Saudi poll campaign 'goes online'

By Heba Saleh
BBC News, Cairo

The signatures will be presented to King Abdullah in March

Saudi pro-reform activists say they have begun an online petition calling for elections with men and women voters and greater freedom of expression.

They say they plan to present the signatures to King Abdullah next month.

The petition was initially circulated in private, activists say, but was put on the internet after 10 organisers were arrested at a meeting this month.

The authorities have denied the arrests were linked to the issue. The men have been accused of funding Iraq militants.

By placing their petition on the internet the Saudi activists are taking an enormous risk.

Pressure for change

Reform advocates say the arrests happened because the men were taking part in a meeting being held to discuss the petition in Jeddah.

The petition calls for elections in which both men and women would be allowed to vote.

The signatories want freedom of expression to be protected by law and they want the powers of the interior ministry curtailed.

But the Saudi authorities have made it clear they will not tolerate public calls for political change.

Reform advocates who were arrested in 2004 were only released after they pledged not to sign or launch petitions.

The year before, a series of such documents had circulated calling for the kingdom to become a constitutional monarchy.

Pressure for change in Saudi Arabia emerged in the wake of the 11 September 2001 attacks in the US, which were carried out mainly by Saudis.

The authorities say they too want reform - but at a pace they consider suits the kingdom.