Saudi police have recovered the body of a kidnapped
pro-government Shia judge after a shootout in which a policeman and a
suspected militant were killed, the interior ministry said on Monday.
The
remains of Mohammed al-Jirani were found on a farm in the town of
Awamiya in the kingdom's eastern province, which has been a hotbed of
protests among the Shia community for years.
The raid
took place last Tuesday and subsequent DNA tests confirmed that a body
recovered was that of Sheikh Jirani, a ministry spokesman told the
official Saudi Press Agency.
The ministry named the slain
suspected militant as Salman al-Faraj, adding that he was wanted on
suspicion of terrorism offences.
Sheikh Jirani was
kidnapped in December 2016 in front of his Awamiya home. The authorities
said at the time that they had arrested three suspects.
Considered close to the authorities, the judge had been the target of several attacks before his abduction.
In
a press conference on Monday, interior ministry spokesman General
Mansour al-Turki accused the judge's kidnappers and murderers of forming
“an organised terrorist group that has relations with Iran and benefits
from its support”.
Saudi Arabia's council of senior
scholars — comprised of only Sunni clerics — has decried the murder.
“This is a crime that must be condemned in the strongest terms and which
reveals the threats posed by these terrorists,” the committee said in a
statement.
Sheikh Jirani was critical of the protest
movement among his fellow Shias and accused leading clerics in the
community of being too close to Iran and neighbouring Iraq.
In
2011, his house and car were set on fire and members of his family
barely escaped the flames. In 2012, his house was attacked again by
armed men who failed to capture him. Awamiya, a town of around 25,000
people, has seen bouts of unrest since 2011 when protesters emboldened
by that year's Arab Spring uprisings took to the streets demanding an
end to alleged discrimination by the government.
The Shia community makes up between 10 and 15 per cent of Saudi Arabia's population of 32 million.
The
latest wave of unrest erupted in the summer when authorities began
tearing down the historic Musawara district of Awamiya. Authorities said
that the walled neighbourhood's labyrinth of alleyways had become a
breeding ground for “terrorists”.
The demolitions prompted armed clashes between militants and security forces.