Saudi Arabia: Dozens of losing candidates in the Saudi capital, Riyadh, are planning to challenge last week's municipal election results amid claims that an Islamist bloc swept the board after being given a religious blessing by clerics.
At least six of the seven winners are said to have been named in text messages sent out to voters claiming they had been approved and blessed by Islamic scholars. Defeated candidates said this infringed the rules of the election - the first in the kingdom for 40 years - which banned political parties or alliances.
In Riyadh, 640 candidates, including wealthy businessmen, contested the seats, many spending huge sums on advertising and lavish hospitality.
Several local newspapers characterised the winners as Islamists and the Saudi Institute, a pro-reform group based in Washington, described them as "moderate and extremist Wahhabis".
In the first government comment the interior minister, Prince Nayef, said it was "incorrect" to classify the winners as Islamists.
"I strongly object to the press and media that is concentrating on this issue. This is the outcome of the voters' choice," he said.
Mr Ibrahim al-Quayid, an academic who won one of the seats, pointed out that five of the winners had doctorates, four of them western-educated. Although the winners have been named, voting figures have yet to be released.
Last week's voting in the capital and surrounding areas was the first of three phases in national municipal elections. - (Guardian Service)