Two Shiite Protest Organizers killed in ‘Armed’ conflict with Repressive Saudi Regime in Qatif

Two killed as Saudi security forces try to arrest Shiite man
27 September, 2012 – Reuters

RIYADH: Two men were shot dead on Wednesday when Saudi security forces stormed a house to arrest a wanted man in the Qatif region, the focal point of unrest by minority Shiite Muslims.

Shiites have demonstrated against what they perceive as systematic discrimination in the Sunni Muslim-dominated kingdom. But Saudi Arabia, the world’s top oil producer, has avoided the sort of broad uprising that has ousted Arab autocrats elsewhere.

Saudi authorities were trying to arrest one of 23 men who the government said were wanted for stirring unrest in Qatif, where 15 people have been killed since November in clashes and protests.

“He and his companions opened fire on the security forces and, in dealing with the situation as it required, it resulted in the death of the wanted man … and one of his companions, and the wounding of two others and the arrest of a third,” Saudi Press Agency reported, citing the government security spokesman.

The wanted man was identified as Khaled Abdulkarim Hassan al-Labad. Activists in the village of Awamiya in Qatif, the center of Saudi Shiite unrest, said a third man was killed in a car. They distributed photos showing wounds in his neck.

A Saudi Interior Ministry spokesman described that as an unrelated incident in which one man died and another was injured after their vehicle was fired at by unknown assailants.

“It was a separate incident and an investigation is ongoing,” the spokesman said. Preliminary information suggests a person wanted by the security forces for criminal activity in Qatif may have been involved in the attack, he added.
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