“Day of Rage” in Saudi Arabia

Saudi King Billboard (cnn.com)

A “day of rage” was organized in two cities of Saudi Arabia on Friday, attended by hundreds of people, though a planned gathering in the capital of the kingdom did not materialize.

The protests defied the king’s ban on organizing any such movements throughout the country, and gathered many Shiite Muslims who called for the release of some Shiite prisoners.

In Hofuf, 300 kilometers east of the capital Riyadh, people marched after the Friday prayer. Three demonstrators were arrested by the security forces.

Protests in Saudi Arabia (neontommy.com)

In Qatif, where other demonstration had been staged in the past few days, the situation was calm on Friday until evening, when 200 people gathered near the city and protested, with security closely watching them but no arrest made.

On Thursday 100 people had gathered in Qatif to protest and the security forces fired their weapons in order to disperse the people, but it was not clear whether they used rubber bullets or some more lethal ones on people.

Human rights activists in the capital of the country condemned the use of force.

Twenty-four people were detained in the same city of Qatif last week as they were protesting against the detention of some Shiite people who had been kept in jail without trial for more than 14 years.

It is very difficult to place the protests in Saudi Arabia, a country with Sunni majority, in the context of the general movement in the Northern Africa and Arabian Peninsula, given that the people don’t necessarily want the deposition of their leaders but the implementation of some more reforms.

For that matter, analysts deem that no Egyptian-like demonstrations will be seen in this prosperous Arab country.