The Saudi leadership has agreed to the idea, but it appears to have no other support.

Rather than open up the rigid political system after the gulf war, the response of the Saudi leadership has been to muzzle all dissent.

The move is a clear challenge to Saudi leadership in OPEC.

A real break with Islamists will come when the Saudi leadership offers a new strategy aimed at an alliance with the modernizing forces in the kingdom.

The Saudi leadership, accustomed to rule through censorship and subsidies, may not have chosen to see them fall.

Their expectations have been lowered by the King's statements that the Saudi leadership has always consulted with qualified religious and liberal men.

The US, wanting to staunch such financial support, pressured the Saudi leadership to cooperate with the West.

American officials tend to play down the idea of any immediate threat to the Saudi leadership.

"They don't want to see Iraq collapse," a senior foreign diplomat here said of the Saudi leadership.

But one adviser to the Saudi leadership asked after hearing a description of the resolution, "Are they just trying to intimidate him to say no?"