In Saudi Arabia, activists push more boldly for reform

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By Janine Zacharia

Washington Post Foreign Service
Monday, March 7, 2011; 6:56 PM

RIYADH, SAUDI ARABIA - With a growing number of Saudi citizens calling for change, the kingdom is turning to old tactics to keep dissent at bay, banning protests, detaining some activists and blocking Web sites carrying petitions for reform.
The sharpest warnings came over the weekend, ahead of a "day of rage" called for Friday. The Interior Ministry said security services would prevent any attempt at disorder, and a government-backed council led by Saudi Arabia's top Muslim cleric issued a statement backing the protest ban.
But the signs of discontent that have emerged here in recent weeks have been notable for their boldness. Some activists say they hope that the uprisings that have toppled Arab leaders in Egypt and Tunisia and left others in the region imperiled will show ordinary Saudis that their royal family also must be held accountable.
"The idea is to really educate the public that these people are really not untouchable," said Mohammad Fahad Al-Qahtani, head of the Saudi Civil and Political Rights Association. On a recent Monday, Qahtani joined about 30 other democracy activists at home in Riyadh to discuss whether other regimes' collapse could mean that Saudi Arabia might follow.
"Saudi Arabia cannot run away from the ripples and ramifications" of what's happening in the region, said Khalid al-Dakhil, a well-known Saudi political sociologist. "This is not going to be as fateful and dangerous as Tunisia or Egypt or Libya now. But they really have to take this seriously and readjust and make immediate political and constitutional reforms."
People who have met recently with top Saudi officials say they have seemed dismissive of the idea that the democracy activists represent any real challenge to the royal family. In a meeting with activists and intellectuals, Prince Nayef, the interior minister, argued that so long as Saudi leaders keep the country's conservative Islamic religious leaders content, liberal calls for democracy will pose little threat, according to one participant. Continued