Saudi Wahhabis Arrest 38 Shias After Sectarian Clashes

19 December, 2010 08:44

Saudi Wahhabis Arrest 38 Shias After Sectarian Clashes

Saudi Wahhabi forces arrested 38 Shia mourner in the holy city of Medina after fighting erupted near Islam’s oldest mosque Al-Quba on the Shiite religious holiday of Ashura, Saudi media reported on Saturday.

“Several people suffered minor injuries in Thursday’s Â clashes between Wahhbais and Shias”, the press reports said..

Three security officials were also wounded, the Al-Madina newspaper said.

According to Rasid the fighting pitted members of Saudi Arabia’s Shiite minority against majority Wahhbais.

Many of the kingdom’s top Wahhabi clerics have condemned Shiites as having rejected “true” Islam.

Thursday was the climax of Ashura, a 10-day commemoration of the martyrdom of Imam Hussein (A.S), one of the key figures of the Shiite faith.

A grandson of the Prophet Mohammed (pbuh), Hussein was martyred in 680 AD by the armies of the caliph Yazid (L.A) in a battle in Karbala, Iraq.

There were clashes between Shiite and Wahhabi groups near the Al-Quba mosque in April last year. Police said they were triggered by “an argument between teenagers during a football match”.