Walkouts shut two Saudi airports

Fri Apr 15, 2011

Workers at two international airports in Saudi Arabia have gone on strike, forcing the cancellation of a number of flights, reports say.

No reason has yet been officially reported for the strike at King Khalid and King Abdul Aziz airports in Jeddah, which has left thousands of passengers stranded.

Some airline workers, however, say that passengers have been stranded due to disruption in the computer systems.

Saudi Arabia has been the scene of anti-regime protests in the past few months. The demonstrators are calling for the withdrawal of Saudi troops from the neighboring Bahrain.

Saudi Arabia sent 1,000 troops to Bahrain to help Manama in its brutal crackdown on anti-regime protesters.

Muslims around the world have denounced Saudi Arabia's military intervention in Bahrain.

Saudi protesters are also calling for the release of all political prisoners held in Saudi jails without trial for years as well as an end to human rights violations in the kingdom.

According to a Saudi-based human rights group, Saudi authorities have arrested one hundred protesters for taking part or organizing the anti-government demonstrations.

Human Rights First Society (HRFS) also revealed that some of the detainees were subject to torture both physically and mentally.

In Saudi Arabia, protest rallies and any public displays of dissent are forbidden and are considered illegal. Senior Wahhabi clerics in the kingdom have also censured opposition demonstrations as "un-Islamic."

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail/174942.html.