[andyfox]

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AP) - Saudi Arabia does not prevent non-Muslims from practicing their religion, but will never allow public displays of their faith, a senior Saudi cleric reportedly said.

Sheik Ibrahim bin Abdullah al-Ghaith, chief of the powerful religious police, said his group does not detain or punish non-Muslims for practicing their religion, the newspaper Okaz reported Sunday.

He said that while members of the Committee for the Propagation of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice, the formal name for the religious police, don't harass or force non-Muslims to convert, "we will not allow them to publicly practice their religion in this country."

The religious police are charged with ensuring that women are covered in black robes outside their homes, the sexes do not mix in public, shops close five times a day for prayers and men go to mosques for prayers.

"If we discover places where un-Islamic rituals are taking place, we report that to the concerned authorities. We don't arrest or punish anyone," he said.

-The Committee for the Propagation of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice. Orwell would be jealous.