What Do You Think?

[Cymberly]

Don't say anything bad about Islamic governments/religious leaders or else.

copied from:
Ministry reiterates ban on protests
– Saudi Press Agency
Monday, 07 March 2011


RIYADH: The Ministry of Interior released a statement Saturday reiterating its declaration dated 30/12/2008 which it said “bans outright all forms of demonstrations marches, standing protests and calls to such” and declares them “opposed to the principles of Islamic Shariah and the customs of Saudi society”.

Ministry spokesman Mansour Al-Turki said that such acts are “in breach of public law and damage public and private interest”. “They are an infringement on the rights of others and cause chaos which leads to bloodshed and theft and exposes public and private property to damage,” Al-Turki said in the statement.

“The current laws and values in our society governed by the law of Allah and the Sunnah of His Prophet contain legitimate means of expression and open doors for communication at all levels in all matters related to public interest. The security forces are authorized by law to take all necessary measures against anyone who attempts to break the law in any way whatsoever.”

[janetyu]

And here is their way are putting a stop to protests.

Copied from:
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/142837


Saudis: If Dollars Won't Work, Bullets Will

by Gavriel Queenann
03/11/11

Saudi police officers opened fire on a protest march in one of its eastern provinces on Thursday, wounding three according to witnesses and a Saudi official, the New York Times reported. The crackdown came on the eve of a panned "day of rage" throughout the oil-rich kingdom that Saudi officials say they will not tolerate.

Witnesses described the small protest march in the largely Shiite town of Qatif as peaceful, but an Interior Ministry spokesman alleged demonstrators attacked police before officers took the decision to fire, Reuters reported. The spokesman said police fired over the protesters’ heads, but that three people were injured in the melee, including an officer.

The clashed underscored growing tensions between Saudi Arabia's Shiite minority, which is demanding greater enfranchisement from a government that officially sanctions Wahabi Islam, a zealous form of Sunni orthodoxy. Mohammad Zaki Al-Khabbaz, a human rights activist in Qatif, said that security forces fired tear gas and shot in the air trying to disperse the crowd.

Abdulwahab Al-Oraid, a Qatif resident who watched the march, said it was unclear why the police opened fire. “We think this is a message: ‘Don’t protest in any Shiite areas on Friday,'" Al-Oraid said. Witnesses could not say whether police fired rubber bullets intended for crowd control or other kinds of ammunition.

Residents across Saudi Arabia report beefed up security on the streets and closed access to major squares in big cities where protesters are expected to gather Friday. “Streets are packed with police vehicles,” said Mohamad Al-Qahtani, a human rights activist in Riyadh, the capital. “I have never seen anything like this. It says that the regime fears its people.”

Rattled by the protests that have wrought chaos in the Middle East and Africa, brought down regimes in Egypt and Tunisia, led to civil war, and led the monarchs of Jordan and Morocco to scramble for reform, Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah previously announced a $37 billion domestic aid package upon his return to the Kingdom.

But aid dollars do not appear to have impressed the protest movement in Saudi Arabia and the winds of malcontent continue to blow in Gulf states. On the same day as the Qatif crackdown foreign ministers from the Gulf Cooperation Council met in the Saudi capitol of Riyadh to pledge $20 billion in aid for social development programs for Bahrain and Oman, where protests have begun to take hold.

Wary eyes in the Gulf are on Iran, the Shiite power-house many believe are behind Shiite protests throughout the region. Saudi government officials have made clear, if dollars will not work, they will take firmer measures. Saudi foreign minister Saud Al-Faisal warned last night the monarchy would, "cut off each finger directed toward the kingdom."