Saudis responsible for Shia mosque attack: Commentator

Press TV has conducted an interview with Ibrahim Moussawi, a political commentator in Beirut, about a deadly bomb attack, claimed by the Takfiri ISIL terrorist group, targeting another Shia mosque in Saudi Arabia’s Eastern Province.

The following is a rough transcription of the interview.

Press TV: This is the second attack in a week on a Shia mosque in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia. Who is responsible in the last bomb attack ISIL took responsibility for it? However, many blaming the Saudi regime for it.

Moussawi: Well it is evident that the Daesh (ISIL) even now they have claimed the responsibility for the aggression, for the…Takfiri attack against the mosque in Dammam area. Of course. when you talk about the Saudi authorities, they should be held responsible for the aggression one way or another because those who have carried these attacks, they are being considered terrorists in the Saudi authorities’ eyes and this is a good sign but still they are responsible one way or another because the kind of literature that they have helped to spread has been serving…these kinds of ideas…these kinds of concepts against the fellow citizens in Saudi Arabia.

So far we heard about a communiqué that has been issued by Saudi authorities which talks about the Shias in the Saudi province of Dammam and in the Eastern Province. They have said that they are true Muslims, which is a good thing, and they have said that those who are leading these kinds of attacks are misleading people and they are heretics; they do not believe in any religion or any confession or anything.

So far in the literature side, this is acceptable and this is a right step in the right direction. But still they need to take more measures in order to ensure the safety and security of all of the Saudi citizens especially those who go to the mosque. We know very well that Daesh, the ISIS, and more Takfiri groups have issued a kind of threats against the Shias in that area. So more precautions should be taken in this regard.   

Press TV: Mr. Moussawi, we are looking at some of the Saudi media and what is being released by the Interior Ministry claiming that this bomb attack was foiled by Saudi forces, but that is not what it looks like. The bomb did go off and it was only at the car park of this mosque that the bomber was discovered. It is a huge security lapse on the part of the Saudis, isn’t it?

Moussawi: Well this is very evident again. Yes, it is [a lapse] but we have to understand the very important issue. It is not a matter of exaggeration in this regard. But if you have like Takfiri groups who want to carry … attacks, they will do it one way or another. But the only thing that again we have to take the step and blame the Saudi authorities. They know very well. You are talking about high and tough security measures. You are talking about huge institutions that could have statistics and research about all the individuals who might be in a position to carry such attacks. Maybe in this regard they have to carry more organizational tasks in order to stop them before they even go into those areas.  

Press TV: Eastern Province has been the scene of anti-government protests for weeks and months now. People there have been marginalized by the Saudi regime and now these bomb explosions that are targeting the population there, it just goes to show the fact that after last week’s bomb explosion more security has not been provided to Shia mosques, it goes to show how the Saudi regime does not view the lives of the people in Eastern Province to be valuable?

Moussawi: Well this is another notification that we have to take into consideration. This is another remark that from now on maybe we need to see a kind of stepping the measures, we need to see new measures that should be taken by the Saudi authorities in order to secure and ensure the lives of those who go to mosques and most of their fellow citizens - the Shias in that region in the province area - especially that many threats have been issued by the Takfiri groups that they are going to target the different mosques and the different congregations of the people in that area.

Yes, they should be held responsible. Yes, serious measures should be taken and they have to do everything possible in order to ensure the safety of the people there.  

AHK/MKA

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