Saudis execute Shia cleric, 46 others

Saudi Arabia executed a prominent Shias cleric and dozens of Al Qaeda members on Saturday, signalling it would not tolerate attacks by either Sunni jihadists or minority Shia seeking equality, but stirring sectarian anger across the region.

Scores of Shias marched through the Qatif district of Saudi Arabia’s Eastern Province in protest at the execution of cleric Nimr al-Nimra, an eyewitness said. They chanted “down with the Al Saud”, the name of the ruling Saudi royal family.

But most of the 47 executed in the kingdom’s biggest mass execution for decades were Sunnis convicted of Al Qaeda attacks in Saudi Arabia a decade ago.

Four, including Nimr, were Shias accused of shooting policemen.

The executions took place in 12 cities in Saudi Arabia, four prisons using firing squads and the others beheading. In December, Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula threatened to retaliate against Saudi Arabia for any execution of its members.

Riyadh’s main regional rival Iran and its Shia allies immediately reacted with vigorous condemnation of the execution of Nimr, and the Saudi police raised security in a district where the sect is a majority in case of protests, residents said.

However, the executions seemed mostly aimed at discouraging Saudis from jihadism after bombings and shootings by Sunni militants in Saudi Arabia over the past year killed dozens and ISIS called on followers there to stage attacks.

Saudi Arabia’s ruling Al Saud family has grown increasingly nervous in recent years as turmoil across West Asia, especially Syria and Iraq, has empowered Sunni jihadist groups that seek to bring it down and given opportunities to Shia Iran to spread its influence.

The simultaneous execution of 47 people — 45 Saudis, one Egytian and a man from Chad — was the biggest mass execution for security offences in Saudi Arabia since the 1980 killing of 63 jihadist rebels who seized Mecca’s Grand Mosque in 1979.

The 43 Sunni jihadists executed on Saturday included several prominent Al Qaeda figures, including those convicted for attacks on Western compounds, government buildings and diplomatic missions that killed hundreds from 2003-06.

The four Shias were convicted of involvement in shootings and petrol bomb attacks that killed several police during anti-government protests from 2011-13 in which over 20 members of the minority sect were also shot dead by the authorities.