Crown Prince Abdullah expressed sympathy for the Shiite delegation

RIYADH, May 12 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) - The Shiite Muslim minority in Saudi Arabia feels the kingdom's leadership is serious about ending all forms of discrimination against the community, Shiite activists said Sunday, May 11.

In statements received by Agence Fracne-Presse (AFP), the activists warned that failure to address Shiite grievances would expose the oil-rich kingdom to external pressure under the pretext of defending human rights for minorities.

Crown Prince Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz received on April 30 an 18-member delegation of Saudi Shiites who submitted a memorandum signed by 450 members of their community calling for a quick end to sectarian discrimination.

"The overall feeling ... is that there is a serious desire on the part of the leadership to confront the problem of sectarian discrimination in our society," said Adnan al-Shakhs of King Fahd Petroleum University in Dhahran.

"This will enable our country to face external pressures," added Shakhs, a member of the delegation who met Prince Abdullah.

Well-known writer Najeeb Al-Khunaizi said the crown prince expressed "understanding and sympathy and (showed) a serious desire for reform and development."

Shakhs said Shiites need urgent and immediate actions like ceasing the practice of slapping travel bans and withdrawing passports, and allowing them to practice normal, social and religious activities.

End Discrimination

They also want an immediate end to discrimination in employment, especially in the military, the police and the diplomatic service, in addition to national oil giant Saudi ARAMCO, and Saudi Basic Industries Corp. (SABIC).

"All are looking forward to our leadership to deal with our demands with urgency," Shakhs said in a reference to the royal family.

The memorandum called on the kingdom's leadership to issue "a clear declaration affirming respect for the rights of Shiites and treating them on an equal footing with other citizens."

It also demanded fair representation in official Islamic bodies like the Muslim World League, the International Islamic Relief Foundation and the World Assembly for Muslim Youth.

"I believe that the problems of Shiite citizens are essentially political ... and not only religious," Jaafar al-Shayeb, a businessman and a member of the delegation, said.

"It's time that a brave and serious initiative is launched to deal with this issue ... instead of leaving it to escalate seriously and become a social problem beyond control," Shayeb told AFP.

Saudi Arabia follows the austere Wahhabi school of Sunni Islam and there have been tensions in the past with the Shiites, who make up about 10 percent of the 17-million-strong indigenous population and are mainly concentrated in the oil-rich Eastern Province.

Residents of the province said on Saturday, May 10, that authorities there had launched an investigation into what appear to have been arson attacks on three Shiite mosques.

Political analysts said that the 9/11 attacks on the U.S. by alleged Saudi citizens, the U.S.-led war on Iraq, where Shiites are the majority, have paved the way for Saudi Shiites to press for their rights.