Interior ministry says executed “terrorists” took part in attacks against residential and government buildings.
Saudi Arabia has executed 47 “terrorists”, according to the interior ministry, including Shia cleric Nimr al-Nimr and al-Qaeda-affiliated Faris al-Zahrani .
In a press release read on state TV on Saturday, the ministry listed the names of all those it said were already convicted on charges of terrorism.
The death sentence of Nimr al-Nimr, who led anti-government protests in the country’s east, was confirmed by the Supreme Court in October.
Following the statement, Iran condemned the execution of Nimr, saying that Riyadh was executing “opponents of terrorism”.
Iranian foreign ministry spokesperson Hossein Jaber Ansari said Saudi Arabia will “pay a high price for following these policies”.
Another high-profile person among the list of the excuted was al-Zahani, once considered one of Saudi Arabia’s “most-wanted terrorists”, was detained in 2004 while allegedly in possession of weapons.
An Egyptian citizen and a Chadian citizen were also among the executed, the ministry said. The rest were all Saudis.
Hussain al-Shobokshi, a prominent Saudi columnist, told Al Jazeera that Saudi authorities did not differentiate between “Shia source of terror and Sunni source of terror”.
“[Saudi Arabia] made sure it saw no difference between any form of terror, as long as it was threatening its people and its economy,” he said.
Source:Al Jazeera:Saudi Arabia executes 47, including Shia cleric Nimr
Leave a Reply