Saudi Arabia: Protester shot dead in Qatif

http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/saudi-protester-shot-dead

Saudi police shot dead a protester in the country's fractious Eastern Province on Saturday, the latest attack on an uprising against the country's autocratic rulers. The opposition Rasid website identified the dead man as 18-year-old Abdallah Jaafr al-Ajami and said local social media websites had published pictures of him covered in blood. The official Saudi Press Agency (SPA) said the man had hurled a fire-bomb at a police station in the oil-rich province, but provided no evidence for the claim. An unverified photo allegedly shows Abdallah Jaafr al-Ajami's body was widely circulated on social media (Photo: Twitter) The SPA quoted Interior Ministry spokesman Mansour al-Turki as saying four men attacked the police station in Awamiya at around 9:30 pm on Friday. "The security at the position dealt with them in accordance with what the situation requires, which resulted in one being killed while the others fled," SPA quoted Turki as saying. But Rasid quoted residents casting doubt on the official version of events, saying the police compound was well protected with concrete barriers and fences. The Eastern Province has been rocked by pro-democracy protests for months, but state media has often ignored them or reported only the government's version of events. Two men were killed last week during protests after the arrest of a prominent Shia cleric. Saudi Arabia is one of the most repressive dictatorships in the world, and the Shia minority often complain of discrimination in the mainly Sunni conservative kingdom.