DAMMAM, 8 October 2004 — Police have arrested an Islamic activist in Al-Ahsa, accusing him of sedition and sectarianism, the Ministry of Interior said yesterday.
In a statement announcing the detention of Muhanna ibn Abdul Aziz Al-Hubail,, the ministry said he “violated the rules, incited sedition and appointed himself a leader of a suspicious group which aims at causing dissent, and spreading sectarianism.
“With this, he broke an undertaking which he made to the authorities. Legal procedures will be taken against him,” the statement said.
He was arrested with Sheikh Abdul Hameed Al-Mubarak in 2002 for creating trouble and organizing protests in front of the American Consulate in Dhahran. Hubail and Mubarak were released in June the same year.
Hubail was arrested on Wednesday night after he announced with four others the establishment of new group called “National Islamic Gathering of Ahsa Province.”
This new organization came as a shock to many intellectuals and social groups in the Eastern Province because it aimed at promoting sectarianism in the country, the ministry statement said. Such organizations will promote religious sectarianism in a country that is trying to strengthen unity through national dialogue, it added.
Many people read Hubail’s statement launching the new group on the Internet and other media. Hubail, 41, worked in Aramco after middle school and left work in 1986 to gain religious education.
