On 2 January 2010 Saudi Wahhabi authorities have pulled down posters of the third Shia Imam in the coastal city of al-Qatif, which hosts the country’s largest community of Shia Muslims.

Municipality staff escorted by a security team and a police convoy removed all Hussaini signs and banners during the morning hours when the city’s residents were at work or school, leaving most streets fairly clear of any bystanders, then insensibility burned them in front of people .

The posters displayed Hadith (Arabic for narrations) of Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) about Imam Hussein (AS), as well as quotes by the Imam himself.

The posters had been put up in al-Qatif city and the road to al-Awamiyah, a town situated further south in the county.

In Saudi Arabia , any practices contrary to the Wahabi sect, are discouraged. The Government prohibits Shia public processions during the Islamic month of Muharram in the Shia cities as Dammam and al-Ahsa and restricts them in some cities as Qatif .

It is worth mentioning that it is not the first time in which the Saudi regime removed all Hussaini banners and signs , where on 26th of December 2009 the security authorities removed all banners and signs fixed on the streets of the town of Rumaila in al-Ahsa.