The "Day of Rage" planned by critics of the Saudi Arabian government may have turned into a day of rest on Friday, with quiet streets in the eastern city of Qatif one day after police fired on protesters there, and peaceful demonstrations outside the town.
Witnesses reported a heavy police presence in Riyadh, the country's capital, but no protests.
One witness said hundreds marched in Al-Ahsa, in the southern part of the country's largely Shiite Eastern Province, and several protesters were arrested, but that there was no violence. Another witness said that marches took place in two towns outside Qatif in the late afternoon without incident.
Protesters have called for increased democracy in the country that has been ruled by the al-Saud family since they united it by conquest almost 80 years ago. The royal family and the majority of the country's population are Sunni Muslims, and Shiite Muslims in the Eastern Province have called for an end to what they say is government discrimination against them that prevents them from holding many public positions and restricts their public services.
Fridays have been the biggest days for confrontation and demonstrations since protests started sweeping North Africa and the Mideast two months ago; the Saudi government had indicated this week that it would do whatever it took to prevent demonstrations from taking place this Friday.
It was still possible that more protests could take place after evening prayers.
In Qatif, police shot and wounded at least two protesters Thursday night, and a police officer was also injured, according to the Interior Ministry. On Friday, a black bus filled with members of what appeared to be the Saudi Arabian National Guard sat parked near the town's main square about noon.Heavily armed National Guard members stood casually around the bus, but no protesters were in sight. A few hours later, two black military buses drove toward the city's police station, as the afternoon had passed uneventfully.
In Riyadh, witnesses said that police helicopters were hovering all over the city, and that police had crowded streets that led into areas where protesters had said they would hold a demonstration.
"The entire area, the designated area for protests, was completely barricaded by police cruisers. You see police checkpoints at every place to get in," said Mohammed al-Qahtani, the founder of the Association of Civil and Political Rights in Saudi Arabia, who was in Riyadh on Friday.
"You see back alleys packed with anti-riot police apparently waiting if anything should happen. ... It intimidates people," he said. No protests had been reported as of Friday afternoon.
In Al-Ahsa, several hundred people protested after a top Shiite cleric gave a Friday sermon, said a witness, who asked to remain anonymous because he feared reprisals from the government. The cleric, Sheikh Tawfiq al-Amer, was released from prison this week after being jailed for several days for calling for a constitutional monarchy in a sermon at the end of February.
The Wall Street Journal reported this week that he had said upon his release that he was cautious about protesting right now because the government appears willing to make some reforms.
No comments:
Post a Comment