Saudis to hold 'Day of Rage' rally

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/168112.html

A group of Saudi activists have called for a “Day of Rage” rally in the oil-rich Eastern Province after Friday prayers, following the arrest of a Shia cleric.

The Friday event in Al-Hufuf is organized by a group of 500 cyber activists on Facebook.

The organizers have called on the protesters to call for the release of Sheikh Tawfiq al-Amer, AFP reported.

Amer was incarcerated after he called for a “constitutional monarch” in the kingdom.

Amer has been arrested several times over his demands for giving Saudi Shias further freedom to exercise their religious rights.

This comes as tens of thousands of people are preparing themselves to attend the protests after the Saudi youths named March 11 the Day of Rage on the social networking website, Facebook.

On February 23, Saudi King Abdullah suddenly promised a $36-billion package of extra benefits for his people, upon his return from a long medical journey to the US and Morocco.

He also granted pardon to some prisoners indicted for financial crimes and ordered the implementation of a 15-percent pay hike for state employees as well as an increase in the cash available for Saudi housing loans.

Analysts believe the huge hike in benefits introduced by the Saudi king is actually intended to avert an uprising in the country.

In recent weeks, a wave of revolutions and anti-government uprisings has spread across the Arab world.