Civil unrest in Qatif, Saudi Arabia

Saudi Security Forces Hurt By Gunmen In Oil-Rich Province

Four Saudi security personnel were injured in an attack by masked gunmen while on patrol in Awwamiya in the oil-rich Eastern Province, the Saudi Press Agency reported, citing an Interior Ministry spokesman

Bloomberg,

14 July, 2012

Gunmen also fired at the police station in the village and threw a Molotov cocktail while riding motorcycles, the Riyadh- based news service said today, citing Major General Mansour al- Turki. One of the assailants was killed in the attack on the station and three others escaped, it said.

While Sunni-majority Saudi Arabia largely avoided the unrest that spread across the Arab world last year, minority Shiite protesters have clashed with security forces in Awwamiya, al-Qatif and other eastern towns. In February, Saudi Arabia accused “a number of elements” of trying to provoke violence by firing on security forces in Awwamiya.

“A new cycle of Shiite protests against the Saudi regime and its policing tactics is developing in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia,” Crispin Hawes, director for the Middle East and North Africa at Eurasia Group in London, wrote in an e- mailed note yesterday. “The immediate implications for state stability and crude oil production are limited, but the repercussions for the stability of the province in the longer- term are potentially significant.”

Oil pipelines run near the village to Ras Tanura, the country’s largest refinery, about 20 kilometers (12 miles) away. Awwamiya is close to the al-Qatif oil field, which produces as much as 500,000 barrels a day. Saudi Arabia is the world’s biggest oil exporter.

Cleric Arrested

The attacks came about five days after Saudi security forces arrested dissident Shiite cleric Nimr al-Nimr in Awwamiya earlier this month, the Saudi Press Agency reported on July 8. Two Shiite men were killed after his arrest though there were no security confrontations, the Interior Ministry said said in a statement sent by mobile-phone text message on July 9.

Videos posted on Youtube and Al-Jazeera showed demonstrators in the streets al-Qatif and Awwamiya after the arrest of al-Nimr. The authenticity of the videos couldn’t be verified by Bloomberg News. The Interior Ministry said a “limited number of people have assembled” in Awwamiya.

“The current demonstrations are more severe and appear to be more coordinated than previous incidents,” Hawes said.

The U.S. State Department noted in a human-rights report on Saudi Arabia published in 2009 that Shiites in the kingdom face “significant political, economic, legal, social and religious discrimination condoned by the government.”

Behind Riots

U.S. citizens living in or considering travel to al-Qatif and Awwamiya should exercise caution and be aware of the potential for protests that can result in violence, the American Embassy in Riyadh said in an e-mailed statement July 9. There is a potential for further demonstrations, the embassy said.

Awwamiya, a village north of al-Qatif on the Persian Gulf, was the scene of much larger demonstrations in 2009 after police sought to arrest al-Nimr, who had said in a sermon that Saudi Shiites may be able to seek a state of their own in the future. Al-Nimr has been one of the people behind riots in Awwamiya, the Interior Ministry said after his arrest.Saudi Arabia has accused Shiite-led Iran of interfering in the affairs of Arab countries in the Persian Gulf, home to three-fifths of the world’s oil reserves. Iran denies this and accuses Sunni rulers in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia of discriminating against Shiites.

Qatif protests metamorphose into organised attacks on security forces

Masked gunmen attack police station in Al-Awamiya; two security forces patrols come under gunfire in town of Saihat.

Middle East Online,
14 July, 2012



A gunman was killed during an attack on a police station as four Saudi policemen were wounded in a separate assault on their patrols in the kingdom's Shiite-populated east, state media reported.



"Four masked gunmen on motorbikes entered Al-Awamiya police centre where one of them threw a petrol bomb while the rest opened fire at the station," interior ministry spokesman Mansur al-Turki said, quoted by SPA news agency.



"The guards dealt with them, killing one while the rest (of the assailants) fled," said Turki.



The attack in the Shiite town of Al-Awamiya took place on Friday evening, less than a week after two protesters were killed in clashes with police in Qatif district following the arrest of a prominent Shiite cleric.



In those clashes, on Sunday night, activists said dozens of protesters were wounded when police fired on a demonstration against the arrest of Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr whom the authorities have described as "instigator of sedition."



Turki said the security forces would not tolerate "rioters, especially those who are armed," and would hold responsible anyone who does not help in handing them over or offers them refuge.



In a separate statement on SPA, the spokesman announced that "two security forces' patrols came under gunfire from masked armed men on motorbikes in the town of Saihat, wounding four members of the security forces."



Qatif district, where both towns are located, has witnessed several protests initially triggered in February 2011 after an outbreak of violence between Shiite pilgrims and religious police in the holy city of Medina.



The protests escalated after the kingdom led a force of Gulf troops into neighbouring Bahrain to help crush a month-long Shiite-led uprising last year against that country's Sunni monarchy.



Saudi Arabia's estimated two million Shiites, who frequently complain of marginalisation, live mostly in the east, where the vast majority of the OPEC kingpin's huge oil reserves lie.




I would suggest referring back to this report earlier in the year about the insurrection in the eastern provinces of Saudi Arabia, HERE

Saudi Arabia: the troubles in Qatif

Saudis hold funeral for killed protester amid soaring tensions

Tensions are escalating in Saudi Arabia as people hold a funeral ceremony for a man killed during as protest against the arrest of prominent Shia cleric Sheikh Nemr al-Nemr.

Press TV,

11 July, 2012

New pictures surfaced on Wednesday showed people in the city of Awamiyah, in the restive Eastern Province, holding a funeral for Akbar Hassan Shakhouri.

On July 8, Saudi security forces in Qatif opened fire on demonstrators, who were protesting against the detention of al-Nemr. Saudi forces shot and killed Shakhouri and two others during the protest. Many others were injured in the attack.

Earlier in the day, al-Nemr was injured when regime forces fired at his car in Awamiyah. There has been no word on his condition or whereabouts.

Since February 2011, Saudi protesters have held numerous demonstrations in the Eastern Province, mainly in the Qatif region and the town of Awamiyah, calling for the release of all political prisoners, freedom of expression and assembly, and an end to widespread discrimination.

Similar demonstrations have also been held in the capital Riyadh and the holy city of Medina over the past few weeks.

However, the demonstrations turned into protests against the regime of the House of Saud, especially after November 2011, when Saudi security forces killed five protesters and injured many others in the Eastern Province.

The Saudi Interior Ministry issued a statement on March 5, 2011, prohibiting “all forms of demonstrations, marches or protests, and calls for them, because that contradicts the principles of the Islamic sharia, the values and traditions of Saudi society, and results in disturbing public order and harming public and private interests.”

In June, Saudi King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud ordered the country’s security forces to go on a state of high alert due to what he called a “turbulent situation” in the region.

According to Human Rights Watch, the Saudi regime “routinely represses expression critical of the government.”

Thousands rally after death of protester in Saudi Arabia

RT,

11 July, 2012

Demonstrators have spilled on to the streets of the eastern Saudi city of Qatif, angered by the death of a man during the latest bout of protests in the country.

Mohamed al-Felfel was one of two men shot dead on July after protests broke out following the arrest of Shiite cleric Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr.

Activists say the two men were killed by police snipers stationed on rooftops – an allegation the Saudi Interior Ministry denies.

Videos posted online showed avenues filled with rows of chanting mourners. Other videos showed youths throwing incendiary devices at what appeared to be a police car, and rocks at a government building.

Saudi Arabia’s Eastern Province is home to a Shiite population that has long complained of discrimination by the Sunni ruling family – yet another claim the government dismisses as groundless.

Shiite community leaders have appealed for calm, urging people to avoid involvement in situations that could get out of hand and lead to bloodshed. They also appealed to security forces to exercise restraint and patience, which will help the community get through a “dangerous and critical period.”

Oil-rich Saudi Arabia has largely escaped the Arab Spring that forced leaders in Tunisia, Libya, Egypt and Yemen out of power. But in neighboring Bahrain, similar protests have been going on for months, with Shiite majorities demanding political reforms from the ruling Sunni Al Khalifa family.

Shi'ite rebellion in Saudi Arabia

Protest Turns Deadly In Qatif As Saudis Use Live Ammo On Protesting Shi'ites

Zero Hedge,

8 July, 2012

Remember Qatif - the "weakest" Saudi authoritarian link, whose daily protests, many of them violent, threatened to topple the government last spring when soaring global food inflation set the MENA region on fire and led to the overthrow of numerous regimes in the Mediterranean rim? It's back, only this time not based on food price concerns, but inflamed religious tensions, arising from the arrest, and shooting, of a senior religious opposition figure, Shia cleric Ayatollah Al-Neme. As of minutes ago, Redha Al-boori reports on Twitter, that there have been at least two casuualties as a result of confrontation between Saudi forces using live ammo and protesting Shiites.

The Shia Post reports

"Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has shot injured and arrested Shia cleric Ayatollah Al-Nemer on Saturday 08 July 2012, the Shia Post reported.

According to received picture, injuries from which it can be assumed that the arrest was violent. Two weeks ago in his Friday sermon Shaikh Al-Nemer criticised Arab dictators in Saudi, Bahrain.  He is well known for publicly criticising dictators. After the shot injures and arrest of Ayatullah Shaikh Al-Nemer, hundreds of  Saudis  Shiite Muslims took streets in Awamiah and Qatif for his release and protested against the KSA for the brutal attack on Shiite Cleric." The result: protests that have covered the entire city, and reports via Twitter of Saudi forces using live ammo to disperse those protesting.

UPDATE: Video of the bloody reality tonight on Saudi streets.

For more video coverage GO HERE

On the Saudi oil pipeline attacks

Saudi Arabia and Iran Spar Over Pipeline Attack Claims

Oil Price,

6 March, 2012

On 1 March, Iran’s state-owned Press TV carried a sensational story of “an explosion in Saudi Arabian city of Awamiyah in the east of the kingdom which destroyed the pipelines feeding one of the most important oil hubs in the world.”

According to the story, “Oil prices have soared to their highest level in the past ten months.”

The Press TV report referred to a fire on a pipeline linking Saudi Arabia’s largest refinery in Abqaiq to its major oil port in Ras Tanura in the Persian Gulf.

According to the Iranian Press TV media report, the attack caused oil prices worldwide to soar; “Brent North Sea crude is trading at nearly $127 per barrel while West Texas Intermediate is trading above $109 a barrel. Meanwhile, light, sweet crude for April delivery soared to as high as $110.55 a barrel after it settled for Thursday at $108.84 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, up $1.77 from Wednesday's closing level. Brent crude on the ICE Futures Europe exchange also rose to $128.40 a barrel.” 

The post-attack oil prices reached levels not seen since July 2008, when the burgeoning global economic crisis sent oil spiraling to record peaks of $147.70 a barrel.

Not so, said the Saudi Arabian state-run media. The day after the Press TV report appeared Saudi Arabian Interior Ministry spokesman Prince Mansour Al-Turki told Reuters, “There were no acts of sabotage in the Kingdom yesterday." Following this reassurance, prices declined somewhat.

So, what’s the truth of the matter?

It would seem that it lies midway between Riyadh and Tehran, whose relationship might most kindly be described as “frosty.”

U.S. and Israel continue increasing pressure on Iran to end its civilian nuclear energy program, which both nations assert in fact masks a covert nuclear weapons program has been strongly denied by Tehran, which insists its civilian nuclear energy program remains exactly that.

Ramping up the confrontation, three months ago Iran’s Navy staged ten days of its  Velayat 90 naval exercises, covering an area in the Arabian Sea stretching from east of the Strait of Hormuz entrance to the Persian Gulf to the Gulf of Aden.

The exercises increased concerns about Iranian intentions in Kuwait, Iraq, the UAE and Saudi Arabia, all of which heavily depend on free maritime passage through the Strait of Hormuz, where approximately 40 percent of the world’s oil exports transit each day.

Washington has also increased its pressure on Iran’s major Asian importers India, China, Taiwan, Japan and South Korea to abide by news sanctions proposed by the U.S. to abandon Iranian oil exports to increase pressure on Tehran over its nuclear policies, with Saudi Arabia discreetly signaling that it could make up any shortfalls.

Not that Saudi Arabia is particularly fond of Iran’s theocratic Shia government, established in the wake of the overthrow of the Shah’s regime in February 1979. Saudi Arabia’s eastern provinces, where the bulk of the Kingdom’s oil reserves are, are mostly Shia Islamic adherents, a group heavily discriminated against by the austere Sunni Saudi monarchy.

Accordingly, Riyadh for more than two decades has regarded indigenous protests as primarily fomented and encouraged by Iran.

In a major Wikileaks diplomatic revelation that severely embarrassed the Saudi monarchy, in April 2008 the Saudi ambassador to Washington, Adel al-Jubeir regarding Iran, urged General David Petraeus, at the time commanding U.S. forces in Iraq, to "Cut off the head of the snake," while Saudi King Abdullah reportedly "frequently exhorted the U.S. to attack Iran to put an end to its nuclear weapons program."

But, back to pipeline attacks.

Two years before King Abdullah advised Washington, on 24 February 2006, al Qaida units in Saudi Arabia attacked the Abqaiq refinery in a six-hour gun battle.

They were acting on pronouncements from Osama bin Laden, who on 16 December 2004 released an audiotape commenting about attacking regional oil installations, telling his audience, "Targeting America in Iraq in terms of economy and losses in life is a golden and unique opportunity. Do not waste it only to regret it later. One of the most important reasons that led our enemies to control our land is the theft of our oil. Do everything you can to stop the biggest plundering operation in history—the plundering of the resources of the present and future generations in collusion with the agents and the aliens.. ..Be active and prevent them from reaching the oil, and mount your operations accordingly, particularly in Iraq and the Gulf, for this is their fate."

Oil prices subsequently rose more than $2 a barrel in the aftermath of the Abqaiq assault.

Saudi Arabia subsequently and promptly brutally suppressed al Qaida militants in the Kingdom but the fact remains that Saudi oil facilities, given their extent, are largely indefensible.

So, is the Press TV report accurate? Make up your own mind – but it certainly rattled the markets for more than a few moments, and given the rising tensions in the Persian Gulf, may be only the harbinger of things to come. Bin Laden may be gone, but his ideology certainly isn’t, nor Saudi mistreatment of its citizens in its oil-rich provinces.

Nor the threat across the Persian Gulf.

Blow out Iran’s more than 4 million barrel per day exports, whether through sanctions or military attack, what next?

Do the math.

Given the market’s previous reactions to uncertainty in the Persian Gulf, then Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanhayu’s current visit to Washington D.C. for discussions with President Obama, to press on Iranian nuclear issue is hardly likely to quell market concerns about the future.

By. John C.K. Daly of Oilprice.com

The Shi'ite rebellion in Saudi Arabia and oil

We're getting more considered commentary from the 'other' side.
I have little doubt that the Saudis are lying - they have plenty of reason to.


Comments from Mike Ruppert:

The excellent report from Radio New Zealand adds much more detail to recent events in KSA. We can now say the following with certainty based on approximately 30 press reports emerging from a region where transparency is about as abundant as water in Texas.

The aorta of global crude oil shipment lies between KSA's pipeline collection facility at Abqaiq and its only major supertanker port at Ras Tanura. My original reporting disclosed that last week. While Iran is claiming total destruction of the pipeline, we can now say that at a bare minimum several small blasts or "fires" have occurred near the pipelines carrying between six and nine million barrels per day, or 9% of the world's daily oil supply. Whatever the extent of damage, there is no hiding the fact that the most important oil artery in the world is under attack. There will be no let up in the upward pressure in oil prices. If the aorta is completely severed, my guess is that we will know within six days. What oil prices do in that time will give us an indication of how much damage has really been caused. In the entire world, there is no other state that suppresses free speech, truth, and accurate reporting more than the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. -- MCR

Saudi unrest set to trigger oil price hike

Press TV,

Oil prices have soared to their highest level in the past ten months following reports of an explosion of pipelines in Saudi Arabia's oil-rich Eastern Province. 

Although this piece misses the BIg Picture (namely oil) it does give a good backgrounder to the growing rebellion in Saudi Arabia.  It is onlya matter of time before the ‘proverbial hit the fan’

The Shi’ite rebellion in Saudi Arabia

Radio New Zealand, 

Cairo-based Middle East correspondent for The Global Mail, Jess Hill, discussing the growing rebellion in Saudi Arabia.

Mainstream media on Saudi explosion

Oil jumps on Saudi pipeline explosion reports

US crude oil climbed over $US110 a barrel for the first time since May after an Iranian state-run news channel reported an explosion on a pipeline in Saudi Arabia.

Sydney Morning Herald,

2 March, 2012

Futures reached $US110.55 in late New York trade after Iran’s Press TV reported on its English-language website that “an explosion has hit oil pipelines in the flashpoint Saudi Arabian city of Awwamiya in the kingdom’s oil-rich Eastern province.”

However, Major General Mansour Al-Turki, a spokesman for the Saudi Interior Ministry, said no oil facility in the region has been sabotaged after reports of a fire near the Ras Tanura refinery.

“It looks like it’s a rumour but it shows you how sensitive the oil market is to any kind of supply constraint,” said Phil Streible, a Chicago-based commodities broker at RJO Futures.

Clashes between Saudi police and armed Shiite protesters in Awwamiya and al-Qatif, both cities in the oil-producing eastern region, have intensified since October when 11 police were injured in an attack.

Saudi authorities accuse Iran of stirring up the unrest. The protesters have cultural and family ties with Shiite-led Iran. Saudi Arabia’s royal family is Sunni.

"Oil is shooting higher due to the Saudi report, absolutely, no question about it,” said Phil Streible, a Chicago-based commodities broker at RJO Futures. “People are buying oil based on the news. Gold is also rising.”

Crude oil for April delivery rose $US1.77 to settle at $US108.84 a barrel on the Nymex before extending gains after the floor closed. The price was recently at $US108.81. Futures settled at a nine-month high of $US109.77 on February 24.

Brent oil for April settlement climbed $US3.54, or 2.9 per cent, to a 10-month high of $US126.20 a barrel on the London- based ICE Futures Europe exchange. Brent rose as high as $US128.40 after the settlement before dropping back to $US126.17.

Futures in New York rose 1.7 per cent in regular trading as US officials escalated warnings that the nation may join Israel in attacking Iran to stop the development of nuclear weapons and on economic reports signaling growth. The number of Americans filing first-time claims for jobless benefits fell and the Federal Reserve said yesterday that the housing market has shown improvement.

“The next few days could be very important as far as Iran is concerned,” said Matthew Dougherty, a managing director at Advisory Research. “The labour market is improving and we’re starting to see some sparkles of hope in the housing market. These two sectors have been weighing on the economy for the last several years.”

Brent’s premium to New York-traded West Texas intermediate oil widened to $US17.36 based on settlements. The premium has climbed with Iranian tensions and supplies in the US. Stockpiles at Cushing, Oklahoma, the delivery point for WTI, rose 1.65 million barrels to 33.8 million last week, the most since August, the Energy Department said yesterday.

“Brent is stronger because that’s where any disruption in supply is going to be felt,” said Bill O’Grady, chief market strategist at Confluence Investment Management in St Louis. “The news came from an Iranian source, which is problematic.”

While Iran has said its atomic program is for civilian purposes, the US and its allies say the country is trying to develop the capacity to produce nuclear weapons.

General Norton Schwartz, the Air Force chief of staff, said yesterday that the Joint Chiefs of Staff have prepared military options to strike Iranian nuclear sites in the event of a conflict.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is scheduled to address the American Israel Public Affairs Committee in Washington on March 5, a day after President Barack Obama speaks to the group, the main pro-Israel lobby in the US.

“We’re waiting to hear what Obama says to Aipac Sunday and to Netanyahu on Monday,” Dougherty said. “It wouldn’t take much to spook the market.”