As world-wide condemnation grows of the sentence of 10 years in jail, a fine of 1m riyals (~£175k), and 1000 lashes on blogger, Raif Badawi, DfID announced emergency development aid to Saudi Arabia yesterday following an historic agreement with the Saudi kingdom. The £10m programme is to help the Saudis set up an internal global learning programme to help the country come to terms with secularism and to learn from other countries about reducing the influence of poorly educated clerics in its judicial system. A DfID spokesperson said,
"Look, we know the Saudis have a lot of cash, but so do we, and they do really need help in turning themselves into a modern society; every little helps you know."
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