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Man killed in executed Shia cleric's hometown shooting

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IANS Riyadh
Last Updated : Jan 04 2016 | 3:07 PM IST

A man was killed and a child was injured in a shooting in Saudi Arabia's al-Awamiyah city, executed Shia cleric's hometown, Saudi police said on Monday.

The shooting occurred late Sunday night as the police officers came under fire from an unidentified source, Xinhua cited spokesperson for the Eastern province police as saying.

The killed man was identified as Ali Imran al-Dawood. His eight-year old son was taken to hospital and was in stable condition, said the spokesperson.

The case was under investigation, while hunting for the perpetrators was also underway, the spokesman said.

The shooting came just one day after the execution of a leading Saudi Shia cleric Nimer al-Nimer, an al-Awamiyah native, along with 46 others over terror charges.

Nimer was rather influential among the Kingdom's Shia minority, who mostly live in Al Qatif region.

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The region has been known for disturbances as young Saudi Shia often demand more rights in the Sunni conservative monarch.

The execution has stoked criticisms among the Shia populations in the region, especially in Iran, where protesters stormed Riyadh's embassy in Tehran, and set it on fire, forcing Saudi diplomats to evacuate the country.

The Iranian government has arrested around 40 people who participated in ransacking the missions.

Also on Sunday, Saudi Arabia announced that it was severing ties with Iran over the attacks on its diplomatic missions. It also asked the Iranian diplomat to leave Riyadh.

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First Published: Jan 04 2016 | 2:56 PM IST

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