Saudi Beheadings in context

Saturday, 2 January 2016

 

Aya Batrawy, 'Saudi beheadings soar in 2015 under discretionary rulings'. The Big Story Jan 1st 2016.

This morning the Saudi government executed the prominent Shia cleric Nimr al-Nimr who had played an important role in the protests that broke out in 2011 in Eastern Province, where the Shia minority of Saudi Arabia complains of marginalisation. This morning too internet access was mysteriously blocked to a number of sites discussing him and this sentence. By who, and with what aim? Defence of human rights, maybe? Will Britain continue to sell Saudi Arabia armaments? 

 Britain has sold £5.6 billion of arms to Saudi Arabia
since David Cameron came to power

Meanwhile the Saudi regime is destroying historical sites at a pace which is alarming:

The Independent, 6 August 2005 : 'The Destruction Of Mecca: Saudi Hardliners Wiping Out Their Own Heritage'

The Guardian, Oct 14, 2013: 'As the Hajj begins, the destruction of Mecca's heritage continues'.

Time, Nov 14, 2014 : 'Saudi Arabia Bulldozes Over Its Heritage ',

The Economist Sep 9th 2015, ' Unhappy Arabia The religious and cultural heritage being ruined by Yemen's war'