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Saudi Arabia pumps money into restive Shi'ite quarter it once flattened

Ersin Çelik
10:14 - 20/01/2019 Sunday
Update: 10:16 - 20/01/2019 Sunday
REUTERS
Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman
Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman

"FRUSTRATION AND FATIGUE"

A military vehicle sitting at the edge of al-Musawara, now rebranded Wasat (Central) Awamiya, is a reminder of street battles that left buildings pockmarked with bullet holes.

A day before Reuters visited the quarter on a government media tour last week, six people were killed in a security operation in another part of Qatif, raising concerns that militants quashed in one area will pop up in others.

Fahad Jubeir, mayor of Eastern Province, said he is confident that residents will embrace the government initiative.

"I expect it will have the magical effect of changing the area from a shelter for terrorists into a beacon of civilization," Jubeir said, voicing hope that all traces of violence would disappear "very soon".

A project manager said designers consulted with locals to faithfully replicate historical architecture amid concerns over the demolition of centuries-old buildings in a region where heritage is rarely preserved.

Gone are the covered passageways too tight for vehicles to pass, replaced by more than 5.5 hectares of green spaces.

Matthiesen, the scholar who has written a book about sectarianism in the Gulf, said even if residents are unsatisfied they are unlikely to resist amid growing repression.

"That doesn't mean that it's somehow going well or that it's a new approach to the Shi'a. There's just a general sense of frustration and fatigue," he said.

#Jamal Khashoggi
#Saudi Arabia
#Mohammed bin Salman
5 years ago