Members of the Egyptian Shia community and several people claiming descent from the family of the Prophet Mohamed staged a protest on Tuesday before the Saudi embassy in Cairo, protesting against the involvement of Saudi Arabia in the funding of Salafi groups.
They claim Saudi Arabia is financing the Salafis in order to incite sectarian strife and disrupt Egyptian national unity.
A number of Coptic Christians joined the protests and raised banners condemning Saudi Arabia for hosting the deposed Tunisian President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali and interfering in Egypt’s internal affairs.
“This is the second time since the revolution that we have staged protests to warn against the Wahabi influence,” said leading Shia figure Mohamed al-Dariny. “The government should put Saudi Arabia and those Salafis under the microscope.”
Translated from the Arabic Edition
