Executed Saudi cleric’s brother urges Tehran and Riyadh to ease tensions

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - A brother of prominent Shiite cleric Sheikh Nimr Baqir al-Nimr told Rudaw that regional countries must ease tensions unleashed in the wake of his sibling’s execution by Saudi authorities over the weekend.

“We, the family of Sheikh Nimr are against violence and inflaming the situation,” Mohammed Nimr told Rudaw in an exclusive telephone interview in eastern Saudi Arabia, where he lives.

“We are asking Sheikh Nimr's supporters to refrain from violence and chaos in and outside Saudi Arabia and to wage peaceful demonstrations," he added.

The Saudi government announced on Saturday that it had executed 47 people on charges of terrorism, among them Sheikh Nimr, 56, and al-Qaeda convicts on the country’s most wanted list.

The day after, angry demonstrators in Iran firebombed the Saudi embassy in Tehran and its other mission in the city of Mashhad.  Saudi Arabia and several close allies of the kingdom have severed diplomatic ties with Iran since the attacks.

"We ask God to restore our rights from the tyrants," the late cleric’s brother said, referring to Saudi Arabia.

He added that his executed brother "had lots of supporters. He was working to raise public awareness against corruption and was striving for reforms. In his sermons and lessons, he never provoked disorder, but showed the reality."

Mohammed Nimr admitted that his brother had spoken against corruption and the Saudi ruling family, but denied he had advocated violence. He said the cleric had always called for peaceful reforms.

The brother also said he himself was against the firebombing of the Saudi missions.

"We did not wish what happened in Iran against the Saudi embassy. We are asking both the Saudi and Iranian governments to normalize relations, as they are two Islamic countries," he told Rudaw.

He also added that his brother, who was arrested in July 2012 after allegedly leading mass protests against Saudi authorities in the kingdom’s eastern Qatif province, had been executed together with al-Qaeda recruits who had been involved in terrorism in and outside the kingdom.

"Sheikh Nimr's file was mixed with those of a terrorist organization whose hands are red with the blood of innocent people, and those executed along with Nimr had carried out terrorist missions in and outside Saudi Arabia,” he said.

The brother added that the late cleric’s family is helpless in trying to seek justice for a wrongful execution.

"We are unable to do anything. The execution verdict was issued by the court and the king signed it. The court and all the authorities are in their hands. Today, we can’t do anything except supplication to God to restore our rights from the tyrants."

Nimr's brother thanked Shiite authorities in Iraq for calling for angry public protests in response to the execution. “Their concerns reduced our sorrows, but again we call on Nimr's supporters to avoid violent protests.”