Imam of Canada jailed after abuse in Saudia during HAJ in Madinah
Samurai
after Saudia-the worst muslims ?
> watch directly >
This is FRIEND of MERCY - Khahlil ul Rahman, who found the Friendship
with the LORD-rabbil alameen and was safed from Fire, because he had
MERCY, he got MERCY> If youhave MERCY , you migh receive MERCY in
these last days.. >
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2011/10/20111030155530607652.html
Saudi police arrest Canadian imam at Hajj
Witnesses say police beat prominent Shia Muslim leader from Edmonton
who travelled to the kingdom for annual pilgrimage.
Last Modified: 31 Oct 2011 09:41
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Al-Atar, from Edmonton, Canada, was arrested in Saudi Arabia on
unclear charges [Photo courtesy usamaalatar.net]
A renowned Canadian imam who travelled to Saudi Arabia to perform the
annual Muslim Hajj pilgrimage has been arrested in Medina after
allegedly being beaten, witnesses say.
The Canadian government confirmed the arrest on Sunday and a spokesman
with the foreign affairs department said its embassy in Riyadh was
prepared to provide diplomatic assistance. The Canadian foreign office
gave no further information, citing privacy concerns.
According to news reports, Usama al-Atar was with an international
group that travelled to Saudi Arabia for the Hajj and was leading a
prayer recitation at a cemetery on Sunday when witnesses said he was
confronted by officers from the country's religious police.
CTV reported that officers beat him without provocation, chasing and
suffocating him in front of more than 200 witnesses. The officers then
reportedly took him into custody without explanation.
Michael Hayward, a British citizen, described the assault to CTV: "He
was bleeding quite a lot from the beating. They put his head to an air
conditioning unit and sat on him until he was blue in the face."
Hayward told the Toronto Star that police “virtually strangled”
al-Atar even though the imam did not put up a fight.
The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation reported that al-Atar was
accused of attacking Saudi religious police and remains in police
custody. Saudi police have not confirmed the charges or his detention,
the CBC reported.
Defiant speech
Al-Atar, who studies cancer research at the University of Alberta, is
an outspoken Shia Muslim leader and founder of Active Muslim Youth of
British Columbia, a not-for-profit organisation that teaches youth
about Islam.
The imam's website states that al-Atar is originally from the Iraqi
city of Karbala. It says he began to recite the Quran professionally
at age 14 and by 19 was reading before large audiences. Reports said
that al-Atar's work on diabetes and cancer had been widely published.
The London-based Islamic Human Rights Commission was quoted by the
Toronto Star as saying that al-Atar was “manhandled” and the group
demanded Saudi authorities release him immediately.
In March, al-Atar gave a speech in protest against the violence in
Bahrain in which he said: "When my children ask me about what I did
when I saw people getting killed and oppressed, I do not want to tell
them that I stood silently".
A Saudi-led force of Gulf Co-operation Council troops was deployed to
Bahrain's capital Manama to crack down on the mostly Shia-led
anti-government protests.
Al-Atar has a pregnant wife and a three-year-old child in Canada,
according to reports.