Protests
The Ismā'īlīs, a religious and ethnic minority with historic roots in Najrān Province of southwestern Saudi Arabia, face increasing threats to their identity as a result of official discrimination. With the arrival of Misha'al bin Su'ūd as the governor of Najrān in 1996, tension between local authorities and the Ismā'īlī population increased, culminating in a confrontation between armed Ismā'īlī demonstrators and police and army units outside the Holiday Inn hotel in Najrān city on April 2000. Official discrimination in Saudi Arabia against Ismā'īlīs encompasses government employment, religious practices, and the justice system. Government officials exclude Ismā'īlīs from decision making, and publicly disparage their faith.
The confrontation at the Holiday Inn in Najrān city on April 23, 2000, marked a watershed in Ismā'īlī relations with the central government. Three months earlier, police had closed all Ismā'īlī mosques on a religious holiday. On April 23, after security forces and religious morality police arrested an Ismā'īlī cleric, a large demonstration took place outside the Holiday Inn, where governor Mishaal resided. After the governor refused for hours to meet the petitioners, an exchange of fire between security forces and armed demonstrators left two Ismā'īlīs dead and, according to some government accounts, killed one policeman as well. Believing their religious identity to be under attack, Ismāili men erected defenses around Khushaiwa, the seat of the Ismā'īlī religious leader, al-Dā’i al-Muṭlaq (Absolute Guide), and the spiritual capital of Sulaimānī Ismä'īlīs, a community with followers in India and Pakistan as well as Saudi Arabia and Yemen. Khushaiwa, which is an area of Najrān city, includes the Manṣūrah Mosque complex. The army surrounded the Ismā'īlī positions and placed the city under its control. The standoff ended later the same day without further bloodshed.
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