Alwaght- The Saudi regime has arrested two prominent clerics, Salman al-Odah and Awad al-Qarni, in what appears to be a crackdown on Wahhabi clerics and a royal family prince seen as critics of the kingdom's absolute rulers.
Sheikh Salman al-Awdah, an influential cleric who was imprisoned from 1994-99 for agitating for political change and has 14 million followers on Twitter, appears to have been detained over the weekend, the posting suggested.
Prince Abdul Aziz Bin Fahd al-Saud, a son of former King Fahd, was also detained, according to some of the sources.
In all, about 20 people have been arrested in the past 24 hours, according to the sources.
In one of his last postings on Twitter Sheikh Salman al-Awdah welcomed a report on Friday suggesting that a three-month-old row between Qatar and four Arab countries led by Saudi Arabia may be resolved. He was allegedly detained because of the tweet he sent supporting mediation to settle a bitter diplomatic row that began in June between Saudi Arabia and Qatar.
Reports of the arrests coincided with widespread speculation, dismissed by officials, that King Salman intends to abdicate in favor of Crown Prince Mohammed.. Reports on social media said that Awad al-Qarni, another prominent cleric with 2.2 million Twitter followers, was also detained from his home in Abha in southern Saudi Arabia. Like Awdah, Qarni had also expressed support for reconciliation between Arab countries and Qatar.
Exiled Saudi opposition activists have called for protests on 15 September intended to galvanize opposition to the royal family.
