SAUDI OPPOSITION TAKES TO THE STREETS

On the evening of October 14, 2003, Saudi Arabia witnessed a rare popular demonstration. People gathered near the commercial al-Mamlakah Center in Riyadh's downtown, located near the meeting place of a Saudi Red Crescent conference on human rights in which the United States was a participant, but to which Amnesty International was not invited. Demonstrations were also held on October 23, in various cities.

It remained unclear how many participated in the demonstrations. It seems certain, though, that the numbers were in the hundreds, not in the 50,000 range alleged by some in the opposition.

The demonstrations were called to protest the campaign of arrests launched by the Saudi government in the aftermath of the May 12 suicide bombings in Riyadh. The arrests have targeted members and sympathizers of al-Qaeda, including some women.

The Islamic Movement for Reform in Arabia (Islah), based in London, called for the demonstration. A few month ago, Islah had launched a radio station and later, in early May, a satellite television station directed at the Kingdom and the Gulf region.
The Saudi government intervened successfully with the German host of the satellite television station to stop Islah's broadcasts, starting around October 22.