In Jeddah, Dammam and Qatif helicopters flew overhead. There were protests in al-Asha, Hofuf, Awamia and Qatif where Saudi police fired in the air.
Meanwhile in Bahrain, police fired on protestors again, as up to 200,000 people took to the streets.
But as about 50,000 protestors decided, after some contention, to march on to the royal court, violence erupted, as they were attacked with tear gas, live ammunition, swords and batons.
To discuss how important and how different these two movements are, Press TV interviews President of Conscience International James Jennings from Atlanta, GA.
Press TV: There were certainly protests, of hundreds, in some areas, how significant is that for Saudi Arabia?
Jennings :They are not large and I would say that they are unable to make a significant change in the Saudi regime and the government there, and I think that's true but what is important is that these represent cracks in the system that will be there for a long time to come and so who can tell what the future can bring.
It's true that King Abdullah has tried very hard to make changes and to try to get people to make them happier, with the economic situation. The question is does that really go far enough to meet the needs that people have for freedom. What we are seeing today is a Tsunami in Asia and Japan that appears in strong force and surprising places.
In the Middle East and North Africa, it's very much the same and again the conventional wisdom has been that all kings and monarchs and dictators and rulers and governments in these countries should turn down their thrown because the will of people is not being recognized.
So I endorse the call for freedom; there certainly has to be discipline in every country or anarchy is actually worse than any dictator, but anybody who has been in the Middle East in the recent decades has seen that military forces and the special police rule in a very repressive way and people see that its different in other parts of the world and they want that changed.
Press TV: Where do you lay on the spectrum of how much external influence is actually shaping what is happening right now on the ground in countries like Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Libya, Egypt, whether they are organic movements to begin with or not?
Jennings:Well I have come down solidly on the side of the comment that they are organic movements. At the same time the big players at the world's scene including the US are very concerned about what's happening.
I think they are fairly late to come to the observation of what's going on and understand it properly, I think that right now there is a process going on in Washington that would decide where the US should come down in these various things and I have no doubt that they will send behind the Saudi regime unless the protests get completely out of hand.
In Libya it's a more difficult matter because the US' primary concern has been al-Qaeda and its affiliates. There is the Libyan Islamic fighting group; there is also the al-Qaeda in the in the Islamic Maghreb.
Press TV:Surely countries like Saudi Arabia or possibly Yemen should be higher up on Washington's agenda if we are talking about al-Qaeda because they are really bigger hot spots when it comes to extremism in the region than a country like Libya, aren't they?
Jennings:Well the number two force that was contributed to foreign fighters in Iraq were Libyans and so I think the Pentagon and the white House are very concerned about that.
It's on US television. Most commentators were laughing at Gaddafi when he was saying that the al-Qaeda was the cause of the uprising, but he has a thousand of those fighters in prison, there were battles in the 1990's that killed both sides. He's concerned about that and the US has been closer to Gaddafi lately because Gaddafi had agreed to inform on these people and support the US war on terror.
That really remains to be seen whether the US will come out strongly to support the freedom fighters and certainly if the US follows its own declaration of independence, it should support people who are yearning for freedom around the world.
Press TV: In Bahrain meanwhile, authorities are openly firing on protestors. Yet Washington praises the way the monarchy has handled the crises...and Persian Gulf states have pledged aid as a show of support...why?
Jennings:Normally of course Washington tries to stick with its allies and it has been allied over the decades with a number of dictators because it represents stability in order but I think that Bahrain may represent the most significant time bomb in all that we are talking about because the way it's been dealt with, these opposition protests, is sure to guarantee a future trouble in the future and I think when I mentioned the tsunami , it continues with force across the whole region and its going to extend because of what was mentioned previously about all the immigrants for example from Africa coming to the shores of Libya and it will impact Europe as well.
That is a type of humanity trying to reach Europe, and of course they have made it through Italy, Spain and in other countries.
Press TV: Is it too little , too late for anybody to try to hijack the revolutions they are making?
Jennings:I think you are right in Libya people did not maintain the peaceful protest as they did in Egypt and once their guns were out of course I agree that Gaddafi is manipulating this situation that it is out of control now and no one knows what the result would be, in one year, two years or more in the future.
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