Shia cleric arrested after being show by Saudi security forces ! Of course a MENA outbreak in Saudi Arabia will show the true hypocritical colors of the West !

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2012/07/20127819561763436.html

Shia cleric arrested in Saudi after shootout

Protests erupt in Qatif after government critic Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr was wounded by police during gunfight and car chase. Last Modified: 08 Jul 2012 21:40 inShare Email Print Share Feedback

Activists posted what they said was a leaked image of Nimr after he was arrested and injured [Facebook]

Security forces in eastern Saudi Arabia have cracked down on a large demonstration in the eastern city of Qatif, killing two people and injuring at least 20, after a Shia leader was shot and arrested, activists said. Hundreds of protesters were reported to have taken to the streets on Sunday after Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr, a prominent Shia cleric and anti-government activist, was chased, shot and arrested while driving earlier in the day, human rights activist Hussain al-Alk told Al Jazeera. Alk, a Qatif resident and staffer at the Adala Center for Human Rights, said the arrest took place at around 4pm and that organisers called for mass demonstrations after the evening prayer. The protests were the largest in the city since November and December, when at least six demonstrators were shot and killed, Alk said. He said that he believed the government was prompted by influential Sunnis to escalate its pressure on the Shia opposition. "During all this period ... the speeches of Sheikh Nimr were very hot, and he's always attacking the government, but it seems that in the last month the government became too worried. The Sunnis have started saying, 'Why when the Sunnis are talking against the government you are arresting him immediately, while Shias, you are not doing anything to him,'" Alk said. The official Saudi Press Agency said Nimr was arrested after he and his followers exchanged fire with security forces and crashed into a police vehicle. It said Nimr was shot in the thigh and faces charges of instigating unrest in the oil-rich Eastern Province. Nimr has been wanted by authorities after making calls for more rights for Shias, a minority denomination in the strictly run Sunni monarchy. In 2009, he suggested forming a movement for succession unless the government released political prisoners, end discrimination against Shias and take steps against corruption. Alk said Shias, who number at least 2 million according to the International Crisis Group, are prevented from obtaining high-ranking positions in the government and security forces. Early reports of Nimr's arrest, which spread online on Sunday, prompted demonstrations in the village of Awamiya, where Shias have clashed with security forces several times since early last year, said Tawfiq al-Seif, a community leader. Activists from the Eastern Province, where most of Saudi Arabia's Shia live, posted pictures online of the grey-bearded Nimr in a vehicle covered with what appeared to be a blood-stained white blanket and being cradled by an unidentifiable man in uniform. An interior ministry spokesman could not be reached for comment after several attempts by Reuters. 'Political views' Nimr's brother said the cleric was detained by police while driving from a farm to his house in Qatif. Footage allegedly showing protests calling for the fall of the ruling Saud monarchy on Sunday night in Qatif [YouTube] "They [the police] took him from his car and blood can be seen near his car," said Mohammed al-Nimr. "He had been wanted by the interior ministry for a couple of months because of his political views. "In the past couple of months he has adopted a lot of Shi'ite issues and expressed his views on them, demanding their rights." Nimr was previously detained for several days in 2004 and 2006, his brother said. Saudi Arabia, the world's biggest oil exporter and a key ally of the US and Europe, has largely escaped the kind of protests that have toppled four Arab heads of state since last year and have shook other governments. Small and sporadic protests have taken place in the Eastern Province, where the oil sector is concentrated and where about one million Shias, many of whom complain of discrimination, live. In January, the kingdom ordered the arrest of 23 Eastern Province Shias whom it accused of being responsible for unrest that had led to shootings and protests. and.....

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/protest-turns-deadly-qatif-saudis-use-live-ammo-protesting-shias

Protest Turns Deadly In Qatif As Saudis Use Live Ammo On Protesting Shi'ites

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 07/08/2012 16:27 -0400

• Geoffrey Batt
 
• Reality
 
• Reuters
 
• Saudi Arabia
• Twitter

UPDATE: Video of the bloody reality tonight on Saudi streets.

Remember Qatif - the "weakest" Saudi authoritarian link, whose daily protests, many of them violent, threatened to topple the government last spring when soaring global food inflation set the MENA region on fire and led to the overthrow of numerous regimes in the Mediterranean rim? It's back,only this time not based on food price concerns, but inflamed religious tensions, arising from the arrest, and shooting, of a senior religious opposition figure, Shia cleric Ayatollah Al-Neme. As of minutes ago, Redha Al-boori reports on Twitter, that there have been at least two casualties as a result of confrontation between Saudi forces using live ammo and protesting Shiites.

The Shia Post reports

"Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has shot injured and arrested Shia cleric Ayatollah Al-Nemer on Saturday 08 July 2012, the Shia Post reported.

According to received picture, injuries from which it can be assumed that the arrest was violent. Two weeks ago in his Friday sermon Shaikh Al-Nemer criticised Arab dictators in Saudi, Bahrain.  He is well known for publicly criticising dictators. After the shot injures and arrest of Ayatullah Shaikh Al-Nemer, hundreds of  Saudis  Shiite Muslims took streets in Awamiah and Qatif for his release and protested against the KSA for the brutal attack on Shiite Cleric." The result: protests that have covered the entire city, and reports via Twitter of Saudi forces using live ammo to disperse those protesting.Videos from Qatif posted moments ago:

And for those who prefer more 'credible' sources of reporting, here is Reuters.