The District Court in Riyadh is expected to begin hearing later this month the testimony of the first woman in Saudi Arabia to be tried under charges of involvement in terrorist activities. The woman, Haila Al-Qassir, allegedly became a member of Al-Qaeda and played a prominent role in recruiting terrorists and promoting deviant thought, possessed weapons, sheltered people wanted by security authorities and gave money to terrorists. The 45-year-old woman authorized two of her relatives to defend her case after the Prosecuter General gave her and several of her relatives a briefing in July on the charge sheet. Charges leveled against Al-Qassir include attempting to travel to areas of turmoil without permission from the ruler, participating in supporting terrorist cells, and helping forge identity cards for terrorists. The July session also witnessed the judge's approval of Al-Qassir's request for her relatives to attend the upcoming District Court session. He also approved the request of one of the relatives defending her to bar journalists from attending the trial, which the relative said would protect her privacy. Regulations permit the judge to exercise his discretion. Al-Qassir was married to a man in Buraidah, Abdul Kareem Al-Humaid, who is under detention by security authorities. She separated from Al-Humaid and got married to Muhammad Al-Wakeel, who was killed in a confrontation with security men after terrorists targeted the Ministry of Interior and the Headquarters of the Special Forces on Dec. 29, 2004. Disclosures about Al-Qassir came in the Ministry of Interior's statement in March 2010. It said she was on a list of 113 arrested Saudis and people of other nationalities who had formed three terrorist cells. The first cell had 101 members and the remaining two each had six people, the statement said. Among those arrested were men who planned to carry out suicide attacks within the country and target national installations and security men. __
