Iraq's Sadr demands release Saudi cleric

Prominent Iraqi cleric Muqtada al-Sadr has demanded that Saudi Arabia release Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr, a religious leader and figurehead for many opposed to Saudi’s current rulers.

Nimr, a driving force behind 2011 protests in Saudi Arabia’s marginalised eastern province, was sentenced to death by a Saudi court last Wednesday last Wednesday over accusations of “sedition” and “seeking foreign meddling.”

He was also charged with inciting violence and firing on Saudi security services.

Sadr’s office on Wednesday demanded that the Saudi authorities review the ruling on the Shiite cleric, warning that carrying out the death sentence could ignite existing sectarian tensions in the region.

The warning comes after a Shiite group in Iraq, Tha’ar Hizb Allah, warned on Sunday that Saudi interests in Iraq and the wider region would be targeted if authorities do not review the decision.

The decision has also attracted condemnation from Iran.

Iran’s deputy foreign minister, Hossein Amir Abdollahian, warned on 19 October that Nimr’s execution would lead to “fatal consequences.”