Sectarian Strife in Saudi

[Tom Yum]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070414/wl_mideast_afp/saudipoliticsreligion_070414191932

Iraq isn't the only country dealing with sectarian differences within its borders; its a microcosm for what is happening across the Muslim world even affecting Saudi Arabia's internal affairs. The threat of spreading social instability and Sunni-Shia violence in other Muslim countries has lead to talks between King Abdullah (Saudi) and President Ahmadinejad (Iran), the two greatest influencers in the Sunni-Shia conflict.

http://www.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUSL0332990520070304?pageNumber=3

Iran is gaining influence in Iraq and Lebanon, a move that concerns majority Sunni nations of Saudi, Egypt and Jordan.

A couple of basic questions come to mind:

How long have the Sunni-Shia fought each other? More importantly which groups are fighting and who are there leaders?

What became of such conflicts and how were borders established or changed and resources claimed under such conflicts?

Were western nations ever involved in said conflicts?

[DickHardman]

sunnis and shiites started fighting as soon as muhammad died. shiites supported Imam Ali as the next rightful muslim leader while the sunnis supported someone else.

it all really comes down to imam ali.

"He is revered by Sunni Muslims as the last of the four Rightly Guided Caliphs and as a foremost religious authority on the Qur'an and Islamic jurisprudence. Shi'a Muslims consider him the First Imam appointed by the Islamic prophet Muhammad and the first rightful caliph. Ali was the cousin of Muhammad, and after his marriage to Fatima Zahra, he also became Muhammad's son-in-law."

[Tom Yum]

Mike, that's an awesome source. Thanks! Been reading the free reports from Stratfor for a while now; good stuff.

[Ahsen]

[url]

How long have the Sunni-Shia fought each other? More importantly which groups are fighting and who are there leaders?

What became of such conflicts and how were borders established or changed and resources claimed under such conflicts?

Were western nations ever involved in said conflicts?

I can ans for you in a jiffy