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Wednesday, Oct. 15, 2003

Police fired tear gas to disperse the protesters and arrested some, witnesses said.

The protests appeared to be in response to repeated calls by the London-based Movement for Islamic Reform in Arabia for Saudis to gather in central Riyadh to ask for political, economic and administrative reforms.

Witnesses said hundreds of people, mostly youths, demonstrated in front of Al-Mamlaka shopping mall and blocking traffic before police moved in. Some of the protesters chanted religious phrases such as, "God is great," but no anti-regime chants were heard, witnesses said.

Police officials were not immediately available for comment.

The Saudi royal family is under pressure to bring democratic reform to the country, especially since the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks in the United States and increasing terrorist violence at home. On Monday, the government announced it would hold the kingdom's first-ever elections, a vote to select members of 14 municipal councils.

Movement for Islamic Reform in Arabia, one of the better-known dissident groups, brings together a number of Saudi intellectuals. Its faxes and e-mails are widely circulated in pro-reform circles inside and outside the kingdom. Founded in 1996, the group, which opposes the policies of the Saudi royal family, champions an open, moderate system of government and has never been linked to violence.

Saad al-Fagih, MIRA's director, said the protesters called on authorities to free reform activists allegedly in Saudi custody.

"It was a totally peaceful sit-in, but Saudi police handled it in a very violent manner that it turned into chaos," al-Fagih told The Associated Press in a telephone interview from London.

He said police detained nearly 300 protesters. He said one of the detained women, calling herself Um Saud, called MIRA's radio station through a cellular phone to report she was taken on a bus with other protesters to jail. He said confrontations were continuing between protesters and police.

Saudi Minister of Interior Prince Nayef had said in comments published by SPA Monday that MIRA's call for protests was "useless barking" as protests were illegal in Saudi Arabia.

The kingdom never sees large-scale street protests. During the buildup of Western troops in Saudi Arabia, a group of women drove their cars through Riyadh in November 1990 to protest laws banning women from driving. About 50 women were detained for the protest and lost their jobs and passports for two years.

Saudis cannot hold public gatherings to discuss political or social issues, and press freedoms are limited. But the fear of domestic terrorism, which was brought home for Saudis after May 12 bombings in Riyadh, has initiated an unprecedented public debate, and some of the kingdom's rulers have discussed opening the society. Critics say a lack of freedoms has made the kingdom a breeding ground for extremists. Last month, some 300 Saudi men and women signed a petition, the third this year, urging Saudi rulers to speed promised reforms to ward off the influence of extremist Islam in the kingdom.

© 2003 Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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