ISTANBUL

Saudi Prince Khalid Bin Farhan Al-Saud announced his defection from Al Saud royal family and joined the Movement for Islamic Reform in Arabia (MIRA) on Saturday.

Saudi prince on Saturday via his social networking website, announced his defection from royal family, saying “with pride, I announce my defection from Al Saudi family in Saudi Arabia”.

He said he would reveal his sufferings under reign of Al Saud regime on the Movement for Islamic Reform in Arabia (MIRA) television channel.

Khalid Bin Farhan Al-Saud called on other princes to break their silence and reveal the truth for sake of God.

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In de buurt van de revolutie in het Koninkrijk, als God het wil.

The Movement for Islamic Reform in Arabia (MIRA), a U.K.-based Saudi oppositionist organization headed by Dr. Sa'ad Al-Faqih, who has been a key figure in the reform movement in Saudi Arabia since the Persian Gulf War. According to Dr. al-Faqih, "[the] MIRA office in London is the information and media centre of the movement rather than the leadership." The Movement of Islamic Reforms was established in London in April 1996, and its aim, along with that of the Committee for the Defense of Legitimate Rights (CDLR), is to topple the Saudi regime using force.[1]

According to a 2005 US State Department report on human rights in Saudi Arabia, MIRA was founded in 1996 as a splinter of the Committee for the Defense of Legitimate Rights, both of which "continued to advocate overthrowing the [Saudi] monarchy by force." The report adds, "In December 2004 police arrested 21 persons for taking part in Jeddah in an antigovernment protest sponsored by MIRA, whose leader, Sa'ad al-Faqih, was a supporter of international terrorism."[1]

Zu Bekanntheit gelangte MIRA vor allem, als sie 2003 über Satellitenkommunikation zu einer Massendemonstration gegen die Regierung in Saudi-Arabien aufforderte. Infolge dieser Demonstration wurden über 350 Personen verhaftet, einige davon wurden laut amnesty international noch lange danach in Gefangenschaft gehalten. Vom saudischen Regime wurde MIRA im Jahre 2003 beschuldigt, terroristische Aktivitäten in Saudi-Arabien zu unterstützen, doch stritt MIRA dies ab.[3]

Im Jahr 2005 setzte die US-Regierung die Gruppe als Specially Designated Global Terrorists auf die Sanktionsliste Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons.

DUBAI - The Movement for Islamic Reform in Arabia (MIRA), which succeeded in organising a rare protest in Riyadh, is the best-known Saudi opposition group, but few are aware it is also inspired by the same brand of conservative Wahhabism that reigns in the kingdom.

Based in London, MIRA was created in 1996 after it split from the Committee for the Defence of Human Rights (CDHR), a Saudi group founded by academics and Islamists in May 1993 to rally against the ruling regime's "corruption and anti-democratic methods."