Saudis ban protests, warn violators

RIYADH, 5 March 2011 (AFP) : Saudi Arabia's Interior Ministry said on Saturday that protests were illegal, amid various calls for demonstrations demanding changes in the kingdom, state media said.

"Regulations in the kingdom forbid categorically all sorts of demonstrations, marches and sit-ins... as they contradict Shariah law and the values and traditions of Saudi society," said a ministry statement carried by SPA state news agency.

The statement said police were "authorised by law to take all measures needed against those who try to break the law".

Several hundred people protested on Friday in the town of Al Hufuf in Eastern Province, calling for the release of an arrested cleric, Sheikh Tawfiq Al Aamer, and other detainees, witnesses said.

A similar protest was held in Al Qatif, also in the Eastern Province, but was dispersed by police, witnesses said.

On Thursday night, 22 people were arrested as police dispersed a rally in Al Qatif in which protesters demanded the release of prisoners, said Ibrahim Al Mugaiteeb, head of Human Rights First in Saudi Arabia.

"The protesters demanded the liberation of nine 'forgotten' prisoners in Al Qatif, and also of Sheikh Al Aamer, whose picture they carried, and called for national unity," Mugaiteeb said by telephone.

On Friday, a dozen men gathered at the exit of Riyadh's Al Rajhi Mosque, one of the capital's most important, chanting slogans, according to witnesses. Three men were arrested, they said.