Ahlul Bayt News Agency - The execution of prominent cleric Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr on Saturday will mark the end of Saudi Arabia's government, said Nuri al-Maliki, Iraq's former prime minister and a prominent politician.
"We strongly condemn these detestable sectarian practices and affirm that the crime of executing Sheikh al-Nimr will topple the Saudi regime as the crime of executing the martyr (Mohammed Baqir) al-Sadr did to Saddam (Hussein)," said Maliki, referring to another prominent Shi'ite cleric killed in 1980.
Saudi Arabia has executed Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr along with 47 others in defiance of international calls for the release of the prominent Shia cleric and other jailed political dissidents in the kingdom.
The state-run Saudi Press Agency (SPA) and state television reported the executions Saturday, citing the kingdom’s Interior Ministry.
The Saudi Interior Ministry did not elaborate on the method to execute the convicts, but said they were executed Saturday in 12 cities across the country.
