Sir, – In your editorial on the execution by the Saudi authorities of apparently peaceful Shia dissidents (January 5th), you state that "The non-Muslim world can do little but watch on and despair" while the spectre of sectarianism increases. If only the situation were as simple as that. Instead the non-Muslim world, and specifically the US and UK, continues to allow the House of Saud the freedom to ride roughshod over any semblance of human rights.
While Iran is rightly criticised at every turn for its abuses, the silence on the many crimes of the Saudi regime is deafening. Adding insult to injury are the reports that the UK has removed Saudi Arabia from the list of countries it will confront on its use of the death penalty for fear of jeopardising multibillion dollar arms deals.
The US support for Saudi Arabia, and other dubious regimes, is hugely hypocritical when considered against the moral high ground it likes to inhabit with regard to human rights.
The ambivalence by western powers to abuses by the House of Saud and its allies provides ample recruitment propaganda for jihadists in the area. Add to this the ongoing funding of extremists by the Sunni elites and you have a huge catalyst for violence. A good start here would be less of the disingenuous language from the western political elite and a more consistent approach to its condemnation of human rights abuses. – Yours, etc,
BARRY WALSH,
Blackrock,
Cork.