http://www.metimes.com/articles/normal. ... 3828-4667r
Saudi Ismailis call for greater say, royal pardon
September 21, 2005
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates -- Ismaili intellectuals have urged Saudi King Abdullah to give their community a greater role in public affairs and free Ismailis jailed in connection with unrest five years ago, a US-based Gulf institute said.
A three-member delegation from the southern region of Najran, the Ismailis' stronghold, met Abdullah on Saturday to pledge allegiance to the Saudi monarch, who acceded to the throne following the August 1 death of his half-brother King Fahd, according to the Washington-based Institute for Gulf Affairs.
In the letter of allegiance the team also presented its demands.
"Qualified natives of Najran have been denied the honor of serving the homeland and the leadership in high state institutions ... Your kind directives to give them the opportunity to do so would deeply hearten the people of the region," they wrote.
The message called on Abdullah, who has pardoned leading jailed reformists since becoming monarch last month, to extend his "pardon to the prisoners [sentenced over] the events of Najran" in the southwest of the kingdom.
It also urged him to allow Ismaili residents of Najran who were transferred from the region to other parts of Saudi Arabia following the unrest to go home if needed for social reasons.
An unspecified number of people were arrested and jailed for their involvement in trouble in Najran in April 2000 when a Saudi security officer died and several others were injured.
According to the authorities three foreigners were also hurt during unrest that followed the arrest of a Yemeni "sorcerer" practicing black magic in Najran.
But sources in the Ismaili community in Yemen said that the man arrested, Hussein Ismail Al Makrami, was a leading preacher.
According to witnesses in Najran, close to the Yemeni border, hundreds of Ismailis, who form an offshoot of the Shia branch of Islam, took to the streets to protest against Saudi religious police closing one of their mosques.
In December 2002 authorities said that King Fahd pardoned an unspecified number of Ismailis sentenced to prison for their role in the unrest after halving the jail terms of 70 of them.
He also commuted the death sentences of 17 others to 10 years in jail.
Diplomats estimate that tens of thousands of Ismailis live in the kingdom's mountainous southwestern region that was controlled by Yemen up until the start of the twentieth century.
The Najran Ismailis known as Makarima are a separate branch of the broader Shia sect and do not follow the Aga Khan who heads the mainstream Ismailis scattered across the Middle East, the Indian subcontinent and central Asia.
Mustelian Ismailis in Najran
Saudi Ismailis protest against 'repression'
AFP
September 6, 2006
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates -- Some 300 members of Saudi Arabia's Ismaili community, an offshoot of the Shiite branch of Islam, rallied in the southern city of Najran Tuesday in protest against "repression" by authorities, one of the protestors said.
The protest, a rare occurrence in the kingdom, was held near the city's airport amid a heavy security presence but dispersed peacefully after around four hours, Said Al Yami said by telephone.
He said that the protestors demanded an end to the "pressures" on their community and the release of 30 people jailed since unrest broke out in the Najran region six years ago.
They also pressed for an apology from a cleric and judge from the dominant Sunni Wahhabi community who recently labeled the Ismailis "infidels," he said.
A statement by organizers accused local authorities in Najran of seeking to seize lands from Ismailis in order to settle Yemeni tribesmen who were given Saudi citizenship in them.
Those Yemenis are Sunnis, Yami said.
A number of people - 120 according to Yami - were arrested and jailed for their involvement in trouble in Najran in 2000 when a Saudi security officer died and several others were injured.
According to the authorities three foreigners were also hurt during unrest that followed the arrest of a Yemeni "sorcerer" practicing black magic in Najran.
According to witnesses in Najran, close to the Yemeni border, hundreds of Ismailis took to the streets to protest against Saudi religious police closing one of their mosques.
In December 2002 authorities said that King Fahd pardoned an unspecified number of Ismailis sentenced to prison for their role in the unrest after halving the jail terms of 70 of them.
He also commuted the death sentences of 17 others to 10 years in jail.
Diplomats estimate that tens of thousands of Ismailis live in the kingdom's mountainous southwestern region, which was controlled by Yemen until the start of the twentieth century.
The Najran Ismailis, known as Makarima, are a separate branch of the broader Shiite sect and do not follow the Aga Khan who heads the mainstream Ismailis scattered across the Middle East, the Indian subcontinent, and central Asia.
http://www.metimes.com/articles/normal. ... 3531-2403r
AFP
September 6, 2006
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates -- Some 300 members of Saudi Arabia's Ismaili community, an offshoot of the Shiite branch of Islam, rallied in the southern city of Najran Tuesday in protest against "repression" by authorities, one of the protestors said.
The protest, a rare occurrence in the kingdom, was held near the city's airport amid a heavy security presence but dispersed peacefully after around four hours, Said Al Yami said by telephone.
He said that the protestors demanded an end to the "pressures" on their community and the release of 30 people jailed since unrest broke out in the Najran region six years ago.
They also pressed for an apology from a cleric and judge from the dominant Sunni Wahhabi community who recently labeled the Ismailis "infidels," he said.
A statement by organizers accused local authorities in Najran of seeking to seize lands from Ismailis in order to settle Yemeni tribesmen who were given Saudi citizenship in them.
Those Yemenis are Sunnis, Yami said.
A number of people - 120 according to Yami - were arrested and jailed for their involvement in trouble in Najran in 2000 when a Saudi security officer died and several others were injured.
According to the authorities three foreigners were also hurt during unrest that followed the arrest of a Yemeni "sorcerer" practicing black magic in Najran.
According to witnesses in Najran, close to the Yemeni border, hundreds of Ismailis took to the streets to protest against Saudi religious police closing one of their mosques.
In December 2002 authorities said that King Fahd pardoned an unspecified number of Ismailis sentenced to prison for their role in the unrest after halving the jail terms of 70 of them.
He also commuted the death sentences of 17 others to 10 years in jail.
Diplomats estimate that tens of thousands of Ismailis live in the kingdom's mountainous southwestern region, which was controlled by Yemen until the start of the twentieth century.
The Najran Ismailis, known as Makarima, are a separate branch of the broader Shiite sect and do not follow the Aga Khan who heads the mainstream Ismailis scattered across the Middle East, the Indian subcontinent, and central Asia.
http://www.metimes.com/articles/normal. ... 3531-2403r