Saudi Arabia's King Fahd pledged on Saturday that the kingdom would push through political reforms and expand popular participation, but insisted this was not the result of external pressure. "I wish to assure you that we will proceed on the path of political and administrative reforms ... and expand the scope of popular participation and open more areas for women employment," Agence France-Presse (AFP) quoted Fahd as telling the Shura (Consultative) Council. In a key policy address opening the third year of the third legislative term of the appointed council, King Fahd rejected any interference in the oil-rich kingdom's domestic affairs. "We reject interference in our internal affairs from any side and under any pretext. We are keen on undertaking a self-assessment of our internal affairs with the aim to reform," said the king in the speech distributed to council members.
| "Nope. Nope. Ain't nobody tells us what to do. Ain't nobody even suggests what we do..." |
King Fahd praised the Shura Council's role in bringing reforms, saying that the new government announced in late April did reflect part of the reform efforts, but that more was in the pipeline. The Saudi king said he had given his approval for the formation of a non-governmental human rights body, adding that a government-run rights body would be subsequently established. He also promised that "laws and decrees will be revised," and "supervision of government agencies will be strengthened." But the king warned that reforms can only be fruitful in an "atmosphere of social harmony based on national unity," where there is no room for extremism, urging religious scholars to promote tolerance.
Over 100 Saudi intellectuals submitted in January a petition to Crown Prince Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz, the kingdom's de facto ruler, calling for wide-ranging political and social reforms. Prince Abdullah told a group of the signatories in reply that reforms were only a matter of time.
"How much time?"
"'Bout 300 years..." |
Saudi Arabia admitted Saturday failure to thwart the three bombings in Riyadh, but also hit out at critics seeking to heap all the blame on the kingdom. Commenting on the attacks that killed at least 34, including eight Americans, Adel al-Jubeir, foreign policy advisory to Crown Prince Abdullah, said Saudi Arabia âhas been a strong ally in the war against terrorism for a very simple reason: this terrorism is directed at us.â |