(MENAFN- Gulf Times) Police in the Sunni-ruled Gulf state of Bahrain clashed on Sunday with Shia protesters a day after neighbouring Saudi Arabia executed a leading Shia cleric, witnesses said.
They said violence erupted in several Shia suburbs of the capital Manama, with police using tear gas and buckshot against protesters throwing petrol bombs.
Some injuries were reported.
On Saturday, police in Shia-majority Bahrain again used tear gas against protesters demonstrating after the execution of Nimr al-Nimr, a driving force of protests in Saudi Arabia's east in 2011, who was among 47 people executed in the Sunni-ruled kingdom.
Sunday's unrest saw protesters carrying pictures of Nimr march through several suburbs of Manama, among them Jidhafs, Sitra, Duraz and Bilad al-Qadeem.
Witnesses said the violence was worst at Sidra west of the city, with some 400 demonstrators clashing with police.
The same sources said security forces used tear gas against protesters in Duraz who blocked a road and hurled stones at police.
Bahrain has backed Riyadh over Saturday's executions.
Authorities had said that they would take "all necessary legal measures" against any "negative" actions in response to the death sentences, which they would consider as "inciting sedition and threatening civil order".
They also warned of legal measures against anyone who used "social media networks to spread rumours that influence security".
Bahrain, home to the US Navy's Fifth Fleet, has been rocked by a Shia-led uprising since February 2011, with demands ranging from a constitutional monarchy to overthrowing the ruling dynasty altogether.
Scores of opponents have been detained, with many facing trial, while others convicted of involvement in violence have been handed heavy sentences, including loss of citizenship and life in prison.
Protests in Pakistan, Indian Kashmir
Thousands of Shia Muslims protested in Pakistan and Indian Kashmir Sunday to condemn Saudi Arabia's execution of a leading cleric Nimr al-Nimr, as fury over the killing spread.
Peaceful protests were held across Pakistan, including in the southwestern city Quetta where about 1,000 people called on the government to reconsider its longtime ties with Riyadh and demonstrators held placards bearing anti-Saudi slogans.
In the eastern city of Lahore, around 1,500 took to the streets, calling Nimr's execution a gross human rights violation, while in the port city of Karachi about a thousand men, women and children shouted slogans against the royal Saudi family.
Similar protests also took place in several districts of the southern Sindh province and the Pakistani capital Islamabad, where about 500 people gathered to call on the UN to intervene to stop Saudi Arabia from targeting Shia Muslims.
Amid the rallies, Saudi foreign minister Adel bin Ahmed al-Jubeir, who was scheduled to arrive in Islamabad Sunday evening, postponed his visit.
"The visit was postponed at the request of the authorities of Saudi Arabia," the Pakistani foreign ministry said in a statement, adding the trip would take place on January 7.
Meanwhile in Srinagar, the main city of Indian-administered Kashmir, hundreds of angry Shias clashed with police as they protested the cleric's execution.
The demonstrators bearing photos of Nimr chanted "down with al-Saud dynasty," referring to Saudi leaders and called them "stooges of America" as they marched toward the city centre.
Some hurled rocks at police, who fired tear gas and wielded batons in return, a senior police officer speaking on condition of anonymity told AFP.
Similar protests were also held in smaller towns across the Muslim-majority region, which is divided between India and Pakistan but claimed in its entirety by both the South Asian rivals.
Saudi executions an 'aggression' : Top Iraq cleric
Iraq's political and religious leaders united Sunday in condemnation of the execution by Saudi Arabia of a prominent Shia cleric which they saw as a deliberate sectarian aggression.
"We received with deep sadness and regret the news of the martyrdom of a group of our brothers in the region," Iraq's top Shia authority Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani said.
"The spilling of their pure blood - including of the late cleric Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr, may his soul rest in peace - is an injustice and an aggression," Sistani said.
Other leading Shia clerics in Iraq have reacted with outrage to the execution on Saturday by the Saudi authorities of Nimr and other Shia activists.
They were among a total of 47 people, most of them described by the interior ministry as involved in killings by Al-Qaeda.
Moqtada al-Sadr, a well-known cleric who heads the Saraya al-Salam militia, said Nimr's execution was a "horrible attack" against Shias and called for international condemnation.
Mohammed Taqi al-Mudaresi, another cleric who is based in the holy Shia city of Karbala, took a harder line.
"The execution of the martyr (Nimr) isn't just a declaration of war against the People of the House (Shias) but against all Muslims," he said in a statement.
The Iraqi foreign ministry accused Saudi Arabia of using the fight against terrorism to silence its opposition.
"The terrorism charges he (Nimr) was executed for should have been brought against the terrorist criminals of Daesh (Islamic State group), not an opponent expressing the will of the nation," a statement said.
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