Saudi Arabia: Sectarian violence blamed on 'foreign power'
Fourteen people, including 11 policemen, were hurt when riots erupted in a Shiite-majority village in eastern Saudi Arabia on Tuesday, as a state news agency blamed the unrest on a "foreign country."
Nine policemen were wounded in the gunfire and two hurt by petrol bombs Photo: REUTERS11:19PM BST 04 Oct 2011
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The violence broke out when a group described by news agency SPA as "outlaws and rioters on motorbikes" gathered at a roundabout in the village of Al-Awamia in Al-Qatif province on Monday "carrying petrol bombs".
The group carried out acts causing "insecurity with incitement from a foreign country that aims to undermine the nation's security and stability," SPA quoted a spokesman from the Sunni-ruled kingdom's interior ministry as saying.
"Security forces managed to deal with those traitors at the spot and after they were dispersed, machinegun fire erupted from a nearby neighbourhood," it reported.
It said nine policemen were wounded in the gunfire and two hurt by petrol bombs. Three civilians were also wounded, it said.
Fourteen people, including 11 policemen, were hurt when riots erupted in a Shiite-majority village in eastern Saudi Arabia on Tuesday, as a state news agency blamed the unrest on a "foreign country."
Nine policemen were wounded in the gunfire and two hurt by petrol bombs Photo: REUTERS11:19PM BST 04 Oct 2011
===============================================
The violence broke out when a group described by news agency SPA as "outlaws and rioters on motorbikes" gathered at a roundabout in the village of Al-Awamia in Al-Qatif province on Monday "carrying petrol bombs".
The group carried out acts causing "insecurity with incitement from a foreign country that aims to undermine the nation's security and stability," SPA quoted a spokesman from the Sunni-ruled kingdom's interior ministry as saying.
"Security forces managed to deal with those traitors at the spot and after they were dispersed, machinegun fire erupted from a nearby neighbourhood," it reported.
It said nine policemen were wounded in the gunfire and two hurt by petrol bombs. Three civilians were also wounded, it said.
"Those must clearly state whether their loyalty is to God then to their country, or to this country and its (religious) authority," it added, apparently referring to Shiite-ruled Iran.
The overwhelming majority of the estimated two million Saudi Shiites live in Eastern Province, which neighbours Bahrain where authorities, supported by Saudi-led Gulf troops, earlier this year crushed a Shiite-led protest.
The crackdown on Bahrain's Shiites, who make up most of the tiny kingdom's population, soured relations between the Gulf states and Iran.
=================================================.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/saudiarabia/8806765/Saudi-Arabia-Sectarian-violence-blamed-on-foreign-power.html
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