The Saudi police have arrested several Shi’ite protesters, who were criticizing what they called discrimination against the Shi’ite minority.
Clashes have been taking place for the past three days between Shi’ite visitors to Medina and the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice, the religious police, according to the London-based Al-Quds Al-‘Arabi.
Hundreds of Shi’ites gathered in Medina last Friday and spoke out against the government. They were demonstrating after the religious police filmed female Shi’ite pilgrims visiting the graves of revered Shi’ite figures in Medina.
News reports said that when the religious police refused to turn over the tapes to the pilgrims’ male relatives, it turned into a scuffle and this drew protesters.
At least nine of the protesters were arrested following several days of demonstrations, Shi’ite and security forces said.
Shi’ites constitute between five and 10 percent of the population in Saudi Arabia, a kingdom that practices Wahhabism, a strict form of Sunni Islam. They often complain they are discriminated against by the government and say they face restrictions on religious freedom.
Most Saudi Shi’ites live in the eastern part of the kingdom.
Around 15 percent of Muslims worldwide adhere to Shi’ism, constituting the second-largest group of believers in Islam after the Sunnis.
The main bone of contention between Sunnis and Shi’ites is the issue of succession to the Prophet Muhammad, who is believed to have died in 632 AD (CE).
Iran has the highest concentration of Shi’ites, with the vast majority of its 70 million-strong population adhering to this branch of Islam. Other Shi’ite concentrations are located in Iraq, Bahrain, Oman, Kuwait, Pakistan and Lebanon.
Saudis, Syrians Mending Relations
In a separate development, Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Al-Mu’allim visited Saudi Arabia on Tuesday in an effort to improve relations between the two countries.
The visit comes ahead of the Arab League summit, scheduled to take place in Qatar at the end of March.
Tension between Riyadh and Damascus grew during Israel’s military operation in the Gaza Strip, in which Syria largely took the side of Hamas, while Saudi Arabia was more supportive of Fatah.
Among the items discussed in the meeting were Middle East peace, securing a sustainable truce between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, and reconciliation efforts between Fatah and Hamas, a diplomat told AFP.
Ties between the two countries worsened after the assassination of former Lebanese prime minister Rafiq Al-Hariri, a friend of the Saudi royal family, in Beirut in 2005.
Damascus has been blamed for the assassination of Al-Hariri, an outspoken critic of Syria’s involvement in Lebanon; but Syria denies any involvement.
Syria President Bashar Al-Asad and Saudi King ‘Abdallah Bin ‘Abd Al-‘Aziz met on the sidelines of a summit in Kuwait last month.