The return of Al-Awda?

The Saudi government’s unequivocal support for the military overthrow of Egypt’s Islamist president, Mohammed Morsi, in July was met with widespread criticism at home (GSN 951/1). Reflecting large swathes of public opinion, a number of clerics, preachers and activists openly declared their anger at the Al-Saud’s triumphalism at the demise of an Islamist government, a feeling which intensified during the bloody confrontations between Egyptian Islamists and security forces in the weeks that followed. One of the most outspoken was veteran Islamist cleric Sheikh Salman Bin Fahd Al-Awda, who declared to millions of Twitter followers on 14 August, as security forces raided two camps of protesters expressing their support for Morsi: “Murder is a capital offence and great aggression, especially when it is inflicted on innocents who want to express their legitimate demands through peaceful means.”