Canadian cleric arrested during Hajj

Saudi Arabia police have arrested a prominent Canadian cleric performing the annual Hajj pilgrimage at Madina, Islam's second holiest site, Press TV reports. The London-based Islamic Human Rights Commission reported that sheikh Usama al-Attar was arrested by the so-called religious police in the Prophet's Mosque. We were “consistently harassed,” Hayward, an eye witness who had been accompanying al-Attar during the hajj and before his arrest, told Press TV. Hayward told Press TV in a phone interview that the cleric was beaten by Saudi guards and was bleeding at the time of arrest. He was even “man-handled at the holy site,” Hayward added. Al-Attar was reportedly accused of breaking the arm of a policeman, for which he will be charged on Sunday. This comes while Hayward considers the accusation to be “absolutely preposterous, to say the least.” After the arrest, dozens of pilgrims from all over the world held a candlelight vigil but were dispersed by the Saudi police.