14 March 2004	Sunday	22 Muharram 1425

RIYADH, March 13: Saudi Arabia's first elections ever will take place in October and should lead to general election, a newspaper said on Saturday, quoting senior members of the Majlis ash Shura (consultative council_.

"Elections in Saudi Arabia will take place next October," Saleh al Malik told Asharq al Awsat daily.

"There is no question of going back on the municipal elections," added Salih al Omeir, who is heading a Shura delegation visiting London.

"The experience of the Shura and the municipal elections will be a positive factor to generalise the idea of elections, so that they are general and not just municipal," Al Omeir told the Saudi-owned paper.

Malik also told the official Saudi Press Agency (SPA) that the participation of women in the Shura was under study and that a decision on whether women will be able to vote in the municipal poll would "not take a long time."

Saudi Arabia announced last October that the first polls in the country would take place within a year to elect half the members of new municipal councils.

Semi-official reports have since said polls would be held within three years to fill one-third of the Shura Council's 120 seats, and that half the members of regional councils would be elected within two years.-AFP