P.K. Abdul Ghafour • Arab News Staff

JEDDAH, 9 June 2003 — The Kingdom’s religious police are now undergoing special training aimed at helping them to deal effectively and pleasantly with the public. The training comes following complaints that some officials of the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice were dealing with the public harshly and impolitely. “We have signed an agreement with a specialized institute to provide training to our field staff as they are the ones regularly in touch with the public,” Salah ibn Nasser Al-Saeed, acting director of the commission in Riyadh, said.

He said the training program to be attended by all field staff was the first of its kind organized by the commission that was established in the early days of the Saudi state. Al-Saeed said the training would focus on topics such as communication skills, personnel management and success strategies.

“These topics are extremely important for the personal and job development of the commission’s officials,” he said, adding that the program would help officials to deal with a variety of situations and solve a wide range of problems.

“The program has had a positive impact on our staff and we have seen good results,” the official said. About 200 officials have already attended the course that is held in the evening.

Instructors deliver lectures with the aid of modern educational tools. The course also includes discussions on various topics to improve the skills and knowledge of those attending the course.

In a recent interview, Sheikh Ibrahim ibn Abdullah Al-Ghaith, president of the commission, said his organization was making strenuous efforts to improve its image by providing training for its staff. “There is room for improvement and the organization works constantly to train its staff,” he told Okaz daily.

Al-Ghaith said the commission was selecting qualified personnel to carry out its Islamic mission. “For the past several years we have been appointing well-informed and knowledgeable university graduates,” he added. He admitted that his officials might have made mistakes. “The commission’s officials are human beings and are liable to make mistakes. The commission is now providing intensive courses so that its staff may improve their skills and performance,” he explained. He also asserted that the organization had been the victim of false allegations.

“Some mistakes might have been made but many stories about us are false. We are human beings and so make mistakes. At the same time, we will not allow false accusations to be made against us.

“All Saudi leaders have extended their full support to the organization,” Al-Ghaith said in reference to a recent statement by Interior Minister Prince Naif. The prince told a press conference in Riyadh last month that “the commission will exist as long as the Kingdom does.”