Saudis desperate to destabilize Mideast, sabotage peace efforts: Activist

Saudi Arabia’s execution of prominent Shia cleric Sheikh Nimr Baqir al-Nimr highlights its desperation to destabilize the Middle East and sabotage peace efforts in the region, a peace activist in Washington says.

“It’s obvious with these executions that the Saudi government has decided to pursue its own narrow regional interests,” said Brian Becker, the national coordinator for the ANSWER Coalition, a US-based protest umbrella group consisting of many antiwar and civil rights organizations.

The “decrepit” Saudi regime fears that the Iran nuclear agreement and the peace process to resolve the Syrian conflict have jeopardized its position in the Middle East, Becker told Press TV on Monday.

“They are now desperately trying to create provocations that would destabilize and sabotage any possible thaw in relations between the United States and the Islamic Republic of Iran, and to sabotage any peaceful resolution of the Syrian civil war,” he explained.

The peace activist also noted that the US influence in the country has “severely diminished.”

In recent years, the two countries have occasionally been described as having a “special relationship” with one another. US presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama have strong and close relations with senior members of the Saudi regime.

The Saudi Interior Ministry announced on Saturday that Sheikh Nimr along with 46 others, who were convicted of being involved in “terrorism” and adopting a “Takfiri” ideology, had been put to death.

Sheikh Nimr, a strong critic of Riyadh’s policies, was arrested in 2012 in the Qatif region of Eastern Province, where peaceful anti-regime demonstrations were held at the time.

He was charged with instigating unrest and undermining the kingdom’s security, making anti-government speeches and defending political prisoners. He had rejected all the charges as baseless.

Sheikh Nimr’s execution has caused international outrage and a serious escalation of diplomatic tensions in the region.

The cleric’s imprisonment had prompted a high-profile campaign for his release backed by Iran, UN secretary general Ban Ki-moon and Amnesty International.

Saudi Arabia announced Sunday that it was cutting diplomatic ties with Tehran after the Saudi Embassy there was the scene of angry protests late Saturday.

Amnesty International on Saturday said that Nimr has been “executed to settle political scores.”

Sheikh Nimr’s trial was “grossly unfair, because the international standards for fair trial were grossly flouted,” Amnesty’s Middle East and North Africa director Philip Luther told AFP.

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