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INSIDE THE SAUDI KINGDOM

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MillionMedia has gained unprecedented access to a senior member of the Saudi royal family. After seven years of negotiation Lionel Mill managed to gain exclusive access to the private and public life of one of the Kingdom's 13 governors. Prince Saud bin Abdul Mohsen bin Abdul Aziz A l Saud is governor of the Northern province of Hail. He is one of 20 royal princes that rule modern day Saudi Arabia. He is a grandson of the founder of modern Saudi Arabia King Abdul Aiz and the present King Abdullah is his uncle. No one has ever got such unique access to this absolutist monarchy and media shy dynasty.

During the film the Prince talks openly about Saudi society and Sharia Law.

" Public executions are part of our religion. It is accepted by the, by the majority of the people. We don't, it's not done in secret, it's done in public. It's announced on TV and on the radio! We have no apologies."

The relationship between Saudi Arabia and the West is complex , highly political and yet seemingly simple. We buy their oil and they buy our arms. Since the controversial film ‘Death of A Princess' in 1980, Western film crews have not been welcome in Saudi Arabia. At the time the British Ambassador was expelled and BA flights to Riyadh were suspended. Because of a lack of access over the last 28 years, Western media reports of Saudi Arabia have continued to build on well worn stereotypes. A World of Thesiger, intoxicating sand dunes, harems, decadent princes, strict sharia law, public beheadings and the repression of women. Since 9/11 those clichés and romantic images have been replaced by fears of a country breeding more fanatics and suicide bombers, and the revival of a Christian crusade mentality at loggerheads with the Muslim Arab world.

" This country is made of tribes. You better go and see, see the people that we are supposed to serve. We're serving people that do not share the western ideas of so-called democracy."

From the court of the Governor of Hail, Prince Saud, with his passion for hunting in the desert with his falcons amidst Bedouin camps, to the majlis courts in the day to day running of the state this film tells the story of modern Saudi Arabia through Prince Saud's eyes. How do they marry traditional Islamic values, bedouin traditions and modernity? Is the constitution flexible? And what is life really like for women?

" Change in any conservative society always has opposition. And there are very gutsy women out there on TV that are talking about subjects that you know that are unheard of three years ago. From child abuse to violence, you know, in the family itself.They're talking about, they're entering every, they are discussing every subject that women do not talk about before. "

For some western commentators Saudi Arabia and The House of Saud are on the verge of a violent insurrection. To counter growing unrest the present King has embarked on a cautious programme of reform. But is it too late? A burgeoning educated young population is frustrated with the ruling elite and want more spoils from the country's huge wealth. Many women would like to vote and drive. And with disgruntled insurgents returning from the war in Iraq, keen to overturn a regime they view as pro-Western, corrupt and straying from a strict Wahhabi interpretation of Islam, the pressure is on to change and change fast.

Jenny Bowles a British language teacher who has lived there for 12 years thinks that reform is held back not by the government but by the local culture.

t; A lot of the local community were not particularly interested in or not desirest of a university starting for the girls. They didn't feel their daughters should go to a university and particularly study in English. Therefore people who set up the programme were fighting battles. It didn't just start and proceed. It was a fight all the way. The government is letting the people see how far they want to go. But they are waiting for the families and society to move forward. "

(sitting in a car going to work)

"You will notice that I am sitting in the back here because it wouldn't be respectable of me to be sitting with another lady's husband. His wife would happily sit in the front but I shouldn't do that so.. A lot of what is done in Saudi Arabia is not the government - it is social. There are a lot of social pressures here. I would say that things in Hail are more conservative than many other places in Saudi Arabia. A lot of the girls I have spoken to would love to be out there on the roads, and have their own car and drive. I think it will come quite soon."

From these stories emerge a fascinating insight into a once secretive and feudal country, steeped in an aristocratic tradition, at a time of change.

General Info

UK - BBC - http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/country_profiles/791936.stm

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INSIDE THE SAUDI KINGDOM

INSIDE THE SAUDI KINGDOM

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Hail's websites