Saudi police lock down Riyadh to keep peace

Several hundred people protested in eastern Saudi Arabia yesterday, but hundreds of police the capital clear of protests calling for democratic reforms inspired by the wave of unrest sweeping the Arab world.

Officers blocked roads and set up random checkpoints in Riyadh, searching residents and vehicles around a central mosque as large numbers of people gathered for Friday prayers.

Witnesses said groups of policemen manned street corners and intersections and a helicopter flew over the city.

By midday, no protesters had showed up in the capital and the police presence decreased.

In the eastern city of Qatif and nearby areas where the country's minority Shiites live, several hundred people staged protests, shouting slogans calling for reforms and equality between Shiites and Sunnis. In Qatif, the protesters were surrounded by armored personnel carriers and dozens of riot police in full gear.

On Thursday night, violence broke out at another protest in Qatif, when police fired to disperse demonstrators. At least three protesters and one officer were wounded. Yesterday's protest was largely peaceful.

Although protests have so far been confined to small rallies in the east, activists have been emboldened by other uprisings in the region that have toppled longtime rulers of Tunisia and Egypt. The Saudi activists have set up online groups calling for protests in Riyadh yesterday.

Investors are sensitive to any sign of upheaval in Saudi Arabia because the Opec leader has been using its spare capacity to make up for output lost amid the violent uprising in Libya.

Discord is common between Saudi authorities and the country's Shiites, who make up 10 per cent of the kingdom's 23 million citizens.

The Shiites have long complained of discrimination, saying they are barred from key positions in the military and government and are not given an equal share of the country's wealth.

The pro-western monarchy is concerned protests could open footholds for Shiite powerhouse Iran and has accused foreigners of stoking the protests, which are officially forbidden.

In Riyadh, the interior ministry organised a tour for a few journalists who were escorted by police around the city yesterday. At one point in front of a government building, the journalists encountered a man, Khaled al-Juhni, standing outside a government building, shouting calls for more freedoms.

Police and journalists watched as the man criticised the regime as a "police state" and "a big prison" before he got in his car and left.Mainly Sunni Saudi Arabia has struggled to stay ahead of the unrest that has led to the ousting of the Egyptian and Tunisian leaders in recent weeks.

Last month, the ultra- conservative Saudi government announced an unprecedented economic package worth an estimated 22 billion.

The measures will give Saudis interest-free home loans, unemployment assistance and debt forgiveness.