A Saudi interior ministry official says “foreign parties’’ are instigating unrest in Shiite-majority eastern regions, calling the protesters “the new terrorists.’’
The comments by the unnamed official were carried by the official Saudi Press Agency Monday. Protesters from the country’s Shiite minority have held limited rallies for the past year in the east complaining of discrimination by the kingdom’s Sunni rulers.
At least four protesters have been killed in clashes with security forces since November. Officials have blamed foreign meddling in an apparent reference to Shiite Iran.
