‘Nervous Saudis shoot black overstayers’

Press, 27 March 1979, Page 9

‘Nervous Saudis shoot black overstayers’

NZPA London Fifty-two African Muslims — mainly Nigerians — are reported to have been slaughtered by Saudi Arabian police in Mecca, the “Observer” newspaper has said in London.

According to a correspondent who has recently returned from Riyadh, the Saudi capital, the shootings •took place five weeks ago in the Islam holy city. The dead were thought to be mainly Nigerian Muslims who travelled to Mecca for

the annual pilgrimage and then stayed on illegally, attracted by the possibilities of employment. The “Observer" said that there is a “black quarter” in Mecca largely inhabited by West Africans and it was there that the disturbances leading to the shootings took place. According to the newspaper word reached the Saudi authorities some Africans were dealing in alcohol. The police moved in to make arrests and in a

scuffle a policeman was killed which led to an attempt to round up and deport large numbers of Africans. The Africans resisted and the shootings occurred. The dead are reported to include women and children. The “Observer" said the killings and the wholesale deportations of foreigners reflect Saudi nervousness about the instability of the Arabian peninsula in the wake of the Iranian revolution and the Egypt-Israeli peace treaty.