RIYADH, Dec 21: The chief of Saudi Arabia’s religious police said some films may be acceptable in the kingdom, despite a decades-old ban on cinemas, local press reported on Sunday.

Sheikh Ibrahim Al-Gaith, head of the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, made the concession after last week’s public showings in Jeddah of the comedy feature film “Manahi”.

“A movie could possibly be acceptable if it serves good and is suitable under Islam,” Sheikh Gaith said.

Sheikh Gaith pulled back from comments he made two days earlier branding movies “an absolute evil” in the wake of screenings in the Red Sea port city.

“I did not say that we reject all cinemas, but I said that we were not consulted during the organisation of these movie showings,” he explained.

For more than a week from December 9, the Rotana entertainment group, controlled by Saudi tycoon Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, showed “Manahi” to rapturous audiences in Jeddah and nearby Taif.

The screenings approved by the provincial governor, Prince Khalid Al-Faisal, sparked hopes that Saudi Arabia would soon allow public cinemas.

Before the first projection of the film, local religious police inspected the facility, a 1,200 seat conference hall, to make sure that men and women would remain separated, adhering to the country’s Islamic laws on separation of unrelated members of the opposite sexes.

For the three showings daily, women sat in the balcony of the hall while men and boys were on the ground floor.

There are no cinemas in Saudi Arabia, but some coffee shops surreptitiously put on movies for customers and many Saudis enjoy films at home on DVD and satellite television.

To experience a cinema, they have to travel to nearby Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates or other countries.—AFP