A breakthrough of Islamic tolerance and magnanimity. (Actually, this is nothing new, as al-Sudairy himself notes.) From [1] AFP, with thanks to Jeffrey Imm:

RIYADH (AFP) - Non-Muslims in Saudi Arabia are free to practise their religion in the ultra-conservative Gulf kingdom but must do so in private, the head of a government watchdog told AFP on Monday.

"This matter is well known and doesn't require reasserting -- non-Muslims can conduct their religious ceremonies in secret but not in public," said the head of the Saudi Human Rights Commission, Turki al-Sudairy.

International human rights groups say Saudi Arabia, which applies a strict interpretation of Sunni Islam, does not tolerate religious practices by non-Muslims.

Sudairy stressed that allowing non-Muslims to openly practise their faith would conflict with the "religious politics of the kingdom" and "cause a number of problems, the most serious being preaching... in the cradle of Islam".