Sana’a: Twitter has suspended the account of a Saudi preacher who urged followers on the social networking website to celebrate the death by suicide bombing of dozens of Al Houthi protesters in neighbouring Yemen.
On Monday, Twitter reacted to Khalid Al Gamdi’s latest gloating tweet of corpses of people killed in bomb attacks by radical Islamists, this time showing dead and burning men and children who were targeted by a suicide bomber in a pro-Al Houthi gathering in Sana’a on October 9.
The Saudi preacher and TV personality praised the people who carried out the attack and asked followers to take pleasure in watching the views of the burnt bodies. He runs a religious show on Saudi-based Salafist-leaning Al Wesal TV, which critics accuse of stoking sectarianism in the region.
Ahmed Al Omran, a Saudi journalist, posed on his Twitter account:” Twitter account of Saudi TV host who praised suicide bombing in Yemen appears to be suspended.”
The sadistic comments caused outrage in Yemen as some people called for the prosecution of the preacher.
Al Qaida militants in Yemen claimed responsibly for the deadly attack that claimed the lives of 47 pro-Al Houthi protesters, including children, in the Yemen capital
On Twitter, social networking savvies expressed happiness over the closure of the account that attracted almost 60,000 followers
“Guys! we did it! @khaled_algamd gone.” an accounted called Yemenchew commented.
Many Sunni clerics in Saudi Arabia have recently appealed to Sunnis to support their coreligionists in Yemen following capture of Sana’a by Al Houthi rebels on September 21. Al Houthis are Zaidi Shiites.
Many observers in Yemen maintain that such consecutive calls by could trigger sectarian clashes similar to the ongoing bloody ones in Iraq and Syria
