Execution of Shiite cleric in Saudi Arabia fuels sectarian tension in Middle East

Tensions between Sunni and Shiite Muslims in the Middle East have flared once again following the execution of a prominent Shiite cleric in Saudi Arabia.

Iranian protesters stormed the Saudi embassy in Tehran in the early hours of Jan. 3 and Shiite Muslim Iran's top leader predicted "divine vengeance" for Saudi Arabia's execution of Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr. 

Demonstrators protesting against the execution broke into the embassy building, smashed furniture and started fires before being ejected by police. 

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani condemned the execution as "inhuman", but also urged the prosecution of "extremist individuals" for attacking the embassy and the Saudi consulate in the northeastern city of Mashhad, state media reported. 

Tehran's police chief said an unspecified number of "unruly elements" had been arrested for attacking the embassy with petrol bombs and rocks. A prosecutor said 40 people had been detained. 

Nimr, the most vocal critic of the Saudi dynasty among the country's Shiite minority, had come to be seen as a leader of the sect's younger activists, who had tired of the failure of older, more measured leaders to achieve equality with Sunnis. 

His execution, along with other Shiite activists and Sunnis accused of involvement in al-Qaeda attacks, sparked demonstrations in Iran, Iraq and Bahrain, as well as among Shiites in Saudi Arabia's oil-rich Qatif region in eastern Saudi Arabia, where demonstrators denounced the ruling al-Saud dynasty. 

France and Germany yesterday condemned the execution of 47 prisoners, including Nimr, and voiced concerns about growing tensions in the Middle East.

France "deeply deplores Saudi Arabia's execution Saturday of 47 people, including a Shiite...