Influential Shiite cleric among 47 executed in Saudi Arabia

Nimr Al-Nimr was executed along with 46 other men, including Shiite activists and Sunnis accused of involvement in Al-Qaeda killings, the interior ministry said.

Qassim al-Araji, a leader of the Badr Organization, another Iranian-linked Shi’ite paramilitary group with a political wing, called on the government to cut diplomatic ties immediately.

“The specific case of Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr raises serious concerns regarding freedom of expression and the respect of basic civil and political rights, to be safeguarded in all cases, also in the framework of the fight against terrorism”, European Union foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini said in a statement.

The executions took place in 12 cities in Saudi Arabia, four prisons using firing squads and the others beheading.

Saudi Arabia’s ruling Al Saud family has grown increasingly nervous in recent years as Middle East turmoil, especially in Syria and Iraq, has empowered Sunni militants seeking to bring it down and given room to Shi’ite Iran to spread its influence.

In December, al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula threatened to retaliate against Saudi Arabia for any execution of its members.

Yesterday’s executions were condemned by Iran and Iraq as well as the Lebanese Shiite movement Hezbollah, and drew protest calls.

A Saudi lawyer in the eastern region of the kingdom told The Associated Press that in addition to al-Nimr, three other Shiite political detainees were executed Saturday. His death also strikes a sensitive chord for Saudi Shiites who claim they are discriminated against by authorities in the kingdom, where many ultraconservatives Sunnis view Shiites as heretics.

Saudi Arabia announced that it has executed 47 people for terrorism, including a prominent Shia cleric.

The Iranian Foreign Ministry summoned the Saudi envoy in Tehran to protest, and parliament speaker Ali Larijani said the execution would prompt “a maelstrom” in Saudi Arabia.

A Shi’ite protester carries a poster of Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr during a demonstration outside the Saudi embassy in Sanaa October 18, 2014.

Saudi Arabia’s top cleric Grand Mufti Sheikh Abdulaziz Al Sheikh defended the executions as in line with Islamic Shariah law.

Most jihadist groups follow a radical interpretation of the Salafi branch of Islam, the strict Sunni Muslim school that was developed in Saudi Arabia and is still followed by its clergy; but they have long regarded Riyadh as an enemy. Sheikh Abdul-Amir Kabalan, deputy head of the influential Supreme Shiite Islamic Council that is the main religious body for Lebanon’s 1.2 million Shiites, said the executions “will have repercussions in the coming days”.

In Yemen, where the kingdom is leading a coalition against Shiite rebels, the religious scholars association controlled by them condemned the execution. Small groups of protesters took to the streets in neighbouring Bahrain, which has seen low-level violence since 2011 when the tiny island-nation’s Shiite majority held mass protests to demand greater rights from the Sunni-led monarchy.

The 47 who were executed included an al-Qaida ideologue as well as Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr, a prominent opposition Shiite cleric who had rallied anti-government protests before his arrest in 2012.

Notably absent from the list, however, was Nimr’s nephew, Ali al-Nimr, whose arrest at the age of 17 and alleged torture during detention sparked condemnation from rights watchdogs and the United States.

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

“Let the worms eat him”, Nimr had said, while also criticizing the rulers of Saudi Arabia and Bahrain.

Amnesty International UK’s Shane Enright told the Press Association that the death penalty was “unacceptable in all circumstances” and it was particularly concerning that a number of “peaceful dissidents” had been killed, including sheikh al-Nimr.