SHAFAQNA

SHAFAQNA (Shia International News Association) –The Saudi Wahhabi cleric and the faculty member at the Islamic University of Imam Muhammad bin Saud, Dr. Saad al-Durihim, called Iraqi Mujahideen (al Qaeda terrorist groups) to kill Shia women and children in order to cause more terror and fear among Iraqi people.

Dr. Saad al-Durihim, in his Twitter called Mujahideen to increase cruelty and murder or even captive women and children to scare more people.
Following the publication of these writings by the Saudi Wahhabi cleric in Twitter, the flood of criticism followed and some even called him a criminal.
In response to these extremist and sectarian expressions, the writer of al-Medina newspaper wrote, I take Allah as witness that really those who insult Islam are not Christians, Jews or Zarathustras but like these extremists who invite to killing and bloodsheds. 
The writer in Akkaz newspaer, Abdullah Bin Bakhit, criticized al-Durihim and wrote: "When this person go free without any trial, we should not be surprise that terrorists live in Saudi Arabia.
A Saudi writer, Muhammad al Omar said in his twitter that "Offender Saad al-Durihim ordered to kill Shia women and children but we had never seen in the commandments of the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him".
Halima Muzzafar from Alwatan Newspaper asked for trial and the expulsion of Saad al-Durihim from university. She also asked the Saudi Interior Ministry to put al-Durihim on trial and said these extremist thoughts will lead to terrorism and murders in the name of Islam. She also wrote that Mohammad bin Saud is a criminal and must be expelled from the Sharia University. -www.shafaqna.com/English

Source:abna

SHAFAQNA (Shia International News Association) – Saudi Arabia has sent more tanks and weapons for its troops in Bahrain during the Formula One Grand Prix auto race in Manama.

Bahrani activists said on Sunday that the tanks were sent by heavy military transport vehicles, which crossed the main bridge that links the two neighboring countries.

Meanwhile, Saudi-backed Bahraini security forces clashed with pro-democracy protesters, who held demonstrations on Sunday across the country against the Grand Prix race.

The violence erupted when police attacked protesters blocking roads in Manama. The protesters also burnt tires on roads in villages outside Manama, according to witnesses.

Protests have increased in Bahrain as the Manama regime prepares to host the controversial sporting event.

Bahrain’s public security chief, Major General Tariq Hassan said in a statement, “Police are out in force to beef up security measures at the Bahrain International Circuit.”

On Saturday, police fired tear gas at anti-regime demonstrators calling for the cancelation of the sporting event over the regime’s crackdown on peaceful protests.

Similar demonstrations were held on Friday, when tens of thousands of Bahrainis rallied along the Budaiya highway west of Manama to demand the cancelation of the race.

The Bahraini revolution began on February 14, 2011, when the people, inspired by the popular revolutions that toppled the dictators of Tunisia and Egypt, started holding massive demonstrations.

On March 14, 2011, troops from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates invaded the country, upon Manama's request, to help the Bahraini regime quash the uprising.

The protesters initially said they wanted political reform and a constitutional monarchy. However, following the regime’s brutal crackdown on the popular protests, the Bahraini people began demanding that the ruling Al Khalifa family step down.

Scores of people have been killed and hundreds of others arrested in the crackdown, but the protesters are undaunted and have refused to back down on their demands. -www.shafaqna.com/English

Source: Press TV

SHAFAQNA (Shia International News Association) Saudi Arabia has denied reports that a court in the kingdom has ordered a punishment of paralysis for a man who committed a crime that paralysed another man.

The reports about the sentence, which sparked condemnation after Amnesty International urged the Saudi authorities to annul it, were "false", a justice ministry spokesman told AFP news agency on Tuesday.

The ministry also used its Twitter account to refute the reports about the sentence, which Britain's Foreign Office described as "grotesque".

"In response to reports by some media about a court sentence of paralysis for a man, the ministry clarifies that such a claim is completely false," it said.

The ministry said that, to the contrary, "the judge decided to dismiss demands for such a sentence".

It urged media outlets and groups that "claim to lobby for rights", in a clear indication to Amnesty, to "verify" information.

Amnesty said last week that Ali al-Khawahir, 24, was reportedly sentenced to Qisas, or retribution, and could be paralysed from waist down if he fails to pay compensation of $270,000.

The London-based human rights watchdog said Khawahir had stabbed a friend in the back in 2003, leaving him paralysed. The convict was 14 years old at the time.

It said a similar sentence of paralysis was given in Saudi Arabia in 2010, but that it was unknown whether it had been carried out.

The ultra-conservative Muslim kingdom imposes several forms of corporal punishment attributed to Islamic sharia law, ranging from flogging to amputation and beheading.

www.shafaqna.com/English

SHAFAQNA (Shia International News Association) –A Shia School teacher Syed Aijaz Hussain has been killed by Deobandi militants of Sipah-e-Sahaba on Saturday, April 06, 2013.

Martyr Syed Aijaz Hussain was targeted at Haji Mora Obhayal Pul by the armed terrorists.
About 6 members of martyr’s family have also been killed in past on account of Shia Genocide.
Shia community of Dera Ismail Khan has been facing huge threats by pro-Taliban terrorists but government and law enforcement agencies have failed to protect the citizens.
Deobandi militants kill Jaffer Hussain in Karachi
A Shia Muslim Syed Jaffar Hussain has been killed by Deobandi militants of Sipah-e-Sahaba on Saturday, April 06, 2013.
Martyr Jaffar Hussain was targeted in Orangi Town Rehmt Chowk area by armed militants of Sipah-eSahaba. He was rushed to hospital where he scummed to injuries.
Martyr was resident of Incholi area of Karachi.
Deobandi militants kill Shahriyar Kazmi in Karachi
Deobandi armed militants of Lashkar-e-Jhagvi  on Saturday shot martyred a Shia Muslim Syed Shahriyar Kazmi in Karachi.
According to the details, Syed Shahriyar Kazmi was gunned down by the terrorists of banned outfits of Lashkar-e-Jhagvi in Karachi’s Jaffar Tayyar area near Victoria Ground.
Martyr Shahriyar Kazmi was targetted early in the morning about 4:00 am.
The genocide of Shiite Muslims has been continued in Pakistan from last three decades but the government, armed forces and judiciary have failed to protect the Pakistani people and Shia Muslims from American-Saudi funded terrorists.-www.shafaqna.com/English

Source :abna

SHAFAQNA (Shia International News Association) – The Saudi Arabian communications regulator plans to link national Twitter bloggers to personal social media user IDs, local media has reported. There are no technical or legal restrictions to the move, but Twitter's official approval is needed.

The Saudi Arabian Communications and Information Technology Commission (CITC) studies ways to uncover social media users' real identities, according to a Friday report in daily newspaper Arab News Country’s Twitter microbloggers are top-priority candidates to get tokenized.

This could easily be accomplished by monitoring users who access Twitter from mobile phones, by requiring them to register an ID when they add money to their phone accounts.

“The linking of Twitter registration inside the Kingdom with the ID number of a user could be implemented if Saudi Arabia seriously wants it,” Saudi telecommunication technology expert Waleed Al-Khalil told the London-based Asharq Al-Awsat Arabic international newspaper. However, Al-Khalil stressed that such measures cannot be introduced without a general agreement between the CITC and Twitter's administration.

This is not the first time the country’s authorities have announced plans to place citizens’ Internet activities under governmental supervision.

The CITC is reportedly in talks to monitor communications on Skype, Whatsapp, and Viber. If no deal is reached, Riyadh has threatened to block the services altogether, according to Al Arabiya.

The agency may impose sanctions under the authority of the Saudi Arabian government, and violations of CITC regulations are punishable in criminal court.

“For instance, CITC recently canceled free international roaming service offered by some companies without its permission by strictly enforcing penal measures,” Al-Khalil said, adding that he fully supports the idea of government supervision of Twitter users.

Riyadh's concerns over ‘Twitter power’ are not groundless: The Arab Spring uprisings showed how social networks – especially Twitter – could be used to successfully organize young opposition activists to protest against ruling regimes.

The number of Saudi Arabian Twitter users is booming. Between 2011 and 2012, the number of Twitter users in the Kingdom grew by 3,000 percent, Al-Arabiya estimated.  Saudi Arabian Twitter users post an average of 50 million messages monthly, most of them in Arabic.

A week ago, Saudi Arabia's top religious cleric Grand Mufti Sheik Abdul-Aziz Al-Sheik publicly railed against Twitter, calling the social media website “a council of clowns.” Twitter is a place where people “unleash unjust, incorrect and wrong tweets,” Sheik Abdul-Aziz Al-Sheik said in a speech to other Saudi clerics.

But Riyadh's concerns over Twitter are likely exaggerated, as two of the most influential Twitter users in Saudi Arabia are Muslim preachers, not opposition activists. Sheikh Mohamad al-Arefe has more than 4.3 million worldwide followers, while Sheikh Ayed al-Qarnee has over 2.8 million – sizable followings in a nation of 25 million people.

Twitter's administration will have to confront the issue soon, as the Saudi Arabian market is extremely attractive to the corporation. In July 2012, Twitter Executive Director Dick Costolo acknowledged that Twitter is the sixth most-browsed website in Saudi Arabia, and that the number of Twitter users is rapidly growing.

Human rights groups have repeatedly criticized Saudi Arabia for its ultraconservative religious law and limited personal freedoms.-www.shafaqna.com/English

Source: RT

SHAFAQNA (Shia International News Association) – “Preliminary investigations, physical evidence which has been collected and statements from the accused in this case have shown a direct link between members of this cell and Iran’s intelligence apparatus,” said a security spokesman for the Interior Ministry quoted by the official news agency.

He said Iranian intelligence had paid the suspects “in exchange for information and documents about important sites”. The investigation is ongoing, he added.

Riyadh announced a week ago it had arrested 16 Saudis, an Iranian and a Lebanese on suspicion of spying.

Iran denied on Sunday that it was linked to spying in Saudi Arabia.

The allegation marks an escalation in friction between the two major oil producers, which face each other across the Gulf.

Saudi Arabia and Iran have backed opposing sides in armed conflicts and political struggles across the Middle East, particularly in Syria and in Bahrain.

Riyadh has also accused an unnamed foreign power, which officials have privately named as Iran, of stirring unrest among its own Shi’ite minority, something Tehran has denied.

Saudi Arabia also points to an alleged Iranian plot, announced by United States police in 2011, to assassinate the kingdom’s ambassador in Washington. Iran denied that too.

Iran said last week a drunk Saudi diplomat had killed an Iranian national in a car accident. Riyadh has denied the diplomat was drunk.

Members of Saudi Arabia’s Shiite Muslim minority said the arrested men were from their community and expressed doubt over the veracity of the spying charges.

The 16 Saudis arrested included a paediatric doctor, a university professor and a banker as well as two well-known clerics. Relatives and friends of some of those arrested said they did not believe the men had strong political views.

In a statement issued by 37 Saudi Shi’ite leaders last week, including religious leader Ayatollah Hassan al-Saffar, they accused the government of using the spying charges to escalate sectarian tension to detract public attention from other issues.

Most Saudis follow the rigid Wahhabi school of Sunni Islam that sees Shi’ism as heretical.-www.shafaqna.com/English

Source: Aimislam

SHAFAQNA (Shia International News Association) – A court in Saudi Arabia has charged prominent Shia cleric Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr with "instigating unrest" and "seeking foreign meddling" in the kingdom.

Sheikh Nimr appeared in court on Tuesday, nearly eight months after he was arrested for criticizing the ruling Al Saud family and demanding the release of political prisoners, AFP news agency quoted a witness as saying.The prosecutor also accused the cleric of supporting uprising in Bahrain, where Saudi troops are assisting the ruling Al Khalifa family in its brutal crackdown on demonstrations.

The court panel adjourned the hearing until a lawyer is appointed. Sheikh Nimr was shot and arrested by regime forces in Awamiyah in July 2012 after he demanded the "release of all those detained in anti-regime protests, and all prisoners of conscience.

His family members said he was badly tortured in jail. Nimr’s sister has recently said through her Twitter account that prison authorities are denying her brother medical care. Saudis have staged several demonstrations in the Eastern Province to demand the release of Sheikh Nimr since he was arrested.

Saudi activists say there are more than 30,000 political prisoners, mostly prisoners of conscience, in jails across the Kingdom.According to the activists, most of the detained political thinkers are being held by the government without trial or legitimate charges and that they were arrested for merely looking suspicious.

Some of the detainees are reported to be held without trial for more than 16 years. Attempting to incite the public against the government and the allegiance to foreign entities are usually the ready-made charges against political dissidents.

source : Mehr News

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SHAFAQNA (Shia International News Association) – The Saudi Arabian government has threatened to ban the use of instant messaging applications because of failure to control them, Saudi media reveal. It comes a month after the minister for media and culture confirmed censorship of Twitter.

“The Communications and Information Technology Commission has requested companies operating the applications to meet the regulatory requirements to avoid their suspension in the kingdom,” sources told Saudi news site Sabq.

“The commission is now coordinating with the application operators on the issue,” they said.

Companies were given one week to deal with the situation and decide upon the required technical measures.

The sources stressed that the procedure was “in accordance with regulatory procedures,” denying claims that attributed the decision to commercial motivations.

Messaging applications such as Skype, WhatsApp and Viber are at risk of being banned, Al Arabiya reported.

It’s the latest move by the ultra-conservative Gulf Kingdom, whose government recently admitted censorship of Twitter.

Just last month, Saudi Arabian Minister for Media and Culture Abdel Aziz Khoga called on citizens to “raise their awareness” and contribute to the censorship taken up by the ministry.

“People have to take care of what they are writing on Twitter,” the minister said.

“It’s getting harder to observe around three million people subscribing to the social network in the kingdom,” he added.

The government’s censorship of the social media application led to the December arrest of Turki al-Hamad, a liberal Saudi writer accused of “insulting Islam” on his Twitter account.

Hamad was arrested on the orders of Interior Minister Prince Mohammed Bin Nayef Bin Abdel Aziz, who was tipped off by a religious organization.

In 2010, Saudi Arabia banned the use of Blackberry phones to send and receive messages, citing concerns that the communications were encrypted and could not be monitored, therefore hindering the country’s efforts to fight terrorism and crime.-www.shafaqna.com/English

Source: RT

SHAFAQNA (Shia International News Association)- When Arab Spring protests broke out in Saudi Arabia in 2011, the government reacted quickly, pumping $130 billion into the economy and cracking down on dissent. While this approach has worked in some cities, the Shiite Muslims in the Eastern Province continued to demonstrate. Reese Erlich, on assignment for GlobalPost and NPR, managed to get into the city of Qatif and meet with protest leaders.Night has fallen as the car rumbles down back roads to avoid the Saudi Army's special anti-riot units. To be stopped at any of the numerous checkpoints leading into Qatif would mean police detention for a Western journalist and far worse for the Saudi activists in the car. They would likely spend a lot of time in jail for spreading what Saudi authorities deem "propaganda" to the foreign media.

Demonstrations are illegal in Saudi Arabia, but here in Qatif, residents have defied the ban for many months. At least once a week the mostly young demonstrators march down a street renamed "Revolution Road," calling for the release of political prisoners and for democratic rights

The anti-riot units deploy armored vehicles at strategic locations downtown. The word on this night is that if demonstrators stay off the main road, the troops may not attack.Suddenly, young Shiite Muslim men wearing balaclavas appear, directing traffic away from Revolution Road. All the motorists obey the gesticulations of these self-appointed traffic cops.

Minutes later several hundred men march down the street, most with their faces covered to avoid police identification. Shiite women wearing black chadors, which also hide their faces, follow closely behind, chanting even louder than the men.One of their banners reads, "For 100 years we have lived in fear, injustice and intimidation."

Recurring Protests

Despite two years of repression by the Saudi royal family, Shiite protests against the government have continued here in the Eastern Province. Though Shiites are a small fraction of Saudi Arabia's 27 million people, they are the majority here. Most of the country's 14 oil fields are located in the Eastern Province, making it of strategic importance to the government.

Shiites have protested against discrimination and for political rights for decades. But the Arab Spring uprisings of 2011 gave new impetus to the movement. Saudi Arabia is home to two of Islam's most holy cities, and the government sees itself as a protector of the faith. But its political alliances with the U.S. and conservative, Sunni monarchies have angered many other Muslims, including the arc of Shiites stretching from Iran to Lebanon.

Saudi officials claim they are under attack from Shiite Iran and have cracked down hard on domestic dissent.

Saudi authorities are responsible for the death of 15 people since February 2011, according to Waleed Sulais of the Adala Center for Human Rights, the leading human rights group in the Eastern Province. He says another 60 people have been injured in that time and that 179 detainees remain in jail, including 19 children under the age of 18

The government finds new ways to stifle dissent, according to Sulais. Several months ago the government required all mobile phone users to register their SIM cards, which means text messaging about demonstrations is no longer anonymous.

Spreading The Word

Abu Zaki, who uses a pseudonym to prevent government retaliation, says demonstrators now rely on Facebook and Twitter, along with good old word of mouth. Practically everyone at the recent Qatif protest march carried iPhones. Some broadcast the demo in near real time by uploading to YouTube

Organizers hope their sheer numbers, along with government incompetence, will keep them from being discovered.

"The government cannot follow everybody's Twitter user name," says Abu Zaki. "The authorities have to be selective and, hopefully, they don't select my name."

When protests began, demonstrators called for reforms. But now, younger militants demand elimination of the monarchy and an end to the U.S. policy of supporting the king.

Abu Zaki and several other militant activists gather in an apartment in Awamiyah, a poor, Shiite village neighboring Qatif. In this part of the world a village is really a small town, usually abutting a larger city. Awamiyah is one such town, chock full of auto repair shops, one-room storefronts, and potholed streets. It is noticeably poorer than Sunni towns of comparable size.

Strong, black tea is served along with weak, greenish Saudi coffee. The protest movement in Qatif, they observe, resembles the tea more than the coffee

Abu Mohammad, another activist who uses a pseudonym, tells me protests have remained strong because residents are fighting for both political rights as Saudis, and against religious and social discrimination as Shiites.

Complaints Of Discrimination

Shiites face discrimination in jobs, housing and religious practices. Qatif has no Shiite cemetery, for example. Only six Shiites sit on the country's 150-member Shura Council, the appointed legislature that advises the king

"As Shia, we can't get jobs in the military," says Abu Mohammad. "And we face the same political repression as all Saudis. We live under an absolute monarchy that gives us no rights and steals the wealth of the country."

The government denies those claims of discrimination and repression. In the capital Riyadh, Maj. Gen. Mansour al Turki, spokesperson for the Ministry of Interior, is the point man who often meets with foreign journalists. Al Turki is smooth and affable and practiced at the art of being interviewed by Westerners

He dismisses Shiite charges of discrimination as simply untrue.

"These people making demonstrations are very few," he tells me. "They only represent themselves. The majority [of Shiites] are living at a very high level."

A Popular Cleric

Such assertions, however, don't account for the frequent and sizable Eastern Province demonstrations supporting Sheik Nemer al Nemer. The charismatic Shiite cleric has long been a thorn in the government's side. His willingness to speak out against discrimination and call for militant action endeared him to the younger generation of activists. For months he avoided arrest by shifting residences and only appearing in public during large rallies.

Then in July 2012 authorities made an arrest while he was briefly visiting his house in Qatif. He was shot and seriously wounded. Police claim it was an armed shootout in which they fired in self defense.

The sheik was unarmed, according to his brother, Mohammad al Nemer. He says his brother hasn't been publicly charged, but has been told that he faces a long jail term for instigating unrest against the king and organizing illegal demonstrations.

Middle East

With Official Wink And Nod, Young Saudis Join Syria's Rebels

Four police bullets shattered his brother's thigh bone, says al Nemer. "If he doesn't receive proper medical care, he will have a lame leg for the rest of his life."

Al Nemer's popularity has grown exponentially since his arrest, with graffiti demanding his release sprouting up throughout the area and marchers regularly chanting his name.

Shiite leader Sheik Mohammed Hassan al Habib offers understanding of the continuing protests. The cleric lives in a modest home on a side street outside Qatif. Al Habib adds something special to the usual proffering of tea and coffee: Swiss chocolate.

Al Habib tells me that the Eastern Province movement seeks democratic reforms while maintaining the power of the monarchy.

"We need to give real power to the parliament," he says. "The government should allow establishment of political parties, freedom of speech and assembly." But the king would still have final authority, he concedes.

"We don't want toppling or removal of the regime," he emphasizes

Different Goals

He acknowledges, however, that many younger protesters have given up on reform. For example, activist Abu Mohammad says, "People now want the overthrow of the ruling family as a reaction to the escalation of repression in Qatif. I think the best form of government for Saudi Arabia is constitutional monarchy like they have in Britain."

While calling for a U.K.-style constitutional monarchy is rather tame by Western standards, it's treasonous in Saudi Arabia.

"People must complain through the legal process," argues the Ministry of Interior's al Turki. The legal process does not include calling for an end to the monarchy.

But neither government spending nor harsh crackdown have so far deterred the protesters in Qatif.

The demonstrators see themselves waging a political battle in which popular support can overcome the government's repressive apparatus. The Shiites of the Eastern Province are the only Saudis regularly holding protest marches, but as Shiite cleric al Habib tells me, Sunnis in other parts of the country also call for reform.

"We work with reformers who don't care about your sect," he tells me. "They look only for reforms. We hope Sunni and Shia will get together one day to pursue this goal."

After a sip of black tea and a final piece of chocolate, we say goodbye to the cleric and head out to that night's demonstration. Somehow we manage to avoid the checkpoints. And for that night, at least, there was no violence.

Freelance journalist Reese Erlich's reports from Saudi Arabia and Bahrain are part of a GlobalPost Special Report on the role of the Sunni-Shiite rift in the Middle East, in partnership with NPR.

source : NPR

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SHAFAQNA (Shia International News Association)- Sawsan Al-Shaer pro -government writer wrote in Alwatan newspaper article threading USA and Shia that they will face Al-Qaeda if US give the power or share in Bahrain to bring the majority Shia

She said

"  USA risks their full interests in the Gulf region, also displays Shia groups in these countries at great risk while make them in the face of others, by attempts to enable radical Shia group on Bahraini people capabilities forcibly and threatened. US will create for the first time in the history of their relationship with peoples of the region a state of fear and repulsion severe towards them as - until recently - an important ally for these peoples held with them a security alliances , agreements and economic development.

While chime remarks «Alwefaq» dramatically with  U.S. officials statements - and the two are pushing for similar with the situation of Yemen - it shows the size of coordination «treason» In other words for the renewed attempt to overthrow the regime, which failed in 2011 to occur through dialogue in 2013 and »Alwefaq» bases for support from the United States only in what Alwefaq offers of suggestions.

Sunni Extremism who began active recently will lead in a position not only in the face of Shia, but even in the face of U.S. interests , and then there will be no time for the moderation or peaceful competition of political parties or heaven of democracy, which US aims to taste it to the dreamers( Alwefaq).

Dream of US to reset the state of Bahrain through the dolls ( alwefaq) and mobilise them,lead to put the Shias in the face Sunnis not only in Bahrain but in the Gulf states, and expose all the US interests of military and economic at risk, US revives «al-Qaeda» again but this time Al Qaeda would be in their own backyard, the United States of America is pushing Sunnis to limited options toward both «Shia and US » Is this what you want? "

Alwefaq issued press release in response that article saying :

" In response to the criticisms made by western States and organizations against the Bahraini regime, a Bahraini government writer in a quasi-government daily paper called openly for the founding of al-Qaeda in Bahrain.  The government writer made this threat in order to mix things up amidst the wide demands for democracy and respect of human rights, and as a direct threat to the western States and parties which demanded Bahrain to respect human rights.

The Media Centre in Al-Wefaq National Islamic Society denounced such a call that incites terrorism and destroys the country in order to serve suspicious interests and desires.  The Media Centre demands a national and international humanitarian prompt and firm stance to protect this country from destruction. Democracy is the choice of all peoples including the people of Bahrain who have come very close to it after the nationwide demands movement proved readiness to reach its goal."

Source : Bahrain.shafaqna.com

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