Three Indian newspapers namely the Times of India, the Hindustan Times and the Asian Age carried on May 18, 2006 an Associated Press report that quoted the Custodian of Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah Bin Abdulaziz as telling Saudi editors to stop publishing photographs of women and visualized it as a sign of reversal of reforms in Saudi Arabia. In response to the report, the Ambassador of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques in India H.E.Mr.Saleh Mohd. Al Ghamdi sent the following rejoinder to the above mentioned newspapers:

            “I would like to state that the AP reporter has grossly misinterpreted the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz’s words. What the King said while addressing the Gulf Press Association members (and not only Saudi editors) who gathered in Riyadh for their General Assembly meeting was not about normal pictures of women but obscene and inappropriate pictures that could lead the immature and emotion-driven youth astray.

            It is, therefore, highly unwarranted to see it as a sign of reversal of reforms in Saudi Arabia. I am not writing this letter to defend the status of women and their rights in the Kingdom as they are fully protected and any fair-minded person can see for himself the unprecedented rights the Saudi woman is enjoying under the leadership of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah Bin Abdulaziz. The women in Saudi Arabia are present in all departments of the Government as well as the private sector establishments and their presence is even more visible on the official television and radio channels where they participate side by side with their male counterparts in various debates on current issues and also in the social and political programmes which are mostly conducted by women.

The Custodian of Two Holy Mosques only advised the Gulf mediamen to cut down on publication of nude and disgraceful pictures that lower the honour and dignity of women.

 I would like to assure all concerned that the commitment of the Saudi leadership to reforms is unwavering and the process of reform in the Kingdom is irreversible”.

            Kind regards.

                                    Yours sincerely,            

  Saleh Mohd. Al-Ghamdi   

                                    Ambassador

(A Similar rejoinder was also sent to the Pioneer newspaper, which wrote an editorial based on the misleading Associated Press report).