Islamists sweep to victory in Saudi elections

Islamist candidates triumphed in the final round of Saudi Arabia's first local elections. Yesterday's results showed the religious scholars stamping their authority on the kingdom's fledgling reforms. Candidates endorsed by the scholars clinched all seven seats on offer in the country's commercial capital of Jeddah. The Islamists' widely anticipated win followed similar victories in the holy cities of Makkah and Madinah after Saudi men voted on Thursday to elect half the members of municipal councils in an unprecedented national ballot in the country.
Several western and northern regions were covered in Thursday's final round. Women were barred from the three-stage polls which began in February. The Jeddah winners - Bassam Akhdar, Bassem Al Shareef, Hassan Al Zahrani, Rabah Al Daheri, Hussain Baakeel, Hussain Al Bar and Abdul Rahman Yamani - ran separately in each of the Red Sea city's seven constituencies but were backed as a group by influential Sunni clerics, including Shaikh Safar Al Hawali.
The seven, dubbed the "golden list," survived an attempt by rivals to disqualify them from running after experts ruling on election disputes concluded that they had not violated rules barring the formation of electoral lists.
Losing candidates now have a week to challenge the results.