Saudi police beat us up, say British Shia pilgrims - Independent Online Edition > Middle East

Saudi police beat us up, say British Shia pilgrims - Independent Online Edition > Middle East: "A group of British and American Muslims on pilgrimage to Mecca say they were illegally detained and brutally beaten by Saudi religious police. The men, who suffered physical mistreatment as well as verbal abuse during their incarceration, claim they were arrested because they are Shia and Westerners. The Foreign Office is expected to raise the matter with the Saudi government although the authorities in the country say they have already started an investigation. The eight men were among a group of 35 British and American nationals on a two-week visit to the holy cities of Mecca and Medina when they were arrested. They say the religious police, a powerful force in the Sunni kingdom, waded in after an argument developed between the group and a Sunni worshipper at a shrine. The men, now back in this country, claim the police repeatedly struck them with chair legs, sticks and heavy hand-held radios."