Special to WorldTribune.com

ABU DHABI — The Saudi religious police, in the first reported
attack, has been targeted by arsonists.

The Saudi-controlled media have reported an attack on the Committee for
the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice.

On Sept. 1, the media reported that attackers torched a building of the Saudi religious police west of Riyad during the previous day.

“The committee’s branch in Thuhrat Al Badeia was intentionally set on fire by assailants,” committee spokesman Abdul Rahman Al Sheri said.

This marked the first reported attack on the kingdom’s controversial religious police. The 10,000-member force, designed to enforce Islamic mores, has come under widespread criticism for harassing Saudi families at malls and other public areas.

The Saudi daily Al Watan said the arson did not result in any injuries.
The newspaper did not provide details, including the assessment of
investigators of who was behind the attack.

“None of the workers at the center were hurt and no major damage was
caused,” another Saudi official, deputy commission spokesman Mohammed Al
Shuraimi, said. “This attack was intentional and the assailants targeted the
electricity meter outside the center.”

  Backlash: Building torched in first reported attack on Saudi religious police, Committee for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, Mohammed Al Shuraimi, Thuhrat Al Badeia