Saudi Arabia arrests Iraqi army officer over anti-Israel posts during pilgrimage
Saudi authorities have arrested Lieutenant Colonel Omar Nizar, an officer in Iraq's elite Rapid Response Forces, for reportedly posting against Israel during Umrah (pilgrimage) in Mecca.
Nizar was detained after posting a video on social media in which he prayed for the victory of Palestinians in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon, The New Arab reported.
According to reports, the video is believed to be the reason behind his arrest. The video has been widely circulated.
The officer has been referred to the Saudi State Security Agency (SSA), and his fate remains unclear, his lawyer told Iraq's state television.
The Saudi kingdom has not allowed criticism of Israel since the regime of Israel launched a genocidal war on Gaza on October 7 last year.
The official death toll stands at nearly 42,000, with about 100,000 injured and 10,000 missing. The majority of the casualties are women and children, health officials say.
In addition to lives lost, a humanitarian crisis has unfolded in the besieged Palestinian territory, including the collapse of the health care system.
In a recent report published by the Geneva-based Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor, it is revealed that an estimated 10 percent of Gaza's population has been killed, injured, reported missing, or detained as a result of Israeli military assaults.
🇸🇦🇮🇶 Saudi Authorities Arrest Iraqi Lieutenant Colonel During Umrah
— DD Geopolitics (@DD_Geopolitics) October 7, 2024
Saudi security forces have arrested Iraqi Lieutenant Colonel Omar Nizar while he was performing Umrah. The Saudi Public Prosecution has referred him to State Security.
According to reports from Iraqi netizens,… pic.twitter.com/JufCmmXi2k
The report details the systematic acts of genocide committed in Gaza, such as the targeted killing of civilians in homes, shelters, displacement camps, and humanitarian-declared zones.
Meanwhile, Israel has escalated its barbarism in Lebanon over the past weeks. The regime assassinated Hezbollah Secretary-General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah in an airstrike on southern Beirut on September 27.
According to reports, over 2,000 people have been killed in Lebanon in Israeli airstrikes across the country, and thousands of others have been displaced from their homes, mostly in southern Lebanon.
This comes as the Palestinian resistance groups and their allied groups in regional countries - Lebanon, Yemen, and Iraq - continue their operations against the Tel Aviv regime and its Western backers.
Saudi Arabia and its other Arab allies have remained completely silent over Israel’s war crimes against Muslims.
Instead, the Saudi media have been blaming Hamas and Hezbollah for Israeli atrocities against the people in Gaza and the people of Lebanon.
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