrorist organisations" and implementing various "criminal plots".

The list, published in a statement carried by the official SPA news agency, includes Sunnis convicted of involvement in Al-Qaeda attacks that killed Saudis and foreigners in the kingdom in 2003 and 2004.

All of the executed were Saudis, except for an Egyptian and citizen of Chad.

The list includes Fares al-Shuwail which Saudi media outlets have described as the top religious leader of Al-Qaeda in Saudi Arabia. He was arrested in August 2004.

They were executed Saturday in 12 Saudi cities, the ministry said, without elaborating.

Saudi executions are usually carried out by beheading with a sword.

Executions have soared in the country since King Salman acceded the throne in January 2015, after the death of king Abdullah.

Last year, Saudi Arabia executed 153 people convicted of various crimes, including drug-trafficking, after 87 were put to death in 2014.

Authorities in the kingdom set up specialised courts in 2011 to try dozens of Saudis and foreigners accused of belonging to Al-Qaeda or of participating in the wave of attacks that swept the country from 2003.

Those shootings and bombings killed more than 150 Saudis and foreigners.

The kingdom's current Crown Prince Mohammed bin Nayef oversaw a crackdown on the militants at the time.

In 2009, Al-Qaeda announced a merger of its Saudi and Yemeni branches forming Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) -- classified by the United States as the network's deadliest branch.

- 'Instigator of sedition' -

But Nimr was arrested for completely different reasons in 2012.

The interior ministry had described him at the time as an "instigator of sedition" as it announced his arrest in the Shiite village of Awamiya in the east after being wounded in the leg while putting up resistance.

A video published on YouTube in 2012 showed Nimr, a slightly built man with a white beard, making a speech celebrating the 2012 death of then-interior minister Prince Nayef bin Abdulaziz, the crown prince's father.

"Let the worms eat him," Nimr said at the time.

"Those who killed our sons and jailed them, how would we not be happy for their deaths... May God take their lives one after the other, the families of Al-Saud and Al-Khalifa," he said in reference to the Sunni ruling families of Saudi Arabia and Bahrain.

Saudi Arabia's Shiite-populated east has been the scene of periodic clashes involving security forces after demonstrations broke out almost five years ago alongside a Shiite-led protest movement in neighbouring Bahrain.

Most of Saudi Arabia's Shiites live in the oil-rich east, where many say they are marginalised.

Saudi Arabia executes 47 people, including top Shiite cleric

me n herman ahead of this

https://teakdoor.com/world-news/16110...s-lopping.html

Well if the cleric was shite he should clean up his act.
God doesn't like shiite clerics.

Thinning the herd of undesirables??

As long as they keep killing their own race I'm loving it.

The death penalty certainly has a place in this world simply to get rid of defective human beings.

There are millions of them.

Originally Posted by terry57

As long as they keep killing their own race I'm loving it.

The death penalty certainly has a place in this world simply to get rid of defective human beings.

There are millions of them.

A cultural extension, less a race, Ter....

Originally Posted by terry57

As long as they keep killing their own race I'm loving it.

The death penalty certainly has a place in this world simply to get rid of defective human beings.

There are millions of them.

Reminds me of an Ed Sheeran song:

"So you can keep me inside the pocket of your ripped jeans."

(might have to change the word jeans with burqa )

Here a pecking order... your extremism isn't allowed to be more extreme than our state approved exported version so we'll just execute you anyway. Has been done before by these Saudi fucks.

Comes the growing revolution within the Kingdom.


...sounds familiar.

The road where the embassy sits has been renamed as "Sheikh Nimr Street".

Good one.

Originally Posted by Neo

Seems the political wind is now blowing against the house of Saud, it's unusual to hear criticism of the regime in the Western media, but just heard on a US station of protests and of Iraq closing it's embassy. This all stems from Russian intervention in Syria and the highlighting of US/UK/KSA complicity in extremism... looks like Barry and Dave are setting up the sand niggers for a fall.

Wasn't the best move to create martyrs within an already turning situation.
Bet your britches, the Saudi hierarchy has long since secured their mobile wealth elsewhere preparing for the fall and their permanent exile, creating a uncertain future for the Arabian peninsula....

Sheikh Nimr was one of 47 people executed for terrorism offences.
But Ayatollah Khamenei said the cleric had been executed for his opposition to Saudi Arabia's Sunni rulers.

Of course, nothing like this could ever happen in a liberal, tolerant nation like Iran.

Originally Posted by terry57

As long as they keep killing their own race I'm loving it.

The death penalty certainly has a place in this world simply to get rid of defective human beings.

There are millions of them.

Race.....stoopid fooker

Originally Posted by hazz

One has to wonder if this is an example of the kind on stupidity we would expect from a nation who's culture involves generations of marrying cousins. or is it a stroke of genius, provoke peaceful demonstrators to violence... so you can label them terrorists and carry out an act of genocide against them. thus doing what IS has failed to do, rid saudi arabia of an bunch of heretics that happen to be living on top of the oil.

Perhaps the industrial military complex known as america, should invade, free these shia of their sunni overlords, let them for their own country in exchange for contracts to extract the oil from under them.

It's been continuing by hidden proxy for decades -

Saudi Arabia will face "divine revenge" for its execution of a prominent Shia cleric, Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has warned.

This shows just more lies and hypocrisy from the sick cult of islam.

The guy executed was muslim, executed by a muslim, from a sentence in a muslim court.

What is wrong with these idiots?

Ah yes, there are no schism in Islam...

Originally Posted by Black Heart

Saudi Arabia will face "divine revenge" for its execution of a prominent Shia cleric, Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has warned.

This shows just more lies and hypocrisy from the sick cult of islam.

The guy executed was muslim, executed by a muslim, from a sentence in a muslim court.

What is wrong with these idiots?

i know that your missing all of the intelligence genes.... but all the same, are you really so stupid not to understand that this is a bunch of 'real' muslims executing a heretic muslim who deserves to die.... because allah is obviously not omnipotent and powerful enough to handle it himself and must act through humans.

those upset are 'real' muslims who see a great man put to death by a bunch of heretic not real muslims. because allah is obviously not omnipotent and powerful enough to handle it himself, therefore they must take revenge themselves.

obviously, if it had been an american seal squad who killed the chap, then both sides would be 'real' muslims united in condemning these kaffures for killing this innocent old man. because allah is obviously not omnipotent and powerful enough to handle it himself, therefore they must take revenge themselves.

Originally Posted by stroller

Sheikh Nimr was one of 47 people executed for terrorism offences.
But Ayatollah Khamenei said the cleric had been executed for his opposition to Saudi Arabia's Sunni rulers.

Of course, nothing like this could ever happen in a liberal, tolerant nation like Iran.

You're a bit modest today. Do you mind if I rephrase it a bit ?

Of course, nothing like this could ever happen in any liberal, tolerant muslim country.

Before this thread becomes a bash let me enlighten you with a smash

Saudi Arabia broke off diplomatic ties with Iran on Sunday after protesters ransacked its embassy in Tehran to protest the execution of a Shiite cleric whose killing has sparked fury.

Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir made the announcement at a news conference in Riyadh, and said Iranian diplomats had 48 hours to leave the kingdom.

The diplomatic fallout come as Iran's supreme leader said Saudi Arabia would face "divine revenge" for executing Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr, and as Western nations voiced concern about escalating sectarian tensions between Sunnis and Muslims.

Saudi Arabia "is breaking off diplomatic ties with Iran and requests that all members of the Iranian diplomatic mission leave... within 48 hours," Jubeir said.

"Iran's history is full of negative interference and hostility in Arab issues, and it is always accompanied by destruction," he said, and accused Tehran of seeking to "destabilise" the region.

On Saturday, a mob attacked the Saudi embassy in Tehran and a consulate in second city Mashhad amid protests at Nimr's execution.

Jubeir said Saudi authorities had asked their Iranian counterparts to ensure security at the embassy but they did not cooperate and failed to protect it.

Nimr, 56, was a force behind 2011 anti-government protests in oil-rich eastern Saudi Arabia, where Shiites have complained of marginalisation.

He was put to death along with 46 other people, Shiite activists and convicted Sunni militants who the Saudi interior ministry says were involved in Al-Qaeda attacks that killed dozens in 2003 and 2004.

Some were beheaded and others were shot by firing squad.

Iran has said it arrested 44 people over the embassy attacks, and President Hassan Rouhani said the demonstrators were "radicals" and the assaults "totally unjustifiable".

Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei condemned Nimr's execution, saying "God will not forgive" Saudi Arabia for putting him to death.

"It will haunt the politicians of this regime," he said.

Relations between Sunni-ruled Saudi Arabia and Shiite-ruled Iran have been strained for decades, with Riyadh frequently accusing Tehran of interfering in Arab affairs.

Both countries have also been divided over the nearly five-year war in Syria, where Iran is backing the regime and in Yemen where a Saudi-led coalition is battling Iran-backed rebels.

- 'The gates of hell' -

Khamenei was joined in his condemnation of Nimr's execution by Iraq's top Shiite authority, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, who called the death sentence "an unjust act of aggression".

Their comments, echoed by other regional religious and political leaders, came as protests in Iran on Sunday spread to Bahrain, Pakistan, Indian Kashmir and Lebanon.

The head of Lebanon's Shiite Hezbollah movement allied to Iran, Hassan Nasrallah, accused Riyadh of seeking to spark a "conflict between Sunni and Shiite" Muslims.

Iraq's foreign ministry accused Saudi Arabia of using the fight against "terrorism" to silence its opposition.

Saudi Arabia had branded Nimr an "instigator of sedition" and arrested him in 2012, after a video on YouTube showed him making a speech celebrating the death of the then interior minister.

Three years earlier he had called for the oil-rich Eastern Province's Shiite-populated Qatif and Al-Ihsaa governorates to be separated from Saudi Arabia and united with Bahrain.

Shiites in the neighbouring countries complain of marginalisation.

Demonstrations outside the Saudi embassy and at Palestine Square in Tehran attracted around 1,500 people Sunday, with chants of "Death to the House of Saud".

"His death will start a revolution which hopefully will lead to the fall of the Saudi family," said Rezvan, a 26-year-old in a traditional black chador who declined to give her last name.

On Baghdad's Palestine Street, Iraqi cleric Ahmed al-Shahmani said: "The House of Saud has opened the gates of hell on its own regime."

In Bahrain, where authorities defended Saudi Arabia along with other Gulf allies of the Riyadh, police used buckshot and tear gas against Shiiite protesters who threw petrol bombs. Arrests were reported.

- 'Sectarian tensions' -

Nimr's execution was widely condemned.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said he was "deeply dismayed" while the United States warned that Riyadh risked "exacerbating sectarian tensions at a time when they urgently need to be reduced".

The European Union, Germany and France deplored the executions, while Britain, which is careful to protect trade and investment links with Saudi Arabia, reiterated its opposition to the death penalty.

Saudi Arabia's interior ministry said the executed men were convicted of adopting the radical "takfiri" ideology, joining "terrorist organisations" and implementing "criminal plots".

Executions have soared in Saudi Arabia since King Salman ascended the throne a year ago with 153 people put to death in 2015, nearly twice as many as in 2014, for crimes ranging from murder to drug trafficking, armed robbery, rape and apostasy.

Human Rights Watch said Saturday's "mass execution was the largest since 1980" when 68 militants who had seized Mecca's Grand Mosque were beheaded, and called it a "shameful start to 2016".

Amnesty International said Saudi Arabia was using Nimr's execution "to settle political scores".

But on Sunday Jubeir said those executed had received "fair and transparent" trials and were convicted of carrying out "terrorist operations that led to the deaths of innocents".

Saudi severs ties with Iran after embassy attacked

Originally Posted by Hans Mann

Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei condemned Nimr's execution, saying "God will not forgive" Saudi Arabia for putting him to death.

Then why all the excitement ?