Extensive state media coverage on Sunday showed Eastern Province Governor Prince Saud bin Nayef, the Minister of Energy, and a large number of Saudi government officials attending funeral prayers for the Sunni victims of the Aramco helicopter crash in Dammam, while the Shia victims in Qatif were not accorded the same official recognition.

The official programme also included visits to offer condolences to the victims’ families in Dammam, while no comparable visits were made to the families of the victims in Qatif, whose relatives had been aboard the same helicopter.

The country, which is religiously and culturally diverse, continues to face criticism over a sectarian and discriminatory system of governance that treats citizens differently on the basis of their sectarian affiliation.