Saudi Shias hold mass funeral for bombing victims

Qatif--

Tens of thousands of Saudi Shiites gathered yesterday for a mass funeral for the victims of a mosque bombing authorities called an attempt by Sunni extremists to sow sectarian strife.

Mourners from the kingdom's minority crowded the streets to show their respect for the 21 dead, who included two children. 

Everybody "is very much anxious to participate... to express their support," one organiser said ahead of the funeral, asking not to be named.

A Shia imam led the funeral prayer. The bodies were then carried on litters decked with flowers in a final procession towards the cemetery in Kudeih village, where the attack took place. 

The suicide bombing, during the main weekly Muslim prayers in Kudeih, was the second mass killing of Shias in the kingdom since late last year. 

He said safety concerns had prompted organisers to ask women to stay away from the funeral but that a separate area had been set up for them to offer condolences after the burials.

"What happened, the unfortunate event, made us more united," said Ayman Alawi Abu Rahi, who is from Kudeih. 

"We as a Shia community, we are not afraid of explosions. We condemn the terrorists," but not Sunnis. "They pray in our mosques," he added.