Saudi Prince Rules Out Vote to Pick Parliament

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia -- A senior Saudi royal ruled out direct elections to Saudi Arabia's unelected parliament in published comments, days after King Abdullah appeared to hold open the possibility.

Saudi Arabia, an absolute monarchy closely allied with the United States, held elections for half the members of its municipal councils in 2005, and reformers now hope for elections to the Majlis al-Shura, or Consultative Council, to follow other Persian Gulf nations.

"When I go to the Shura assembly, I meet members who are of the finest caliber in the country, and that's what's important -- the people and quality. It's not important how they got there, it's important how they are," Interior Minister Prince Nayef said.

The interior minister also told members of the Shura council that the kingdom was holding more than 3,000 suspected militants, many linked to a campaign by al-Qaeda launched in 2003 to overthrow the pro-Western royal family.

Saudi Arabia has said that since 2006 it has foiled at least two major plots against major oil facilities in the kingdom, the world's largest oil exporter. Nayef told the Consultative Council on Sunday that preparations were being made to establish a force of 35,000 men to protect oil and industrial installations.