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PAIN
Thuwal: Saudi Arabia opened its first co-educational university Wednesday, a high-tech campus with massive funds which reformers hope will spearhead change in the Kingdom.
Western diplomats hope the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), which has attracted more than 70 professors and 800 students from abroad, will usher reform after recent setbacks such as shelving municipal elections planned for this year and cancelling cultural events opposed by clerics.
King Abdullah Bin Abdul Aziz was due to officially inaugurate the university later yesterday, 80 kilometres north of Jeddah in the presence of regional leaders, Western officials and Nobel laureates.
The 85-year-old monarch has promoted reforms in the world's top oil exporter since taking office in 2005 to create a modern state, stave off Western criticisms and lower dependence on oil, but faces resistance from conservative clerics and princes.
Al Qaida militants launched a campaign against the Kingdom in 2003, citing the royal family's alliance with the US.
Officials who back Abdullah fear that without reforms young people will be drawn to militancy in the future.
Supporters are presenting KAUST as a tangible gain for the king's plans, which have included more long-term projects such as an overhaul of courts, the education system and building "economic cities" to create jobs for the young population.
"KAUST is eventually some tangible result after so much was planned and so little done," said a Western diplomat in Riyadh
Western diplomats hope the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), which has attracted more than 70 professors and 800 students from abroad, will usher reform after recent setbacks such as shelving municipal elections planned for this year and cancelling cultural events opposed by clerics.
King Abdullah Bin Abdul Aziz was due to officially inaugurate the university later yesterday, 80 kilometres north of Jeddah in the presence of regional leaders, Western officials and Nobel laureates.
The 85-year-old monarch has promoted reforms in the world's top oil exporter since taking office in 2005 to create a modern state, stave off Western criticisms and lower dependence on oil, but faces resistance from conservative clerics and princes.
Al Qaida militants launched a campaign against the Kingdom in 2003, citing the royal family's alliance with the US.
Officials who back Abdullah fear that without reforms young people will be drawn to militancy in the future.
Supporters are presenting KAUST as a tangible gain for the king's plans, which have included more long-term projects such as an overhaul of courts, the education system and building "economic cities" to create jobs for the young population.
"KAUST is eventually some tangible result after so much was planned and so little done," said a Western diplomat in Riyadh