Saudi Arabia has delayed municipal elections in which women were hoping to take part for the first time. The vote has been postponed for another two years.
Saudi Arabia, the world's biggest oil exporter, is an absolute monarchy without political parties.
The kingdom held municipial elections in 2005 which were the country's first nationwide polls since its foundation in 1932.
Women were barred from voting or standing for office, but officials said then they would be allowed to stand in the next vote, which had been expected this year.
The election for half the seats on the councils was part of a series of reforms undertaken after the September 11 attacks of 2001 focused international attention on Saudi Arabia. King Abdullah ascended the throne in 2005 promising a programme of cautious reforms in the world's biggest oil exporter. Analysts and diplomats say he faces stiff opposition from senior members of the royal family as well as a powerful religious establishment fearing loss of influence.
Last week, a group of Saudi human rights and oppositionactivists sent a petition to Abdullah demanding political and judicial reforms, including holding elections.
In March, Prince Nayef bin Abdul-Aziz, the interior minister and half-brother of Abdullah, was quoted by a local newspaper as saying that Saudi Arabia had no need for women members of parliament or elections.
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