Saudi Slams Russian Remarks over Shiite Unrest
Saudi Arabia has hit out at a Russian official for his remarks on unrest in the kingdom's east, saying his comments were a "blatant interference" in its internal affairs, a report said.
It accused Konstantin Dolgov, Russian Foreign Ministry's commissioner for human rights, of diverting attention from the "massacres" that were being committed by Moscow's ally, Damascus, in Syria.
Saudi Arabia "noted with strong disapproval" remarks by Dolgov, the kingdom's foreign ministry said in a late Saturday statement carried by the official news agency SPA.
The kingdom described Dolgov's comments as a "blatant interference in its internal affairs," the ministry said.
Dolgov, in a statement published last week on the Russian foreign ministry's website, had expressed "great concerns" over clashes between Saudi police and Shiite protesters in the kingdom's Qatif district that left two demonstrators dead.
He warned that events in the kingdom will negatively influence "the stability and consent of civil society in Saudi Arabia."
Dolgov called upon the kingdom to "undertake all necessary measures to settle the situation in its eastern regions, to avoid conflict, including confrontation on interconfessional basis."
He urged Saudi authorities "to ensure... the right for freedom of expression of opinion, peaceful demonstrations and freedom of associations."
Riyadh responded by saying it has always "refrained from interfering in Russia's affairs and policies towards unrest within its borders that has killed many."
"The kingdom hopes that such strange remarks do not aim at diverting attention away from the brutal and savage massacres the Syrian regime is committing against its people with support from well-known parties that set obstacles in the face of any effort to end bloodshed in Syria."
Tensions have been running high between both countries which had taken opposite stances towards the uprising against President Bashar Assad's regime in Syria.
Saudi Arabia has openly called for arming Syrian rebels and for international action against Damascus, while Russia has not supported any U.N. Security Council action against him.
almost 12 years
Russia sar beda defe3 3an 7oo2 lensen bas betdefe 3an bashar lmejrem yali sar etel aktar men 20 000 alef w3an ye7ko 3an 2 atilan fakat la gayer sho ennon sakhifin bel awal wa2fo kame3 sha3eb 3endkon ya absha3 lanzimi ya mafyat men potin la azgar masol wbel ekher anaser la a7rar sourya ensha2 Allah wa entisar almamlaka arabia sau3odeya
almost 12 years
Russia needs to SHUT UP. As if they would allow arabs to interfer in their country. Secondly al saud family is a disgrace to arabs and Muslims, they got their power from the british colonialists. Bashar el asad is a war criminal. Conclusion: arab leaders are dirt whether al saud or al assad families and russia is a big hypocrite and putin is a well known zionist. So all of them need to shut up. And russia needs to stop occupying Chechnia before talking about others.
One word: Grozny.
Russia is even more hypocritical then the USA. Two peas in a pod.