VZCZCXRO9324
PP RUEHDE RUEHDIR
DE RUEHDH #0046/01 0841151
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
P 251151Z MAR 09
FM AMCONSUL DHAHRAN
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 0052
INFO RUEHDH/AMCONSUL DHAHRAN 0069
RUEHZM/GULF COOPERATION COUNCIL COLLECTIVE
IRAN COLLECTIVE PRIORITY 0052

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 DHAHRAN 000046 
 
NOFORN 
SIPDIS 
 
PLEASE PASS TO NEA/ARP JOSHUA HARRIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL:  3/25/2019 
TAGS: SA KU PGOV PHUM PINR KIRF KISL KDEM
SUBJECT: SHI'A PROTESTS LEAD TO ARRESTS, INCLUDING TWO AMERICANS 
 
REF: A. 09 RIYADH 346 
     ¶B. 08 RIYADH 1197 
     ¶C. 09 DHAHRAN 40 
     ¶D. 09 DHAHRAN 8 
     ¶E. 09 RIYADH 270 
 
DHAHRAN 00000046  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
CLASSIFIED BY: Julie Stineheart, Acting Consul General, EXEC, 
DOS. 
REASON: 1.4 (b), (d) 
 
¶1. (C/NF) Key Points: 
 
--------------------- 
 
-- On Thursday, March 19 Shi'a from the Awamiyya village in the 
Qatif oasis conducted a sit-in to protest the SAG's intention of 
arresting the radical Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr, who has been in 
hiding since calling for possible secession from Saudi Arabia. 
 
 
-- A couple of hours after the protest, Saudi security forces 
reportedly arrested more than a dozen Saudi Shi'a, mainly youth, 
including two dual American-Saudi citizen brothers. 
 
 
-- Shi'a leaders assert that SAG actions taken since the Baqi'a 
cemetery incident (ref A) have only increased frustrations among 
the Shi'a and raised the prospect for sectarian violence. 
 
 
-- Contacts point to the Ministry of Interior and Prince Naif 
bin Abdulaziz Al Saud as ultimately behind many of the abuses 
and discrimination of the Shi'a. 
 
 
-- The prominent Sheikh Hassan al-Saffar said that the Shi'a in 
Kuwait enjoy a cooperative relationship with their government, 
while the SAG resorts to force and arrests as a means of 
interacting with its Shi'a citizens. 
 
 
End key points. 
 
 
¶2. (C) PROTESTS IN AWAMIYYA.  During Friday prayers on March 13, 
Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr (ref B) of the Awamiyya village in 
predominantly Shi'a Qatif reportedly gave a fiery sermon where 
he declared, "If we [Shi'a] don't get our dignity, then we will 
have to consider seceding from this country [Saudi Arabia]."  In 
response, the Saudi Special Emergency Force (the riot police) 
came to arrest al-Nimr, but he had gone into hiding.  On the 
evening of Thursday, March 19 a few hundred Shi'a conducted a 
sit-in protest at the main square of Awamiyya in support of the 
controversial sheikh.  The sit-in lasted about two hours with 
protesters holding up pictures of al-Nimr and signs reading 
"dignity."  (Note:  Al-Nimr resides in Awamiyya, which is a 
notoriously radical Shi'a village in the Qatif oasis referred to 
half-jokingly by other Qatifis as "Little Falluja."  As one 
Shi'a contact told PolOff, "every house in Awamiyya has a gun... 
seriously."  End Note.) 

 
¶3. (C/NF) AN AMERICAN IS ARRESTED.  Around midnight, after the 
sit-in protest ended, the Special Emergency Forces (SEF) 
reportedly cut out the electricity to a part of Awamiyya and 
then arrested dozens of Shi'a youth, some reportedly as young as 
12 years old.  Noah Ali Saleh Abduljabbar, a 28-year-old 
American-Saudi dual citizen, was among those arrested on March 
¶19.  Post contacted his brother, Abdulmajid, on Saturday, March 
¶21.  He said that his other brother, Amar, also an American 
citizen, was subsequently arrested on March 20.  He could not 
confirm reports that Noah was beaten by the police; however, he 
had not spoken with either of his brothers since their arrest 
nor did the Saudi authorities contact his family.  Abdulmajid 
said he only knew that his brother Noah was arrested because one 
of his friends told him what had happened.  Once Amar 
disappeared, they just assumed it was the SEF too. 

 
¶4. (C/NF) INCREASED POLICE PRESENCE IN QATIF.  On March 21, XXXXXXXXXXXX (protect), the manager of XXXXXXXXXXXX and a respected community activist, told PolOff that the SEF had dramatically increased their presence in Qatif.  He said that additional riot police and vehicles have been brought to Qatif, 
hidden in the back of police stations.  He downplayed the 
importance of Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr and said that his following is 
limited to Awamiyya, and only a few hundred people are fervent 
followers.  However, he voiced his concern that if one of 
al-Nimr's radical followers took up arms against the security 
forces, then the SAG might retaliate by indiscriminately killing 
innocent Shi'a. 
 
 
¶5. (C/NF) FRUSTRATION.  Since the sectarian clashes at the 
Baqi'a cemetery in Medina (ref A), a wide-range of Shi'a leaders 
and activists have repeatedly told PolOff of the mounting 
frustrations among the Shi'a (ref C, D).  In a March 18 meeting 
with prominent municipal council member, XXXXXXXXXXXX
(protect), he told PolOff that the SAG is only using "security 
measures" to resolve issues of discrimination.  Aside from the 
arbitrary arrest of Shi'a, he cited inflammatory remarks that 
Interior Minister Prince Naif bin Abdulaziz Al Saud published on 
March 14 in response to the Baqi'a incident.  He said that the 
Shi'a must respect the doctrine of the "Sunnis and our righteous 
forefathers," blaming the Shi'a for the problems in Medina. 
 (Comment:  Several contacts, including XXXXXXXXXXXX, often cite 
MOI and Prince Naif in particular as the source of most 
sectarian discrimination.  They believe that any orders given to 
arrest or harass Shi'a in the Eastern Province come straight 
from Prince Naif.  End Comment.) 
 
 
¶6. (C/NF) TENSIONS HIGH AMONG SHI'A AND SUNNI YOUTH.  XXXXXXXXXXXX noted that tensions are especially high among both the Shi'a and Sunni youth.  He recently met with a Sunni leader from Anak (the only village in Qatif with a majority Sunni population) to 
discuss the rising tensions among the youth in their respective 
communities.  The Sunni leader from Anak told XXXXXXXXXXXX that 
young Sunnis from the conservative province of Qassim were 
coming to Anak to "protect their Sunni brothers" from Shi'a 
aggression.  XXXXXXXXXXXX said that the Anak Sunni leader told them not to come and to stay away.  XXXXXXXXXXXX's concerns about the youth potentially being the flashpoint for sectarian violence 
echo previous warnings (ref E). 
 
 
¶7. (C/NF) "ENOUGH" IS ENOUGH.  In early March, several Shi'a 
blogs carried a statement by a new Saudi Shi'a movement called 
"Enough" (Khalas).  (Note:  Some English language sources 
translated the movement name as "Salvation," but native Arabic 
speakers at post said that "Enough" or "Finished" is the 
intended meaning.  End Note.)  Post contacts believe that the 
well-written and forceful statement comes from a new Saudi Shi'a 
movement based out of London.  The statement calls for the use 
of "all legitimate means to confront the unjust policies imposed 
by the [Saudi] government against the Shiites."  The statement 
uses aggressive language such as "illegitimate," "failure," 
"extreme frustration," "oppression," "defamation," "force;" 
although, it stops short of calling for outright violence. 
XXXXXXXXXXXX noted that the statement was not only a criticism of 
the SAG, but also of the moderate Shi'a leadership (i.e. Sheikh 
Hassan al-Saffar, Isa al-Muzel, Sadeq al-Jubran, Dr. Tawfiq 
al-Saif and himself) who have failed to bring an end to 
sectarian discrimination through dialogue with the SAG. 
 
 
 
¶8. (C/NF) SHI'A IN KUWAIT GOT IT GOOD.  On March 20, Sheikh 
XXXXXXXXXXXX (protect), a highly respected Shi'a leader and 
frequent interlocutor of the SAG, held a public talk with about 
500 members of the Shi'a community in Qatif.  According to 
XXXXXXXXXXXX (protect), who was in attendance, XXXXXXXXXXXX
described his recent trip to Kuwait where he met with the Shi'a 
community there.  He said that the GOK supports the Shi'a and 
vice versa.  He described how the GOK allows the Shi'a to have 
their school of law (Jaffari) represented in the Ministry of 
Justice.  XXXXXXXXXXXX also noted that while the GOK looks to 
improve the stake of the Shi'a in their country, the SAG, on the 
other hand, arbitrarily arrests its Shi'a citizens without 
STINEHART