RIYADH, Saudi Arabia: Around 60 key Saudi Shiite figures – senior religious dignitaries, clerics, intellectuals, academics, thinkers and businessmen – have rejected “any threat to the national unity” and demanded from the government “release of detainees and an end to the prosecution of the people under investigation” since the start of the protest rallies in the Eastern province of Al-Qatif, in particular in Al-Awamiya after Baqee incident.

In a statement on Monday by the pro-Shiite website Rasid http://www.rasid.com/, the signatories emphasized: “We reaffirm our commitment to national unity and our support for our wise leadership”, represented by “the Servant” of the two holy mosques (in Makka and Medina), King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz.

The release of the statement was issued shortly after a meeting in Riyadh between a delegation of around forty senior Shiite figures from the Eastern Province and Medina and the Interior Minister Prince Nayef bin Abdul Aziz, who is now closer in line to the throne after his appointment as deputy Prime Minister.

During the meeting, the influential minister mentioned “the strength and depth of relations between the ruling elite and the citizens, regardless of their religious creed”. There are four Sunni schools (Hanbalite, Malekite, Hanafi, Shafi’ite) and three Shiite (Duodecimal Shiite, Ismailism and Zaydism) in Saudi Arabia.

Prince Nayef welcomed the “long-lasting loyalty of Shiite citizens to their homeland and to their leadership” and denounced, without naming them “the websites that sow division”. However, he named several Shiite journalists who he considered “faithful to their homeland”, paying tribute to them.

Signatories were: Sheikh Abdullah Sheikh Ali Al-Khonezi, Sayed Hasan Baqer Al-Awami, Sheikh Hasan Mousa As-Saffar, Sheikh Ghalib Hasan Al-Hammad, Sheikh Muhammad Hasan Al-Habib, Sheikh Ali Modan Al-Mohsin, Sheikh Hussein Ali Al-Mostafa, Sheikh Manzor Tahir As-Salman, Sheikh Fouzi Muhammad Taqi As-Sayf, Sheikh Jafar Muhammad Ar-Ribh, Sayed Haydar SAyed Hussein Al-Awami, Sheikh Abdul-Karim Kadhim Al-Jabail, Sayed Muhammad Hasan Al-Awami, Sheikh Abdul Mon’am Al-Mosalla, Sheikh Hussein Ali Al-Bayat, Sheikh Habib Muhammad Al-Jami, Sheikh Yousaf Salman Al-Mehdi, Sheikh Muhammad Ali Al-Mashiqri,

Abdul Majid Hasan Al-Farah, Abdul-Hamid Abdullah Al-Motaway, Muhammad Baqer An-Namr, Abdullah Ali An-Namr, Hasan Ali Muhammad Al-Farah, Dr. Hasan Abdul-Majid Al-Faraj, Sheikh Abdulkarim Al-Faraj, Nadir Muhammad Said Al-Khonezi, Dr. Riyadh Al-Mostafa, Abbad Radi Ash-Shamasi, Ridha Abdullah Al-Madloh, Shakri Ali Ash-Shamasi, Assam Abdullah Ash-Shamasi, Abdur RAuf Abdullah Al-Matrod, Muhammasd Ali Al-Khalifa, Jihad Abdul Ilah Al-Khonezi, Said Nasser Al-Khatir, Dr. Abdullah Naji As-Sakiri, Nabih Abdul Mohsin Al-Ibrahim, Abdur Razzaq Mehdi Sheikh, Ali Hasan Az-ZAhir, Hussei n Abdullah Ash-Sheikh, Abdul Wahid Baqer Al-Khonezi, Foad Abdulwahid Nasrollah, SAyed Mehdi Sayed Muhammad As-Saegh, Hasan Sheikh Ali Al-Marhon, Dr. Mansor Abdul-Jalil Al-Qatri, Dr. Abdullah Hasan Aali Abdul Mohsin, Ibrahim Hasan Ismail, Engineer Shafique Ali aal-e-Sayf, Dr Taufiq Muhammad Taqi As-Sayf, SAlih Abdullah Al-Khidhr, Dr Ali Hasan Al.-Jazir, Mansore Abdul Jalil Ar-Ramih, Hasan Yousaf Maal Allah, Najib Abbas Al-Khonezi, Dr Adnan Ash-Shakhs, Hussein Ali Abdul Jabbar, Kadhim Shabib Ash-Shabib, SAyed Hasdan Sayed Hussein Al-Awami and Ali Tahir As-Salman.