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Monday 6 January 2014 - 08:24

Saudis want US to overthrow Riyadh regime: UAE crown prince

Story Code : 337904
Saudi protesters holding an anti-regime demonstration in Qatif in the country’s Eastern Province. (file photo)
Saudi protesters holding an anti-regime demonstration in Qatif in the country’s Eastern Province. (file photo)
According the cable, Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Zayed Al Nayhan made the remarks during a meeting Richard N. Haas, the former director of policy planning for the US Department of State, ahead of the attack on Iraq in 2003.
 
US-led forces attacked Iraq in 2003 and toppled former Iraqi dictator, Saddam Hussein. More than one million Iraqis were reportedly killed as the result of the invasion and subsequent occupation of the Arab country.
 
People in Saudi Arabia have been staging massive protests across the kingdom since March 2011, calling for the downfall of the repressive Al Saud regime. Riyadh has launched a heavy-handed crackdown on protesters and activists in the country.
 
In October 2013, Amnesty International censured Saudi Arabia for not addressing the “dire human rights situation” in the kingdom.
 
More than 40,000 political prisoners, mostly prisoners of conscience, are in jails across Saudi Arabia.
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