Saudi Security Forces Flood Streets to Stop ‘Day of Rage’

Saudi Arabian security forces have flooded the streets of the capital Riyadah, and other major cities, to pre-empt a ‘Day of Rage’ and the possibility of any copycat protests which have pockmarked the Middle East and North Africa, and led to two regimes being toppled.

As in Tunisia and Egypt – a country which neighbours Saudi Arabia – news of the planned uprising has spread quickly using social networking websites like Facebook and the microblogging site Twitter.

Having gained confidence from the successful recent uprisings, liberals, rights activists, moderate Sunni Islamists and Shi’ite Muslims have all joined forces to demand political change, and experts believe that they may call for an end to the monarchy.