Rights groups calls for release of Saudi divorcee

RIYADH, July 18 (Reuters) US-based Human Rights Watch called on Saudi Arabia today to release a woman forcibly divorced by a court because her family claimed her husband's tribal lineage was not good enough for them.

''Saudi courts responsible for protecting families and children instead have torn apart a married couple and their children,'' said a statement, quoting the group's Middle East director Sarah Leah Whitson.

''The government must rectify this travesty and end harmful lawsuits brought by a woman's male family members.'' Fatima Azzaz was jailed in August 2006 after she refused to return to the home of half-brothers who had obtained a court ruling annulling her marriage to Mansour al-Timani.

They said that Timani had hidden his background when proposing to Azzaz. Custom in the conservative kingdom requires women to live with their families until marriage.

The couple's young son is in prison in the Gulf coast city of Dammam with his mother, while the father has been given custody of their young daughter.

''Officials prevent her from speaking by telephone with her daughter, husband or others,'' the statement said. ''Human Rights Watch called on King Abdullah to lift all restrictions on consensual visits between the couple and with their children.'' Saudi Arabia rules by an austere school of Islamic law often called Wahhabism, and judges in family courts are themselves religious scholars. But the case shocked Saudi liberals and became a cause celebre in the media.

''The court's ruling is also a violation of the right of consenting adults to marry, without discrimination, which is recognised under international human rights law,'' Human Rights Watch said.

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