Kuwait Times

Published Date: May 19, 2008

RIYADH: Saudi authorities have detained a leading Ismaili activist after he complained to the king over alleged rights abuses against the Shiite minority, a fellow activist said yesterday. Security police detained Ahmed Turki Al-Saab in Riyadh on Tuesday, days after he and five other Ismaili Shiites from the southern province of Najran handed to King Abdullah a 300-page report over alleged abuses by its governor, seeking to have him removed, said Mohammed Al-Askar. "They (security services) did not say wh
y he was arrested without being charged," he told Reuters.
Saab played a key role in issuing the report, Askar said. Najran, bordering Yemen, is a centre of the Ismailis, a Shiite sect which has long complained of victimisation by the prevailing school of Sunni Islam followed by the Saudi state. It was the scene of violent clashes in 2000, when hundreds of Ismailis clashed with police over plans to dilute their presence with Sunnis.
The Ismailis have said they had successfully petitioned King Abdullah two years ago to halt settlement of up to 10,000 Yemeni tribesmen outside Najran city. The Ismailis sent a protest letter in January to Najran governor Prince Mishaal bin Saud, complaining of marginalisation and demanding an end to plans to settle another Yemeni tribe. The report that was presented to the king, which was signed by 77 Najran citizens, carried the same grievances.
It (the report) complained of attempts to settle Sunni Yemenis in the area and arming them, of land being taken away ... for this purpose and of marginalisation of Ismailis," Askar said. "This was a detailed report with evidence and documents backing these abuses ... We feel targeted in our livelihood and creed and we want to prevent this from escalating," he added. He said Ismaili delegates met the head of the state-run Human Rights Commission, Turki Al-Sudairy, twice this week to seek the release of Sa
ab, who has been arrested several times.
The interior ministry spokesman could not be reached, but the commission's spokesman Zuhair Al-Harithi confirmed the arrest. "Saab is a known figure to many officials here, we expect him to be released without being charged ... We will defend anyone who has been detained unfairly," he said. Ismailis are thought to form a large majority in the remote region whose population was put at 420,000 in a 2004 census. - Reuters