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A Saudi court will review the case of a young gang rape victim sentenced to jail and flogging after she was convicted of violating the country's strict sex segregation laws, the Foreign Minister was quoted as saying.
The remarks by Prince Saud al-Faisal, made in the United States and carried by the official Saudi Press Agency, were the latest in response to a salvo of international condemnation of Saudi judicial authorities' handling of the case.
It was also a sharp turn from a weekend statement in which the Saudi Justice Ministry condemned the girl - raped by seven men and then sentenced to six months prison and 200 lashes - as an adulteress.
SPA quoted al-Faisal, who spoke from Annapolis, Maryland, where he is attending the US-hosted Mideast peace conference, as saying that "the Saudi judiciary will review the case" of the Shiite girl from the city of Qatif. But al-Faisal was also on the defensive and claimed the case was being used against Saudi authorities.
- AP
