சவுதி போலீஸ் ஷியா முஸ்லீம்கள் காபா பார்க்க வந்தால் சித்ரவதை

ஷியா பிரிவினர் சற்று வித்தியாசமாக காபா கட்டிடத்தை வணங்குகிறார்களாம். அதனால், சவுதி போலீஸ் இந்த ஷியாக்களை அடையாளம் கண்டு தனியே அழைத்துச் சென்று சித்ரவதை செய்திருக்கிறார்கள்.

உடலெங்கும் புண்களையும் அடிகளையும் காட்டுகிறார்கள் இந்த ஷியா யாத்ரிகள்.

சவுதி போலீஸ் தங்கள் வன்முறை வழியை விட்டு அன்பு வழி இறைவழி வர இறையை இறைஞ்சுவோம்.


Shiite Pilgrims Demand Torture Inquiry
Friday August 10, 2007 11:16 PM
By ROMINA SPINA

Associated Press Writer

LONDON (AP) - Eight British and American Shiite Muslims who said they were detained and tortured by religious police during a pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia called Friday for compensation and a full inquiry.

Group members, some of Iraqi descent and aged between 16 and 26, said they were visiting the Kaaba, the cube-shaped shrine in the holy city of Mecca that pilgrims circle, when Saudi police interrupted them and called them infidels.

The police noticed the group was praying in the Shiite manner, which differs slightly from the Sunni style, the accusers said. Saudi Arabia's official strict Wahhabi version of Sunni Islam considers Shiites heretics.

Many in Saudi Arabia are particularly suspicious of Iraq's Shiites, believing they discriminate against the country's Sunni minority and are too closely linked to Shiite-majority Iran.

One of the eight is Amir Taqi, the 23-year-old son of Ridha Jawad Taqi, a senior Iraqi lawmaker in the country's biggest Shiite political party.

``We were handcuffed and savagely beaten with sticks, chairs, belts, shoes and police communication devices,'' Amir Taqi told a London news conference. He said the men were denied food, water and access to toilets.

The seven Britons and one American produced photographs of injuries they said police inflicted on them. Images included bruising and spots of blood on one group member's head and cuts and bleeding from another's arm.

The group did not provoke the police, Taqi said.

Saudi Arabia's embassy in London was not immediately available to comment on the allegations.

On Tuesday, a Saudi official said there had been a ``dispute'' between an Iraqi and a Saudi that had nothing to do with religion or nationality.

Despite Saudi suspicions of Shiites, an attack on Shiite pilgrims would be unusual. Hundreds of thousands of Shiites visit the holy city each year without suffering physical harassment.

In a statement to reporters, the group said it was detained for 14 hours from Sunday to Monday afternoon. Aside from requesting compensation from Saudi authorities, the group wants guarantees about the safety of pilgrims.

Sayed Mohammed Jawad Al-Qazwini, a 26-year-old American also of Iraqi origin, told The Associated Press that police taunted the group as cowards when they refused to respond to provocation.

``You'll be killed and thrown to the dogs, and no one will ever know where you are,'' Jawad quoted police as telling them after they were detained.

But Jawad said he did not believe the men were targeted due to their Iraqi connections.