Saudi Arabia executes 47, including prominent Arab Spring figure

Saudi Arabia executed 47 men in firing squads and beheadings, the Saudi Press Agency said Saturday. Many of those executed, across 10 provinces, had been linked to al Qaeda.

Also among the men executed was Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr, a prominent Shiite cleric who publicly criticized the government in 2011 during the Arab Spring, The Guardian reports. The Iranian government and religious leaders throughout the Middle East condemned al-Nimr's execution and warned of the potential for widespread backlash.

"The Saudi government supports terrorists and takfiri [radical Sunni] extremists, while executing and suppressing critics inside the country," an Iranian foreign ministry spokesman told a state news agency.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up