WASHINGTON (AFP) — The United States on Monday welcomed Saudi King Abdullah's pardon of a teenage woman who was ordered jailed and lashed after being gang raped, hoping it would "send a signal" to the Saudi judiciary.
"This is a decision that King Abdullah needed to make on behalf of Saudi Arabia, and we think it was the right one," Dana Perino, chief spokeswoman for US President George W. Bush, told reporters.
"We're very pleased by the decision that was taken by the king, and we certainly hope it will send a signal to the Saudi judiciary," said US State Department spokesman Tom Casey.
"I think that we would like to not see a repeat of cases like this. If the king's decision has an impact of that kind on the thinking of those in the Saudi judicial system, I think that would be a good thing," Casey said.
Al Jazirah newspaper reported on Monday that King Abdullah had pardoned the young woman, citing unidentified sources. Casey said the US government had corroborated the Arabic-language daily's reporting.
The girl, who was 18 at the time she was raped, was attacked at knifepoint by seven men after she was found in a car with a male companion who was not a relative, in breach of strict Saudi law.
In October 2006, a judge sentenced her to 90 lashes for being with the man -- a taboo in the conservative Muslim kingdom which imposes segregation of the sexes.
She appealed against the sentence but despite her ordeal the court ruled that her punishment should be increased to 200 lashes and a six-month jail term for reportedly speaking out about her case to the media.
Her identity has not been revealed but she has become known as "Qatif girl," after the Shiite-populated area of Al-Qatif in the Eastern Province from which she comes.
"As we understand it, that means that she does not face any further possibility of punishment or criminal prosecution," Casey told reporters.
US Senator Hillary Clinton, a top Democratic presidential contender, welcomed the pardon and urged the kingdom to pursue judicial reforms "so that all Saudis -- both men and women -- have equal protection under the law."
"This sentence was unjustifiable, and I am glad to see that it has been overturned," Clinton said in a statement.
The role of US influence in the case was unclear.
Bush, who had no immediate comment, had sharply condemned the sentence during a December 4 press conference and said that the king had heard Washington's message "loud and clear."
"My first thoughts were these: What happens if this happened to my daughter? How would I react? And I'd have been very emotional, of course. I'd have been angry at those who committed the crime, and I'd be angry at a state that didn't support the victim," Bush said.
But he had professed not to remember whether he had raised the issue in a telephone conversation with the king, and Casey said he was unaware of any direct outreach to the monarch.
"This fatherly care and noble gesture will help (in) lifting the emotional and psychological stress and suffering that our family has been enduring," the victim's husband was quoted as saying on CNN television's website.
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