Some 40 political detainees, including suspected followers of Osama bin Laden, have gone on hunger strike in Saudi Arabia, an opposition group said Saturday. The Saudi authorities denied this claim.
Some of the detainees, who have refused food for eight days, are alleged members of al-Qaeda network and others are Islamic fundamentalists, said Saad al-Faqih, the spokesman of the Movement for Islamic Reform in London.
The prison authorities have ordered doctors to sedate the prisoners and to feed them intravenously, al-Faqih said, according to AP. He said his sources were medical staffers at al-Ruwais prison in Jeddah, where he said the strike is taking place.
"They (the prisoners) want to be released or referred to court," al-Faqih said. A senior Saudi security official dismissed al-Faqih's claim as "full of lies."
"These are lies by paid agents who want to tarnish the kingdom's human rights image," the official said. "The (al-Qaeda) suspects are well-treated and those deemed guilty in the investigations will be referred to trial soon. The others will be freed." (Albawaba.com)
© 2003 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
