Shias attending a mourning prayer on the eve of Ashura in Qatif, Saudi Arabia, last September. Riyadh’s move to impose a lockdown on the area to stem the spread of Covid-19 risks fuelling resentment in the flashpoint region, whose residents have long accused the Sunni-dominated government of discrimination. – AFP pic, March 9, 2020.
SAUDI Arabia yesterday cordoned off an oil-rich Shia stronghold, suspended air and sea travel to nine countries, and closed schools and universities in a series of measures to contain the fast-spreading Covid-19. The lockdown on Qatif, an eastern area that is home to some 500,000 people, is the first action of its kind across the Gulf region, which has confirmed more than 230 coronavirus cases – most of them people returning from religious pilgrimages to Shia-majority Iran.
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