Tens of thousands turn up for funeral of Saudi suicide attack victims

May 25, 2015 22:34

Tens of thousands of people turned out at a mass funeral in eastern Saudi Arabia for 21 Shi'ite Muslims killed last week in a suicide bombing claimed by Islamic State, a Reuters witness said.

Saudi security forces stayed away from the funeral in Qatif, as delegates converged on the city from various regions in the eastern province, where most of the country's Shi'ite Muslim minority live, to attend the burial.

"Here I am, O Hussein," the crowd chanted, invoking the name of Prophet Mohammad's grandson Imam Hussein, one of the most revered figures in Shi'ite Islam, as they marched towards the cemetery behind the flower-covered coffins, held shoulder-high by local men.

At the funeral, activists posted a picture of prominent rights activist Mikhlif al-Shammari, a member of a large Sunni Muslim tribe who had been jailed in the past, holding a placard that read: "Sectarian incitement is a time-bomb."

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