On August 8 th, barely seven days into his reign following King Fahd's death on August 1 st, Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah ordered that the three jailed reformists, Ali Al-Demaini, Matrouk Al-Faleh and Abdullah Al-Hamed, along with their jailed lawyer, Abdul-Rahman Al-Lahem, be released immediately and unconditionally. He also ordered that several Libyans caught plotting his assassination in 2003 be released. Most Saudis had expected the king to pardon the reformists eventually, but the speed with which he did it surprised many.

"He could have waited two or three more months to free them and no one would have criticized him. But he didn't," said Khaled Al-Dukhaiyl, professor of political sociology at King Saud University in Riyadh. Adel Al-Toraifi, a political analyst in Riyadh, said he thought the king did this partly to establish that he was now fully in charge. "He had been running the day-to-day affairs of the country since King Fahd's stroke in 1995," explained Al-Toraifi, "but his hands had always been tied. So now he's trying to telegraph the fact that he is fully in charge.

Two of the three leading Saudi reformists were jailed in March 2004 after they had circulated several petitions calling for a constitutional monarchy, freedom of speech and reform of the judiciary. They were sentenced on 15 th May 2005 to jail terms ranging from six to nine years each, following a trial that was closed to the public and to most of their relatives. They were charged with sowing dissent and disobeying the country's ruler.

Matruk Al-Faleh was arrested in November 2004 for criticizing the government following many outspoken appearances on the satellite television stations Al-Jazeera and Al-Arabiya. He had not yet been sentenced but was standing trial when he was freed. "I can't tell you how I feel; it's incredible," said his son, Ammer Al-Faleh, interviewed by telephone from Riyadh on the night of their release. “We knew it was coming, but we were not 100% sure until we heard it officially announced on TV," he explained.

"The release of the three reformists was the right thing to do," said Al-Toraifi. "It will show those released that there is a new environment of change." But lawyer Bassem Alim, who had been informally providing reformists with legal advice, was not happy with the terms of their release. "I'm happy to hear the news, though the word 'pardon' connotes that they were guilty. And I don't think they were guilty," Alim said. "The king could have ordered a retrial of their case.”

Other analysts disagree, saying that Abdullah’s quick pardon of the reformists was significant, signaling his intention to forge ahead with much needed economic and political reforms. "The fact that the pardon came just one week after Abdullah assumed the throne is significant, as it indicates his manner of handling reform in the future," said Al-Dukhaiyl. "We should let the King to take credit for this and move beyond the issue. Frankly speaking, this nation is not yet ready for a constitutional monarchy. There needs to be dialogue," he explained.

Signs that the lengthy imprisonment of the reformists had moderated their demands were evident in Demaini's statements to the press last week: he said that he now supported the National Dialogue Center set up two years ago by Abdullah in Riyadh to foster change in this deeply traditional and religious kingdom where women are still not allowed to drive or vote in elections.

"I used to criticize the existence of the National Dialogue Centre," Demaini told the Saudi newspaper Arab News. "But after much thinking in prison, I changed my mind and believe that creating a dialogue among Saudis is a very important step." Just days after Ali Alyami, director of the Washington-based opposition Center for Democracy and Human Rights in Saudi Arabia, called on King Abdullah to meet again with the freed reformists, as he once did in 2003 when he was still Crown Prince, the King did just that.

In Mecca to perform umra on August 12 th, the King met Demaini and Al-Faleh at his palace. Both reportedly thanked him for pardoning them. Such acts, first pardoning the reformists and then meeting them, sends a clear signal that Abdullah is serious about continuing his political and social reforms. It was he who ordered that countrywide municipal elections be held earlier this year, for the first time in over 40 years. Admittedly, the electorate chose only half the seats, the other half being filled by the government. But this was a significant change for a country where anyone in power had always been either appointed to the position or born into it.

The Fifth National Dialogue Conference is slated to be held in November in the southern mountain city of Abha, with the theme "The Other and Us: A Mutual National View in Dealing with the Other". Only time will tell whether King Abdullah has started a lasting dialogue on reform. Supporters of democracy, both here and abroad, will be watching closely.

Note: It is likely that most Saudis will feel better under Abdullah than they did under Fahd and there may now be a chance that the monarchy and the Saud dynasty will survive. However, this does necessarily indicate that he will strive to establish closer relations with the West. Indeed, one of his objectives in strengthening the monarchy and stabilizing the country might well be to confront the West more successfully and, wherever possible, further accelerate the spread and influence of Islam. Much can be learnt by studying Saudi Arabia’s total outlay on the building of mosques in foreign countries, relatively to the past. The volume of expenditure on the armed forces is another important indicator.