RIYADH, 31 March 2004 — Authorities have released three of the activists arrested two weeks ago for alleged incitement. They are Muhammad Saeed Tayyeb, Dr. Tawfeeq Al-Qusayer and Suleiman Al-Rashoodi.
“The authorities released me after it became clear that the statement we issued aimed to expedite domestic reforms,” Al-Qusayer told Al-Watan Arabic daily.
“Tayyeb was released today and came home,” the AFP news agency quoted his wife Faeka Badr as saying yesterday.
Police arrested a dozen activists on March 16. Half of them were released within a couple of days, while another three remain in detention.
Interior Minister Prince Naif had earlier denied reports that Riyadh released the activists under foreign pressure, adding the activists were held for making provocative statements and contacting “foreign parties”.
Prince Naif said some of the detainees were released after they acknowledged their mistake. Washington criticized the arrests, drawing a rebuke from Riyadh, which said it was a domestic affair.
“We were disappointed over the US State Department’s statement about the Kingdom’s arrest of a number of citizens involved in acts of sabotage,” the Foreign Ministry said.
It said the detainees had been involved in “incitement and using the names of well-known and reputable people without their permission to create confusion.”
