Alwaght | News & Analysis Website

Alwaght- Saudi regime's brutal execution of prominent Islamic scholar Sheikh Nimr Baqir al-Nimr has sparked protests in the kingdom's eastern region and condemnation across the world.
The despotic regime in Riyadh on Saturday announced the execution of prominent Islamic Shiite cleric Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr and 46 others in defiance of international calls for the release of the prominent Shiite cleric and other jailed political activists in the restive kingdom. Sheikh Nimr was shot by Saudi police and arrested in Qatif in 2012. He was charged with instigating unrest and undermining the kingdom’s security, making anti-government speeches and defending political prisoners. He had rejected all the charges as baseless.
People in the Qatif region of Saudi Arabia’s Eastern Province took to the streets to the streets to express anger at the execution of Sheikh Nimr.
Mass mourning ceremonies are being held in the region of Qatif  with sources saying  that said the region’s residents have called for taking up arms against the Saudi regime in the form of popular resistance. Saudi security forces are said to be on high alert while non-essential  regime staff are being evacuated from the region.
Elsewhere Lebanon’s Al Ahd news website said hundreds of anti-riot personnel carriers set off for Qatif on Saturday to quell potential protests on the part of its Shiite population against the execution.

Iran slams execution, MPs urge downgarding ties with Riyadh

Iran’s Foreign Ministry Spokesman Hossein Jaberi Ansari said the execution of Sheikh Nimr “who had no means other than speech to pursue his political and religious objectives only shows the depth of imprudence and irresponsibility.”
The Iranian Foreign Ministry has summoned Saudi Arabian charge d'affaires to Tehran to protest the execution of prominent Shia cleric Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr.
Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister for Arab and African Affairs Hossein Amir-Abdollahian on Saturday conveyed the Islamic Republic’s protest to Ahmed al-Muwallid over Nimr’s execution.
Iran’s Parliament (Majlis) Speaker Ali Larijani said on Saturday that executing Sheikh Nimr would create a “whirlwind” of problems for the Saudi regime.
It is unlikely that Saudi Arabia will be able to easily get out of such a whirlwind, he added.
“Such acts will add to security woes in the region,” the top Iranian parliamentarian pointed out.
He said Saudi Arabia’s decisions over the past two years have created problems for regional countries, including Iraq, Yemen and Syria, and expressed regret over Riyadh’s “adventurism” in the region.
Larijani emphasized that Western countries and the US must take action over Saudi Arabia’s execution of Sheikh Nimr, which he said is a “blatant violation of human rights.”
Meanwhile Vice Chairman of Iran's Majlis National Security and Foreign Policy Commission said on Saturday that the commission in a letter to Foreign Ministry has called for the downgrading of ties with the Saudi regime following the execution of Sheikh Nimr.

Hezbollah says US complicit in Sheikh Nimr's assassination
 
Lebanon’s resistance movement Hezbollah also condemned the killing as an “assassination,” describing Sheikh Nimr as a spiritual scholar who always sought dialogue and resisted injustice. In a statement, Hezbollah pointed out that the real reason of assassinating Sheikh Nimr is that he confronted the Saudi regime's ignorance, tyranny and oppression, by demanding it to grant the oppressed people their rights.
The party called on the international community and the human rights organizations as well as the Muslim Umma to denounce the Saudi crime and to blacklist Riyadh for its criminal act.
Hezbollah further said the US is morally and directly responsible for this crime because it supports the Saudi regime and covers up its criminal acts against the region's people although it falsely claims to hold the slogans of democracy, freedom and human rights.

Sheikh Nimr's brother says resistance will continue

Mohammad al-Nimr, the brother of Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr  has stressed that despite the execution of the prominent religious figure, the pro-democracy movement  and resistance in the Kingdom’s east will persist.
“Wrong, misled, and mistaken those who think that the killing will keep us from our rightful demands,” Mohammad al-Nimr tweeted shortly after the media reported the execution of Sheikh Nimr along with other 46 people.

Sheikh Nimr's Execution to mark end of Saudi Arabia: Ex-Iraqi PM

The execution of prominent Shi'ite cleric Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr will mark the end of Saudi Arabia's government, says Nuri al-Maliki, Iraq's former prime minister.
 "We strongly condemn these detestable sectarian practices and affirm that the crime of executing Sheikh al-Nimr will topple the Saudi regime as the crime of executing the martyr (Mohammed Baqir) al-Sadr did to Saddam (Hussein)," said Maliki, referring to another prominent Shi'ite cleric killed in 1980.
Meanwhile, a prominent Iraqi lawmaker said the execution served the interests of ISIS terrorist group.
"The execution of Sheikh al-Nimr is a service to ISIS, which is betting on expanding by igniting sectarian wars," said Humam Hamoudi, a prominent  politician and member of the powerful Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq (ISCI) party.

Germany Expresses concern over rifts after Sheikh Nimr's execution
 
Germany has expressed concern over the execution of prominent Shia cleric Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr in Saudi Arabia.
“The execution of Nimr al-Nimr strengthens our existing concerns about increasing tensions and deepening rifts in the region,” said an unidentified German Foreign Ministry official on Saturday, hours after Riyadh announced the execution of Sheikh Nimr along with 46 others for terrorism-related charges.
Germany has in the past criticized Saudi Arabia for its human rights violations, urging the kingdom to stop using death penalty for activists and members of the civil society.
Meanwhile, Pakistan’s Muslims Unity Assembly has slammed the execution of Sheikh Nimr terming it a challenge against millions of Muslims worldwide.
In Yemen, the Ansarullah movement also described Sheikh Nimr as a “holy warrior” and said the Saudi execution of the top Shia cleric is a “flagrant violation of human rights.”
Elsewhere in Bahrain, hundreds of people held a protest rally in the capital, Manama, to voice their outrage at the execution of the prominent Islamic scholar.

Human Rights Watch strongly criticized the Saudi executions. “Regardless of the crimes allegedly committed, executing prisoners [en masse] only further stains Saudi Arabia’s troubling human rights record,” Sarah Leah Whitson, the group’s Middle East director said, adding that al-Nimr was convicted in an “unfair” trial and that his execution “is only adding to the existing sectarian discord and unrest.”

“Saudi Arabia’s path to stability in the Eastern Province lies in ending systematic discrimination against Shiite citizens, not in executions,” she said.