Saudi Arabia Carries Out Largest Execution In Decades, Shiites Riot

The killing of Nimr Al-Nimr was especially controversial, with many Muslim critics of Saudi Arabia warning that his death would “set the region on fire.” Even former Iraqi Prime minister Nouri Al-Maliki, himself a Shiite, criticized the execution, warning that Al-Nimr’s death would result in enraged militants trying to “topple [the] Saudi regime,” the opposite result of what the kingdom is trying to accomplish with these executions.

“An MP from the ruling Shi’ite coalition in Iraq said Nimr’s execution aimed to ‘set region on fire,’ Sumaria TV reported.

The Lebanese Supreme Shi’ite Council has condemned al-Nimr’s execution, calling it a serious ‘mistake.’

Nimr, along with six others, were accused of orchestrating anti-government protests between 2011 and 2013 in which 20 people died. Earlier this year, the kingdom’s Supreme Court rejected an appeal against the death sentence passed on the Shia cleric.

The brother of the executed cleric said he hopes that any reaction to Nimr al-Nimr’s killing will be peaceful.

‘Sheikh Nimr enjoyed high esteem in his community and within Muslim society in general and no doubt there will be reaction,’ Mohammed al-Nimr told Reuters by telephone. ‘We hope that any reactions would be confined to a peaceful framework. No one should have any reaction outside this peaceful framework. Enough bloodshed‘

The Interior Ministry statement announcing the executions began with verses from the Koran, justifying the use of the death penalty, while state television showed footage of the aftermath of Al Qaeda attacks over the last decade. Shortly afterward, Saudi Grand Mufti Sheikh Abdulaziz Al al-Sheikh appeared on Saudi Arabian television, hailing the executions as just.

In its statement, the ministry listed the names of all those it said were convicted on charges of terrorism, Al Jazeera reported, including Al-Qaeda-affiliated Faris al-Zahrani, who was once on the list of Saudi Arabia’s “most wanted terrorists.” Last year a Saudi Arabian court sentenced him to death, and ordered his body to be displayed in public after the capital punishment was carried out.

Among those executed were also one Egyptian and one Chadian, the ministry reportedly stated.

The absolutist Sunni Muslim monarchy carried out at least 158 executions in 2015, with beheadings reaching their highest level in two decades, according to human rights groups.”

See video about the mass execution below:

Source: Breitbart

Protest outside Saudi consulate in Mashhad over execution of al-Nimr Police use water cannon to disperse protesters pic.twitter.com/MKFgbFYiNT

— Sobhan Hassanvand (@Hassanvand) January 3, 2016