04/02/2005 (Agence Europe) - Lilli Gruber (PES, Italy), who will head up a European Parliament delegation next week for an official visit to Riyadh and Jeddah, has spoken out in a press release against the fact that women are excluded from the first local elections in Saudi Arabia. Ms Gruber notes: “The door to a democratic Saudi Arabia is beginning to open”, and “it is unacceptable that women are being excluded” from this process.