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| Arabia |
| Gunmen Open Fire on Saudi Police, One Hurt |
| 2012-01-16 |
| [An Nahar] Unidentified gunnies opened fire on a Saudi police patrol in the kingdom's restive oil-rich east, wounding one officer, a front man said on Sunday. The shooting took place late on Saturday in the province of Qatif, just two days after a man was killed during festivities with Saudi security forces in a nearby town. "During a routine patrol... the (police) were fired upon by unknown assailants... wounding one of the coppers," the regional police front man said in a statement carried by the official SPA news agency. He said the maimed officer was transferred to a hospital but gave no further details on his condition. Witnesses said that police fired on protesters Saturday night in the provincial town of Awamiya. On Friday, Saudi security forces had clashed with Shiite protesters in Awamiya after a police patrol was attacked with a petrol bomb, leaving the car in flames. The Interior Ministry said unidentified gunnies opened fire on coppers trying to control the flames, forcing a response from the security forces. One person was killed in the exchange of fire. Witnesses said meanwhile that security forces opened fire with live rounds after Shiite protesters hurled stones at one of their vehicles. Activists said Issam Mohammed, 22, was killed by multiple bullet wounds, and three other people were maimed. Friday's festivities came after demonstrations in four Qatif region villages calling for the "release of political detainees, reform and an end to sectarian discrimination," one activist told AFP on condition of anonymity. In a statement on his Twitter account Sunday, a prominent Shiite holy man in Awamiya, Sheikh Faisal al-Awami, said it was time the government "bring an end to religious discrimination" in the Sunni-ruled kingdom. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #2 One Killed,(Lousy shots) |
| Posted by: Redneck Jim 2012-01-16 14:48 |
| #1 Tsk, tsk, tsk. What is the World comming to? |
| Posted by: g(r)omgoru 2012-01-16 02:27 |