DHAKA: Saudi Arabia has executed the prominent Shia cleric Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr, the interior ministry said.

He was among 47 people put to death after being convicted of terrorism offences, it said in a statement, reports the BBC.

Sheikh Nimr was a vocal supporter of the mass anti-government protests that erupted in Eastern Province in 2011, where a Shia majority has long complained of marginalization.

Shia-lead Iran said Saudi Arabia would pay a ‘high price’ for the execution.

A foreign ministry spokesman said Riyadh ‘supports terrorists... while executing and suppressing critics inside the country’.

Iran is the main regional rival of Sunni-ruled Saudi Arabia.

The executions were carried out simultaneously in 12 locations across Saudi Arabia.

Those also put to death include Sunnis convicted of involvement in al-Qaeda-linked terror attacks in 2003.

Of the 47 executed, one was a Chadian national while another was Egyptian. The rest are Saudis.

The cleric’s nephew, Ali al-Nimr, who was 17 when he was arrested following the demonstrations and also faces execution, was not listed as one of those killed.

** Saudi announces execution of 47 ‘terrorists’

BDST: 1815 HRS, JAN 02, 2016
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