I did not see that coming. I mean: I really, really did not see that coming. On the opening day of the fourth Saudi Media Forum organized by SAMC here in Riyadh, the minister of interior has made some bold statements:
Interior Minister Prince Naif yesterday urged the Saudi community not to endorse the culture of segregation between men and women. The remarks were met with applause from members of the audience where the prince was speaking.
“Segregation of men and women is not correct,” Naif told an audience consisting of officials, academics and media persons, who were attending an annual communication forum organized by the Saudi Association for Media and Communication here.
Don’t get too excited, though. Arab News have emphasized on these statements and decided to use them as one of the main stories on their front page today, but unfortunately they failed to mention this: these statements were made as a response to a question on the need for a Saudi women’s media forum. Of course we will read all kinds of (mis)interpretations of these few words by our pundits over the coming few days, but, and before what is going to be a media hoopla, I believe there is only thing I should say here: I’m not holding my breath.
Saudi Jeans 
Gee, I almost believed it when I saw it in Arab News today in the morning and I thouught a real change was coming. After reading your post I rest assured that nothing will happen. But it was nice to dream for a while ;-)
I thought it a bit strange coming from that particular source. Sorry to see that it was ‘out of context’.
One can always dream…
It gives a whole new perspective 2 the comments…
Maybe it would be more natural if we don’t have this segregation going on between both genders. But to tell you the truth, Ahmed, I like it this way, in this “weird” community. You’re welcome to read the post about the STC employee, on my website.
thanx Ahmed..
It’s funny. I was just reading a book called “Saudi Challenges & Reforms” by Samar Fatany, which is a compilation of articles she wrote for Arab News, and I came across the exact same quote made by Prince Naif. Except the article was dated to April 16, 2007. Strange.
Ooops, this post is 2 years old!! Sorry…I guess you were referring to the same quote.