Saudi Arabia’s Interior Ministry released a statement saying 47 people were executed on Saturday. Those executed, had been convicted of various terror acts spread out over the course of a decade. The executions were carried out in 12 different locations. Four convicts were beheaded. An official statement did not mention the other methods of execution. The executed men, believed extremist in ideology, were members of terror groups. They were convicted of plotting and carrying out attacks against civilians going back as far at an attack on the U.S. consulate in Jeddah in 2004. One of the men executed was Shia cleric Nimr al-Nimr, who was notorious for heavily criticizing the Saudi royal family. He was charged with inciting sectarian strife and sedition. Shiite Muslims make up a small minority in Saudi Arabia.
UPDATE: The Iranian government and Middle East religious leaders announced their condemnation of Saudia Arabia’s execution of Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr. Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hossein Jaber Ansari told the Iranian State news agency that Riyadh is hypocritical: “The Saudi government supports terrorists and radical Sunni extremists, while executing and suppressing critics inside the country.” In Bahrain, demonstrators marched carrying pictures of Nimr and police fired teargas at the protesters. Lebanon’s Islamic Shia Council announced Nimr’s execution as a “grave mistake” and The Guardian news wrote Iranian cleric Ayatollah Ahmad Khatami stated repercussions would bring down the Saudi ruling family.