Shia Protester “Shot Dead” in Saudi Arabia

A 22 years old Shia protestor, Essam Mohamed Abu Abdallah, was shot dead after security forces opened fire on demonstrators in al-Awamiya, a city in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia. According to the news website rasid.com “Saudi security forces opened heavy fire late on Thursday after protesters threw stones at a police vehicle. ” The interior ministry said security forces patrolling al-Awamiya in a vehicle had been attacked with petrol bombs and had caught fire. The protests happened in the Qtif region, an oil-rich province, but also inhabited by a large Shia community. The Shiites complained of discrimination by the Sunni rulers, saying they bar them from key positions in the military and government and do not give them an equal share of the country’s vast oil wealth. Saudi Arabia’s leaders are worried about the wave of Arab Spring uprisings, particularly in nearby Bahrain, where a Shiite majority is demanding greater rights from its Sunni rulers.

Hundreds of Shia protesters took to the streets on Friday after the killing of Abdallah.