Saudi religious police get training after criticism

RIYADH, Sep 3 (Reuters) Saudi Arabia's religious police, facing a wave of public criticism over zealous behaviour, held their first ever training course this weekend to teach members about the penal code.

Over 40 senior members of the autonomous force, which clerics see as central to Saudi Arabia's Islamic state, attended the three-day course in a Riyadh hotel to hear about where the limits of their authority lie in Saudi law.

Two Saudis have died in the custody of the ''Committee for Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice'' this year, prompting calls by liberals in the Saudi press for it to be disbanded.

''If you don't follow the procedures it could invalidate the investigation (you are undertaking) or lead to questioning and trial,'' trainer Faisal al-Yousef told attendees, adding that Islam's Prophet Mohammad always thoroughly investigated cases.

''The rule is that someone is innocent until proven guilty,'' he said, adding that if members investigated someone suspected of consuming alcohol they should not go beyond this to, for example, searching their mobile phone for lewd images.

The force has wide powers to search for alcohol, drugs and prostitution, ensure shops are closed during prayer and maintain a strict system of sexual segregation in Saudi society that even bans women from driving.

But regulations requiring its members to find an interior ministry police officer to arrest suspects have been routinely ignored for years.

The body is opposed by many educated Saudis who consider it an affront to civil rights, but it is backed by powerful members of the royal family, including Interior Minister Prince Nayef.

Most ordinary Saudis accept the ''the organisation'' or ''al-hay'a'', as it is referred to, as a necessary guarantee that Muslims do not stray into sin.

''Even those who fall into vice hate what they are doing,'' one of the trainees, Turki al-Jaber, told Reuters.

''Organisation'' members wear distinctive long beards and loose headscarves, though critics say they should carry identification cards.

REUTERS SYU AS 1558