The execution in Saudi Arabia of a prominent Shiite cleric on Saturday sparked outrage in the Middle East, where some leaders called for the closure of Riyadh’s embassy in their countries.
Nimr al-Nimr, a driving force of the protests that broke out in 2011 in the Sunni-ruled kingdom’s east, was among 47 people executed in Saudi Arabia.
Iran accuses Saudi Arabia of supporting terrorism
Iran’s foreign ministry spokesman accused Saudi Arabia on Saturday of supporting terrorism and executing its opponents, after Saudi Arabia executed a prominent Shiite cleric.
“The Saudi government supports terrorists and takfiri (radical Sunni) extremists, while executing and suppressing critics inside the country,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Hossein Jaber Ansari was quoted as saying by state news agency IRNA.
Lebanese Shiite council condemns the execution
Lebanon’s Supreme Islamic Shiite Council condemned the execution of a prominent Shiite cleric in Saudi Arabia on Saturday, saying it was a “grave mistake.”
“The execution of Sheikh Nimr was an execution of reason, moderation and dialogue,” the council’s Vice President Sheikh Abdel Amir Qabalan said in a statement.
Hezbollah: Execution of Shiite cleric is assassination
Lebanon’s Shiite Hezbollah condemned the execution of a prominent Shiite cleric in Saudi Arabia on Saturday, calling it an “assassination.”
The “real reason” for the execution was “that Sheikh Nimr... demanded the squandered rights of an oppressed people,” the group said in a statement, apparently referring to Saudi Arabia’s Shiite minority. The statement was also quoted by Hezbollah’s official al Manar television and Lebanon-based Al Mayadeen TV.
Iraqi MP: Nimr execution serves IS
Saudi Arabia’s execution of prominent Saudi Shiite cleric Nimr al-Nimr serves the interests of Islamic State, a prominent Iraqi lawmaker with ties to Iran said on Saturday in a statement condemning the act.
“The execution of Sheikh al-Nimr is a service to Daesh, which is betting on expanding by igniting sectarian wars,” said Humam Hamoudi, a prominent Shiite politician and member of the powerful Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq (ISCI) party.
Iraq’s Maliki: Nimr execution will topple Saudi government
The execution of prominent cleric Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr on Saturday will mark the end of Saudi Arabia’s government, said Nuri al-Maliki, Iraq’s former prime minister and a prominent politician with ties to Iran.
“We strongly condemn these detestable sectarian practices and affirm that the crime of executing Sheikh al-Nimr will topple the Saudi regime as the crime of executing the martyr (Mohammed Baqir) al-Sadr did to Saddam (Hussein),” said Maliki, referring to another prominent Shiite cleric killed in 1980.
Iran-backed Iraqi militias want ties with Saudi cut
Prominent Iran-backed Iraqis called on the government in Baghdad on Saturday to sever ties with Saudi Arabia over its execution of prominent Shiite cleric Nimr al-Nimr, al-Sumaria TV said.
“It’s a big crime that has opened the gates of hell,” said Qassim al-Araji, according to the channel’s website. Al-Araji, a leader of the Badr Organization, a Shiite paramilitary groups with a political wing, also called on Baghdad to cut diplomatic ties “immediately.”
Another Iran-backed militia group, Asaib Ahl al-Haq, accused Saudi Arabia of seeking to fuel Sunni-Shiite strife, according to the TV’s website. “What the use of having a Saudi embassy in Iraq,” it asked.
Bahrain police fire tear gas at protesters
Bahrain police fired tear gas at several dozen people protesting the execution by Saudi Arabia on Saturday of a prominent Saudi Shiite cleric, an eyewitness said.
Demonstrators carrying pictures of the cleric, Nimr al-Nimr, faced security forces in a standoff in the Shiite Muslim village of Abu-Saiba, west of the capital Manama.
Activists have called for protests in the Sunni-ruled island kingdom, a sign that Nimr’s death may inflame already raging sectarian tensions in the Middle East.
Yemen’s Houthis condemn the execution
Yemen’s Houthi movement mourned the Shiite cleric executed by Saudi Arabia on Saturday as a “holy warrior,” in a strong rebuke of the Sunni-dominated kingdom by the Arabian Peninsula’s most powerful armed Shiite group, a major Saudi foe.
“The (royal) Al Saud family executed today the holy warrior, the grand cleric Nimr Baqr al-Nimr after a mock trial ... a flagrant violation of human rights,” an obituary on the Houthis’ official Al Maseera website said.
Brother hopes reaction will be peaceful
The brother of Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr said on Saturday the family was shocked by news of his brother’s execution but hoped that any reaction would be peaceful.
Nimr and six other Saudi Shiites, including Mohammed al-Nimr’s son, Ali, were sentenced to die and to have their bodies publicly displayed, the most severe penalty available to judges in the strict Sunni majority kingdom.
Mohammed al-Nimr said residents of Saudi Arabia’s eastern al-Qatif region, where most of the country’s mainly Shiite Muslim minority live, were alarmed by the news.
“Sheikh Nimr enjoyed high esteem in his community and within Muslim society in general and no doubt there will be reaction. We hope that any reactions would be confined to a peaceful framework,” he said. “Enough bloodshed.”