Saudi Arabia has detained a prominent Saudi preacher who wrote an Internet article criticising the ruling family’s advisers, colleagues said on Monday.

They said Mohsen al-Awajy has been in police custody since Friday after writing an article which suggested that a liberal clique of ministers and officials were the real power behind the scenes with a direct line to King Abdullah.

News of the arrest was also published on a Saudi Web site popular among Islamists.

An Interior Ministry spokesman said he had no information about the arrest.

“He has been detained because of an article he wrote. My guess is he will be held for several weeks,” said Sheikh Abdelaziz al-Qassem, an associate of Awajy.

The article was published on a Saudi Web site and republished on others.

Source: Reuters