11 Feb 2012

Second protester shot dead in Saudi Arabia

Saudi security forces shot one person dead and injured three others during what the country's state news agency described as "clashes" in the oil-producing Eastern Province. Activists and witnesses said Friday's casualties came when security forces opened fire on an anti-government demonstration in the Qatif district.

Saudi security forces

"While security men were following up on an illegal gathering in the town of Awwamiya in Qatif on Friday they were attacked by gunfire," a police statement on the Saudi Press Agency (SPA) said on Friday. "They dealt with the situation by firing back, which resulted with the death of one." The SPA also said a protester was killed and three others were wounded in clashes on Thursday.

Activists and witnesses said that security forces opened fire when a Shia procession marking the birthday of the Prophet Mohammad - a celebration forbidden in ultra-conservative Sunni Muslim Saudi Arabia - turned into a demonstration for reform and the release of detainees.

Al Jazeera English