DEUTSCHE WELLE: Large protests calling for changes in government and political reform are gaining steam in Saudi Arabia, Yemen and Syria. So far only leaders in Syria have made any concessions to the increasing popular pressure.
Despite a large and heavily armed police presence, several dozen relatives of jailed Saudis have gathered out side the Interior Ministry in the capital, Riyadh, on Sunday time to demand information about prisoners who have been held for years without trial on security and terrorism charges.
Protests are illegal in Saudi Arabia, and in recent weeks, planned demonstrations largely fizzled out due to the threat of a large police presence should they take place. The country has not seen mass rallies on the scale of those that have taken place in other parts of the Arab world this year.
Witnesses in Riyadh said some arrests had been made among the protesters gathered at the interior ministry.
"We have seen at least three or four police vehicles taking people away," said an activist there who declined to be named told Reuters news agency. "Security have arrested around 15 people. They tried to go into the ministry to go and ask for the freedom of their loved ones."
On Friday, Saudi Arabian ruler King Abdullah offered $93 billion-worth of wage increases, jobs and construction projects but did not make any political concessions. » | Author: Matt Zuvela (AP, Reuters, AFP); Editor: Sean Sinico | Sunday, March 20, 2011
CNN: Saudi security breaks up protest, witnesses say: Security forces in Saudi Arabia arrested several people demonstrating at the interior ministry Sunday, putting them in police cars and buses to take them away, witnesses said. » | CNN Wire Staff | Sunday, March 20, 2011
