Saudi Execution of Shia Cleric Sparks Outrage in Middle East

THE GUARDIAN: Iranian government and religious leaders say killing of Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr will have serious repercussions for royal family

The Iranian government and religious leaders across the Middle East have condemned Saudi Arabia’s execution of a prominent Shia cleric and warned of repercussions that could bring down the country’s royal family.

In a serious escalation of religious and diplomatic tensions in the region, councils and clerics in Iran, Yemen and Lebanon said the killing of Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr would prompt widespread anger.

Iran’s foreign ministry spokesman, Hossein Jaber Ansari, accused Riyadh of hypocrisy. “The Saudi government supports terrorists and takfiri [radical Sunni] extremists, while executing and suppressing critics inside the country,” he told the Iranian state news agency. » | Nicola Slawson | Saturday, January 2, 2016

Middle East condemns Saudi execution of Shia cleric - live »

CNN Middle East Editor Leaves After 'Tweet' Praising Shiite Cleric Fadlallah
THE TIMES OF INDIA: WASHINGTON: Octavia Nasr, senior editor of Middle East affairs at CNN, is leaving the US television news network after sending a message on Twitter praising the late Shiite cleric Mohammed Hussein Fadlallah.

Nasr, who joined CNN in 1990, said in a "tweet" over the weekend that she was "Sad to hear of the passing of Sayyed Mohammed Hussein Fadlallah... One of Hezbollah's giants I respect a lot."

She followed that up with a blog post on CNN.com expressing "deep regret" for her "tweet" about the man considered the spiritual guide of Hezbollah and who figured on a US "terrorist" list. >>> AFP | Thursday, July 08, 2010

Octavia Nasr has her regrets.

HT: Always On Watch

Deported Cleric Mansour Leghaei Returns to Iran
Mansour Leghaei at home in Sydney with his wife, Marzieh, and daughter, Fatima, 14, before they were deported to Iran yesterday. Photograph: The Australian
THE AUSTRALIAN: MANSOUR Leghaei -- the Sydney Islamic cleric accused of spying for Iran -- will arrive back in his birth country today after being deported.

The father of four flew out of Sydney last night with his wife and 14-year-old daughter Fatima after a long campaign by Australian supporters from across the religious divide failed to sway the federal government against the deportation decision.

"I'm going to miss everyone so much," Dr Leghaei said yesterday after packing up his home in Sydney's inner west.

The sheik's three sons will remain in Australia.

"I will not only miss my children -- my flesh and blood -- but I will also miss the Muslim community and the wider community, the Christian community and all the other Australians who have been amazingly supportive," he said.

"I don't think I will find better friends anywhere."

Dr Leghaei, an imam at the Shia Imam Husain Islamic Centre at Earlwood in Sydney's inner west, was ordered to leave Australia after ASIO issued an adverse security assessment when he applied for permanent residence in 1995.

But neither ASIO nor the government will tell him the reasons behind the decision, saying they are not required to because he is not an Australian citizen. >>> Jodie Minus, The Australian | Monday, June 28, 2010

Deported Sheik on His Way to See Dying Mother
THE AUSTRALIAN: AFTER arriving in Iran yesterday, Mansour Leghaei -- the Islamic cleric deported from Australia -- was determined to see his dying mother.

The Sydney cleric was deported after being black-listed by ASIO.

The sheik flew out of Sydney on Sunday night with his wife and 14-year-old daughter Fatima, en route to his birth country after a decade-long battle with the Australian authorities over his residency.

Dr Leghaei's supporters said yesterday they did not know his detailed plans for the future, but knew he wished to visit his mother, who is battling leukaemia, "as soon as he got back".

"He said his only plans were to see his mum and dad as soon as he got back into the country," said Anglican priest Dave Smith, who is a long-time supporter of Dr Leghaei. >>> Lanai Vasek, The Australian | Tuesday, June 29, 2010

Related articles with audio here

Sheikh Mansour Leghaei and family. Photo: Google Images
Show of Force as Hundreds Gather to Farewell Departing Sheikh
THE SYDNEY MORNING HERALD: AT 9.50pm tomorrow a plane will leave Sydney carrying Sheikh Mansour Leghaei, two hours and 10 minutes before his deadline to leave the country voluntarily - or be deported.

As many as 500 Muslims and Christians will gather tonight to farewell Dr Leghaei, the Iranian Shiite preacher who has raised his four children in Sydney for the past 16 years, but who ASIO has accused of undisclosed ''acts of foreign interference''.

The supporters will meet at the Imam Husain Islamic Centre, in Earlwood, which Dr Leghaei opened in 1999, two years after ASIO made its first adverse security assessment against him and blocked his attempt to become an Australian citizen.

''If you came to the centre, all you would see is tears and tears and tears,'' he said as he packed to leave this week. ''People are asking why has the government been so cruel to the community, to me and my family without any explanation or justification.''

Insisting he is no spy or terrorist, the banished sheikh will return to his home city of Esfahan, in Iran, with his wife, Marzieh, and their youngest child, the Australian-born Fatima, 14. Dr Leghaei hopes to resume work as a university lecturer while he awaits a United Nations committee's decision on wether Australia has denied his human rights under its international treaty obligations.

He still holds out hope that if the committee finds in his favour, Australia will allow him to return. His three sons, in their 20s, will remain in Sydney. >>> Rick Feneley | Saturday, June 26, 2010

Sheikh Mansour Leghaei
ABC Local: Sheik Mansour Leghaei is Imam at the Imam Husain Islamic Centre in Earlwood in Sydney's inner south west. He has been a resident in Australia for 16 years, and his children regard this country as home. For more than a decade, Dr Leghaei has been contesting in the courts two adverse security assessments issued by ASIO. It is understood the agency believes the cleric works for the Iranian authorities.

As Dr. Leghaei is not an Australian citizen, no reason needs to be provided by Australia's security services for the deportation. As a non-citizen, he has no right to procedural fairness or natural justice in a matter of national security. Dr Leghaei's final legal appeal against deportation was rejected by the Migration Appeals Tribunal last month. He was then given a bridging visa allowing him to stay in Australia until April 19 (just a week away) while Immigration Minister Chris Evans considers his case. Dr Leghaei has one week left on that visa. Otherwise, Dr Leghaei, his wife and one of their four children will be forced back to Iran. >>> | Sunday, April 11, 2010

Related audio here

Iran: Top Shia Cleric Says Unveiled Women Turn Men into Beasts
AKI: Mashad - A top Shia cleric in Iran has said that unveiled women are a serious danger to Iranian society as they cause men to be "transformed into beasts".

"Women without the veil are a danger that the authorities underestimate," said Hojatolislam Seyyed Ahmad Elmalhoda, a powerful cleric who leads the Friday prayers in Mashad, a site considered sacred for Shia Muslims as it houses the shrine of Imam Reza.

"This situation is very serious in that if men see these bad women, they will turn into beasts, and then the whole of society will have to pay the consequences."

According to the Shia cleric, women who do not respect conservative Islamic dress rules are "sources of all that is bad in society."

"Respecting the chador (a long, black cloak that covers the arms and legs and is usually worn with a hijab) is the law of the state and the authorities must severely punish anyone who does not respect this law, in the same way that they punish thieves and murderers," said Elmadhoda. Iran: Top Shia Cleric Says Unveiled Women Turn Men into Beasts >>> | April 10, 2008

Hat tip: Dhimmi Watch >>>

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