Riot police fire shots in air; four held - They were not Hai'a men: Spokesman Janadriya Festival visitors offer Isha prayers, Thursday. RIYADH — Riot police had to be called in to the 27th Janadriya Festival here on Wednesday after a group of 50 men, known in Arabic as Muhtasbeen, tried to enter the grounds under the pretext of enforcing Islamic law. According to Al-Sharq Arabic newspaper, a team from the National Guard successfully shut the southern gate of Janadriya Village when members of the group said they had seen people break Islamic law and wanted to enter. The National Guard kept the men outside until the riot police arrived on the scene in three buses. According to reports, the riot police had to fire shots into the air after they were met with fierce resistance from the men who were chanting Allah-o-Akbar (Allah is Greatest). The men said they were determined to enter the village which during the last week of the festival is reserved for families. According to Al-Sharq sources, security authorities arrested four members of the group for attacking officers. The police released three of them later, reports said. The police said they are still searching for a suspect who made a speech outside the festival grounds. An officer who was injured in the fighting is in stable condition, the police said. The incident was also reported in Al-Watan Arabic newspaper. Maj. Gen. Abdul Rahman Al-Zamil, who is in charge of the unit guarding the festival, said that none of the men were able to enter the village. He also denied reports that the police had fired shots in the air. The official said the incident took place outside the walls of the festival and that the police were not involved. He said families were enjoying the festival without any harassment. Government agencies were providing protection to all visitors, he added. Abdul Rahman Al-Ghafari, a spokesman of the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice (the Hai'a), said the group was not part of the organization. He said that Hai'a staffers were monitoring and patrolling the event and “gently” advising the public without infringing on their privacy. Sheikh Dr. Abdullateef Aal Al-Sheikh, the head of the Hai'a, said: “Those who behaved unwisely outside the walls of Janadriya are not members of the Hai'a and we have no relationship with them.”
