Saudi Arabian academics call for stepped up political reform

Hundreds of Saudi academics and professionals sent a petition Saturday to Crown Prince Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz urging him to speed up political reforms in Saudi Arabia, according to a copy received by AFP in neighbouring Bahrain.
Implementing the recommendations of a "national dialogue" session in the Saudi city of Mecca in late December, with a priority-based timetable, would "push the reform process forward", some 800 signatories of the petition said.
They singled out demands for "broadening public participation, electing the Shura (consultative) Council and regional councils," and creating trade unions and other institutions of civil society.
The signatories, who included woman activists and businessmen, also called for "renewing the religious discourse, entrenching a culture of dialogue and tolerance, combating extremism, guaranteeing freedom of expression, enhancing women's role in society and respecting intellectual and confessional diversity."
The so-called "Convention for National Dialogue" held a second round in the holy city of Mecca in late December, following a landmark meeting in the capital in June 2003.
The meetings were part of a limited reform process backed by Crown Prince Abdullah, Saudi Arabia's de facto ruler.
Round two involved some 60 Muslim clerics and intellectuals, including 10 women who took part in the deliberations via a video conference link, and who were joined by 15 researchers.
The first meeting held in Riyadh had ended with a call for wide-ranging reforms and led to the establishment of a dialogue centre, which hosted the second round.
Saudi leaders promised in October 2003 to organise the first ever polls in the conservative kingdom within a year to elect half the members of new municipal councils.
Semi-official reports around that time said polls would also be held within three years to fill one third of the 120 seats of the appointed Shura Council, and that half the members of regional councils would be elected within two years.
Promises of reform come to the backdrop of an unrelenting crackdown by Saudi authorities on extremists blamed for a series of suicide bombings in Riyadh in May and November 2003 that left more than 50 people dead.
Copies of the pro-reform petition, the latest in what has become a series of such approaches to Saudi leaders, were sent to top officials including Defence Minister Prince Sultan bin Abdul Aziz, Interior Minister Prince Nayef bin Abdul Aziz and Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal.