Riyadh: A number of protesters Friday took to the streets in the eastern Saudi Arabian cities of al-Hofuf and Awamiya, a day after police broke up a march in the same region.
Hundreds of protesters, mainly Shiite Muslims who make up a large part of the population in the area, demonstrated in the oil-rich eastern province. Al-Hofuf sits on the east flank of the country’s major oil field Ghawar.
The protesters called for the release of prisoners held without charges, according to Ibrahim al-Mugaiteeb, president of Human Rights First Society. There was no gunfire or clashes with police in the area, al-Mugaiteeb said.
At least 10 people were arrested, witnesses said.
Over 500 protesters held protest demonstrations in the town of Awamiya, near the Saudi Shia centre of Qatif on the Gulf coast, witnesses said.
Eastern province is the home of vast reserves of Saudi oil, while a majority of Saudi Shiites live there. The Shiites have complained of job discrimination but the Saudi government denies it and says all citizens are treated equally.
In Riyadh, Saudi Arabia’s capital, Friday prayers ended calmly, as none of the protests activists had called for materialized by mid-afternoon local-time.
Dozens of police cars waited quietly in the area where activists had called for the demonstrations after Muslim prayers. No protesters could be seen in the area.
Activists had used Facebook pages to call for demonstrations to demand political reforms. The calls for protests came as demonstrations have broken out across the Arab world, toppling entrenched regimes in Tunisia and Egypt, and leading to a bloody fight between pro-government and antigovernment forces in Libya.
Saudi Arabia’s government has taken a harsh line on protests. Protests have been banned, and last week a small demonstration in the east of the country police arrested the demonstrations’ organizers.
On Thursday, Saudi police fired live ammunition to disperse about 200 Shiite protesters in Qatif, a town in the oil-rich Eastern Province, local human rights activists said.
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