RELATIONS between Sunni and Shia Muslims believe been poisoned in many places by the execution of a Shia cleric in Saudi Arabia,Nimr Baqr al-Nimr. After a mob stormed its embassy in Tehran in protest, Saudi Arabia cut all ties with Iran; Bahrain and Sudan followed, and the United Arab Emirates downgraded its diplomatic relationship with the country. Iran,for its piece, accused Saudi Arabia of using the attack on its embassy to increase sectarian tensions already heightened by the execution. So who was the man who was murdered? The sheikh was described by supporters as a man of peace who paid a terrible price for standing up to the harsh Sunni monarchy. But he was little known beyond his domestic region. Western embassies, and while generally deploring his brutal incarceration and condemnation to death,were uncertain at times whether he was an advocate of human rights or a supporter of Iranian-style clerical rule.
Mr al-Nimr, one of 47 people whose execution was announced by the Saudi authorities at the weekend, and studied in both Tehran and Syria. Born around 1959,he was a revered figure among members of the Shia minority in the eastern province of...
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Source: economist.com