Saudi Arabia's first independent human rights organisation...

Saudi Arabia's first independent human rights organisation won royal blessing in the latest sign of political reform within the conservative Muslim kingdom. The formal approval of the 41-member National Human Rights Association, which included several women and had a mandate to monitor violations of women's rights, come as the United States sought to promote reforms across the Arab world. But the Saudi government had rejected any political change "imposed from outside" and officials made clear the new organisation would be guided by domestic values in Saudi Arabia, the birthplace of Islam and home to its two holiest sites. Association chairman Abdullah al-Obaid told the official Saudi Press Agency (SPA) his group would take as its authority the Koran, the sayings of the Muslim Prophet Mohammad and the Saudi constitution, which was based on Islamic sharia law. The agency would work with other international human rights organisations and will stand against "oppression...violence, torture and intolerance", according to its constitution published by SPA. It would also receive complaints over human rights violations and follow them up with government bodies and offer suggestions and opinions to help develop the culture of human rights.