Syria (and Beyond) Live Coverage: Annan "The Evidence Shows We Have Not Succeeded"
Sunday, July 8, 2012 at 11:08 | Scott Lucas in Africa, EA Global, EA Middle East and Turkey, Middle East and Iran Claimed video of protests in Saudi Arabia's Eastern Province tonight (see 2050 and 2105 GMT)
See also Syria Propaganda 101: How PR Firm Brown Lloyd James Polished the Regime's Image
Saturday's Syria (and Beyond) Live Coverage: 89 Deaths, 672 Protests, and a "Liberated" Regime Convoy
2050 GMT: Saudi Arabia. The Minister of Interior has confirmed that prominent Shi’a Muslim cleric Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr was arrested in Eastern Province late Sunday after he was shot in the leg by police.
Reports of the Sheikh's arrest brought demonstrations in the mostly Shi’a Qatif region of the Eastern Province, which has been the focal point of protests alleging discrimination.
The Ministry claimed, “When the aforementioned person [al-Nimr] and those with him tried to resist the security men and initiated shooting and crashed into one of the security patrols while trying to escape, he was dealt with in accordance with the situation and responded to in kind and arrested after he was wounded in his thigh."
Al-Nimr was taken to hospital and accused of sedition. He was previously detained for several days in 2004 and 2006
“They (police) took him from his car and blood can be seen near his car,” said his brother Mohammed al-Nimr. “He had been wanted by the interior ministry for a couple of months because of his political views. In the past couple of months he has adopted a lot of Shi’ite issues and expressed his views on them, demanding their rights."