RIYADH: Saudi Arabia executed 47 people for terrorism, mostly suspected al Qaeda members but also a prominent Shiite Muslim cleric, Nimr al-Nimr, Interior Ministry said in a statement on Saturday.
The conservative Islamic kingdom, which usually executes people by public beheading, detained thousands of militant Islamists after a series of al Qaeda attacks from 2003-06 that killed hundreds, and has convicted hundreds of them.
However, it also detained hundreds of members of its Shiite minority after protests from 2011-13, during which several policemen were killed in shooting and petrol bomb attacks.
Several of the Shiites have been sentenced to death.
Saudi Arabia’s main regional rival, Shiite Iran, has warned that executing Nimr “would cost Saudi Arabia dearly.”
The executions are Saudi Arabia’s first in 2016. At least 157 people were put to death last year, a big increase from the 90 people killed in 2014.
