By Agence France Presse (AFP)
Saturday, February 19, 2011

Authorities in Saudi Arabia have detained founding members of a new political party and told them they must withdraw demands for political reform as a condition for their release, the party said Friday.

The detainees refused to sign the pledge, said the Umma Islamic Party, which was formed earlier this month by 10 university professors, political activists and business people.
Political activity in Saudi Arabia, which follows strict Islamic rule, is severely restricted and all power rests in the hands of the ruling family.

The fledgling signs of political demands in Saudi Arabia come at a time when pro-democracy protests against authoritarian governments are sweeping the Arab world.
The Umma Islamic Party has urged the kingdom’s rulers to start a dialogue on reform, including improving the status of women.

The party said in a statement that all founding members had been arrested Wednesday. One of the founders, Sheikh Mohammad bin Ghanim al-Qahtani, was quoted as saying he and the others did not commit a crime to justify the arrest and that they were exercising legitimate political rights.
The arrests will only “increase the political tension among the Saudi people who, like other Arab peoples, aspire to real political reform based on their right to freely express their opinions, hold political gatherings and elect their lawmakers,” the statement said.

The party called on the government to release its founding members.
In parallel developments, Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah will return home from convalescing in Morocco in two days, Riyadh’s ambassador in Rabat said Friday.
“I was talking to him 15 minutes ago and I can assure you he is very well,” Mohammad Ibn Abderrahman al-Bishr said. “He will leave for Saudi Arabia in two days.”

King Abdullah, 86, arrived in Morocco on Jan. 22 after surgery on his back in the United States.
Friday’s announcement came just over a week after Saudi officials, including Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal, strongly denied a report that the monarch had died.

The website www.islamtimes.org said on Feb. 10 that the king had died of a heart attack the previous day after a heated telephone debate with U.S. President Barack Obama on the situation in Egypt.
But Faisal insisted that he was “in excellent health” and doing twice as much therapy as his doctors told him.
King Abdullah had flown to New York on Nov. 22 and was operated on two days later for a debilitating herniated disc complicated by a haematoma that put pressure on his spine.

That surgery was declared a success, as was a second operation to repair several vertebrae.
The monarch’s advanced age combined with his health problems have raised concerns about the future of Saudi Arabia, which has been ruled by the Al-Saud family since 1932.

The crown prince, Abdullah’s half-brother Prince Sultan bin Abdul Aziz, who has been defense minister since 1962, is 83 and has been slowed by what is believed to be cancer.
Little seen for the past two years, Sultan flew home from Morocco on Nov. 21 to assume control of the royal government in Abdullah’s absence.

Prince Nayef, 77, is the king’s half-brother and is third in line to the Saudi throne. He was appointed second deputy prime minister in March 2009.
Morocco is a favorite holiday destination for Saudi royals who own private palaces there. – AP, AFP