Riyadh: Saudi Arabia's official news agency says that King Abdullah has dismissed a conservative adviser after he publicly criticised reforms aimed at easing restrictions on women.
Sheik Abdul-Mohsen al-Obeikan had told a local radio station that officials were working to Westernise and secularise the country's laws by "removing women from their natural position”.
The Saudi Press Agency published yesterday al-Obeikan's dismissal without giving further details.
Saudi Arabia, home to Islam's holiest sites, implements a strict interpretation of the religion and prohibits unrelated men and women from mingling.
King Abdullah has irked the country's hardline clerics by easing some restrictions and allowing women to vote and run in 2015 municipal elections.
PTI
First Published: Saturday, May 12, 2012, 18:45