Saudi King Removes Prince Of Troubled Province

The area was the scene of violent clashes in 2000, when hundreds of Ismailis, who are a majority in Najran, clashed with police.

Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah has removed the prince of a remote governorate that has seen violent clashes between police and minority Shi'ite Muslims complaining of discrimination, state media said on Wednesday.

Saudi Arabia, a key U.S. ally and the world's biggest oil exporter, is an absolute monarchy with no political parties or elected parliament but the Al Saud family has sometimes acted in the past to avert political tension in the vast desert state.

"In response to the Interior Minister's report that Prince Mishaal, governor of Najran, wants to be removed from his post a decree has been issued relieving him," the royal decree said. A successor has not yet been named.

Impoverished Najran near Yemen is the historic centre of the Ismailis, a Shi'ite sect which has long complained of victimisation by the puritanical Wahhabi sect that dominated in Saudi Arabia.

The area was the scene of violent clashes in 2000, when hundreds of Ismailis, who are a majority in Najran, clashed with police. They complained that Prince Mishaal was promoting policies discriminating against them.

Over the past year Ismaili leaders have lobbied King Abdullah to stop local plans to settle Sunni Muslim Yemenis in order to change the demographic balance.

In May the Interior Ministry detained a vocal Ismaili leader who had suggested in a letter to the king that there could be more social unrest in Najran if action was not taken.

In September New York-based Human Rights Watch issued a report that documented discrimination against Ismailis in government jobs, education and the justice system. It said the religious establishment used "hate speech" against them.

"The king has answered our calls for change and this is just the beginning. Najran has been celebrating since last night, firing guns in air and dancing in streets," said Mohammed al-Askar, a leading Ismaili activist.