05 January 2004	Monday	12 Ziqa'ad 1424

RIYADH, Jan 4: Saudi Arabia intends to push ahead with reforms, Crown Prince Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz said, calling for patience as he was handed a list of recommendations drawn up by a "national dialogue" forum.

"We should be patient and do things in an unhurried way," he told a gathering of Muslim scholars and intellectuals on Saturday night, the official Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported.

"Everything you do will be a step toward achieving the goal" of reform, the kingdom's de facto ruler said at a Riyadh reception marking Wednesday's end of a second round of talks under the umbrella of "national dialogue".

He also urged moderation. "Islam advocates moderation, moderation, moderation. Everyone of us ... knows it," the crown prince said. The meeting in Makkah drew up a series of recommendations to root out extremism, reform academic curricula and grant more freedom to the media. Further rounds of dialogue are to focus on the role of women.

Prince Abdullah said for him women were his mother and sisters, wives and daughters. "They have rights under Islam," he said. "We must stick to four things: faith, the nation, patience and work," he stressed.

Some 60 people, including 10 women who took part in the deliberations via a video conference link, were joined by 15 researchers for round two of the "Convention for National Dialogue" launched in June.

The first landmark meeting held in Riyadh ended with a call for wide-ranging reforms and led to the establishment of a dialogue center which hosted the latest deliberations.

Since then, Saudi authorities have raised the prospect of limited reforms in the conservative kingdom, which is engaged in a massive crackdown against extremists blamed for a series of suicide bombings in Riyadh in May and November that left more than 50 people dead. Saudi leaders promised in October to organize the first-ever polls in the kingdom within a year to elect half the members of new municipal councils.-AFP