Demonstrators who defied a huge security clampdown and took to the streets in Saudi Arabia’s Eastern Province vowed yesterday to step up their campaign against corruption and inequality.
Despite a heavy police presence on a “Day of Rage” called by opponents of the regime, hundreds of Shi’ite youths demonstrated in the city of Qatif against imprisonment without trial and demanded political change after Friday prayers. Protesters later clashed with police in Awamiya, just outside Qatif. “About 15 people were injured after police charged the crowd,” said one witness. “Police also fired into the crowd.”
All police leave was cancelled on Friday as Saudi Arabia’s Sunni monarchy clamped down hard on any sign of unrest. Protests are illegal in the country. In Riyadh, the capital, hardly any demonstrators could be seen at the sites where they had been urged to congregate.
Campaigners want more protests this Friday but it is unclear whether they will be heeded. In the more volatile east, where the Shi’ite population complains about discrimination, the protesters are determined to carry on.
“See the young people in Qatif. They are not afraid of dying. They want change,” said Ali, a resident. “Our rulers come from an older generation. They aren’t used to being told something they don’t want to hear.”
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There was also a warning for the kingdom’s rulers from a marcher in Awamiya. “Unless the authorities tackle the issue of corruption, until they share the wealth more equally, and until they give the youth a say ... there will be no stability.”
In neighbouring Yemen a three-hour street battle between security forces and protesters in Sana’a, the capital, left two men shot dead and more than a dozen injured yesterday. Several thousand demonstrators calling for an end to President Ali Abdullah Saleh’s 32-year rule were attacked by police with water cannon, tear gas, rubber bullets and live ammunition in streets near the capital’s main university at 6am.
“They waited until no one was around ... and then they attacked,” said Sarlin al-Sharafi, a protester.
The street battle ended when the security forces ran out of water and tear gas and retreated. Large parts of Sana’a were left in a state of anarchy, with shopkeepers and homeowners taking to the streets to defend their properties.
Additional reporting: Iona Craig in Sana’a, Yemen