On 12 October 2009 the Saudi authorities closed down the single Shia mosque in Dammam according an order from Mohammed bin Fahd bin Abdulaziz , the ruler of the Eastern Province
The police prevented the Shia citizens to enter the mosque to hold Friday prayers without given any explanation .
It is worth to mention that in the last months in this year , the Saudi authorities closed down five Shia mosques in Khobar city where about 20,000 Shia citizens live there .
The authorities also called the custodian of those mosques and forced them to sign an undertaking to stop praying in them or they will be sent to jail.
The Saudi authorities do not give permission to the Shi’a community to conduct religious services or to construct a mosque in which to do so.
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