Female Saudi students demand rights

Hundreds of female students in Saudi Arabia stormed a Mecca university to protest an unfair admissions process, a human rights official said. Details of the protest were reported by al-Arabiya Tuesday. To calm tensions, Badr bin Amad Habib Allah, vice president of the Umm al-Qura University, agreed to admit the students to the College of Community Service and Continuing Education and promised their tuition would be paid by the government, the report said. The protesters accused the university of accepting female students who failed to meet the admission requirements, favoritism, and reserving academic places for relatives and friends. Suhaila Zainal Abidin of the National Society for Human Rights told al-Arabiya the students should have used official channels to gain their rights. She called on the anti-corruption agencies to intervene and put an end to favoritism and unlawful practices in the admission process.