Saudi journalists say media burdened by clerics

RIYADH, Nov 28 (Reuters) The extensive air-time given over to conservative Muslim clerics by Saudi state media is hampering the government's reformist message, Saudi journalists said today.

Religious scholars in conservative Saudi Arabia, which applies strict Islamic law, have wide access to the media where they back conservative policies on gender segregation that have become the subject of fierce debate.

Women are banned from driving, must cover their hair in public and face obstacles finding jobs, but a significant number have begun working as broadcasters in recent years.

''Right now we are very much influenced by the dominant religious discourse,'' said Abdul-Aziz al-Eid, a presenter on state relevision's Channel One suggesting the powerful religious establishment was blocking reforms.

''The state is strong and has the ability to halt any discourse when things have got to the point of influencing the power and prestige of the political decision-makers,'' he told a seminar in the Saudi capital.

Columnist Samar Mugrin said Islamists were out of step with the state's political message, which has promoted reform since King Abdullah ascended the throne last year.

''There is a big gap between religious and political rhetoric.

The religious needs to match the political,'' she said.

Journalist Nabila Mahjoub told the gathering at the United Nations offices in Riyadh: ''We need to confront the religious discourse .... When an expert in Islamic law or a cleric appears on television, he is giving his opinion, and there is no one to answer him or correct his mistakes.'' A play criticising religious hardliners descended into a brawl in Riyadh this week when angry Islamists stormed onto the stage, Saudi media has said.

Some Islamists fear liberals are gaining the upper hand in the world's biggest oil exporter, where militants swearing allegiance to al Qaeda launched a campaign to bring the US-allied monarchy in 2003.

''Our problem is traditional customs that have taken on the mantle of religion,'' human rights activist Johara al-Angari, a woman dressed in traditional black robes and veil who asked cameramen to avoid directing their lenses her way.

Reuters KR RN2202