By Andrew Hammond QATIF, Saudi Arabia, Jan 29 (Reuters) - A leading Shi'ite cleric said on Monday Saudi Shi'ites would not be dragged into a sectarian conflict in the region and that their loyalty was to the kingdom and not Iran. "Shi'ite citizens are proud of their nationalism and don't see themselves as an element in regional political struggles in Iran, Iraq and Lebanon," Sheikh Hassan al-Saffar, the most prominent cleric among minority Shi'ites in Saudi Arabia, told reporters. He was speaking as Shi'ites marked Ashura, the anniversary of the killing in 680 of Prophet Mohammad's grandson, Imam Hussein, who is reverred by Shi'ite Muslims. Fighting between Iranian-backed Shi'ite militias and minority Sunni insurgents has taken Iraq to the brink of civil war and raised sectarian tension throughout the region. Saudi Arabia -- a bastion of Sunni Islam -- shares U.S. concern about the nuclear programme of Shi'ite Iran and fears that Tehran will help consolidate majority Shi'ite dominance in Iraq when Washington finally withdraws its troops. Saffar said Saudi Shi'ites, who live mainly in the Eastern Province on the Gulf coast, do not take a political lead from Shi'ite authorities in Iran or Iraq. "The marja'iya (Shi'ite religious authorities) in Iraq and Iran have never once fixed a political position or a social situation in Saudi Arabia," he said. "The fact that these authorities are present abroad is just an excuse to create doubt and incite against Shi'ites." Shi'ites in the Eastern Province, where most of Saudi Arabia's huge oilfields are located, rose against the Saudi authorities after Iran's Islamic Revolution in 1979. The government has been suspicious of them ever since. There has been an easing of restrictions on Shi'ites openly practising their faith since Sunni militants linked to al Qaeda began a campaign to topple the Saudi royals in 2003. Some Shi'ites were arrested for taking to the streets in support of Lebanese Shi'ite group Hezbollah last year during a month-long Israeli military campaign. Saffar said Saudi leaders needed to do more to stop a stream of anti-Shi'ite fatwas, or religious edicts, issued by influential Sunni clerics. Hardline Saudi clerics, who believe Shi'ism is a heresy, have accused Shi'ites of allying with Iran to wipe out Sunnis in Iraq, raising fears of sectarian clashes in Saudi Arabia. "The Shi'ites are concerned about these fatwas and this mobilisation against them, and we ask officials to condemn them and stop them," said Saffar, a former dissident who some Shi'ites say has become too conciliatory with the government. "The general opinion among Shi'ites supports dealing with the (Saudi) state and this springs from the positive steps the state has taken towards them," Saffar said.
