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Saudi
Women Are Making Strides: Crown Prince
Raid Qusti, Arab News
RIYADH,
14 April 2005 — Crown Prince Abdullah said that
Saudi women have started entering the mainstream
of national life and hoped that social attitudes
toward them would change for the better in less
than five years.
He
also said Saudi Arabia is working on achieving
true democracy — democracy that we want and
aspire for — in the next 20 years.
Asked
by a French female journalist from Le Monde
newspaper when a Saudi woman would be able to meet
him and conduct an interview with him, the crown
prince replied: “In a period less than what you
have to go through here. Saudi  women have entered
the mainstream. They now work in banks and in the
public sector. With time, their attitudes and
those of their husbands will develop and that
could take less than five years.” Asked by Le
Monde how Saudi women complete their higher
studies, become academics, doctors, and
scientists, and yet have to be under male
guardianship, Prince Abdullah said: “Guardianship
reflects our concern for protecting women’s
rights and their dignity. At the end of the day,
woman is the sister, mother, and wife.”
Crown
prince’s comments were welcomed by citizens.
In
the interview, the crown prince described the
National Dialogue Forum as a “great achievement”
saying that it brought the different social
segments of Saudi Arabia together.
“We
have benefited greatly from these forums. They
have brought together the different segments of
Saudi society that were not used to meeting one
another. Saudis have now become brothers. And that
itself is a great achievement,” he said.
The
crown prince described terrorists in Saudi Arabia
as “the enemies of Islam, humanity, and the
human race,” stressing that the Kingdom is
determined to eradicate terrorism even if it has
to combat it for the next ten, twenty or thirty
years if necessary. He also said that fighting
terrorism also entailed fighting its financial
roots.
“We
first asked them to return to logic and sanity but
they refused and continued to wreak havoc. That is
why we needed to fight terrorism by means of
force.
“But
at the same time, we stress the importance of
eradicating what terrorism feeds on — money
laundering, smuggling, and drug trafficking — as
we have mentioned in the Global Anti-Terror
Conference,” said the crown prince.
 Commenting
on the UN report issued by some Arab academics on
the status of democracy in the Middle East, he
said: “Democracy is part of our Islamic faith.
Let me ask you a question: ‘How old is democracy
in your country? And how long did it take to reach
its present stage?’ We too will get there by the
grace of God.”
“What
is important is justice, equality, and respect of
human rights. All of these elements are endorsed
by our religion. Not just our religion, but all
heavenly religions, whether it is mentioned in the
Quran, the Bible, or the Torah,” he added.
On
where he thinks Saudi Arabia will be after 20
years, Prince Abdullah said: “Only God knows. We
are working on implementing true democracy, the
democracy we want and wish for. I hope that can be
achieved in the next 20 years.”
Commenting
on the measures taken by the Kingdom to fight
joblessness and poverty, he said the number of
jobless people reported by the press was an
exaggeration.
“The
papers have inflated the number of jobless Saudis
to one million. However, after investigation, it
was revealed that the number was between 200,000
and 300,000. Half of them have already found jobs,
and the other half consist of a segment that is
not competent and has refused the jobs we offered.”
“We
are not diminishing the role of the media. Its
role is not just to criticize for the sake of
criticism, but to push for reforms and help the
unemployed find jobs,” he added.
About
his expectations of his current visit to France
the crown prince said that he was looking forward
to meeting his friends in France, the people and
President Chirac, who he described as “a dear
friend”.
He
commended the French leader saying he is known “for
his integrity, moral values, humaneness,
candidness, and warm feelings for others”.
Reprinted
with permission of Arab News
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