Saudi Arabia opens first mixed-gender university
By Ulf Laessing and Asma Alsharif - - - - - o o o o o - - - - - THUWAL, Saudi Arabia, Sept 23 - - - - - o o o o o - - - - - (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia opened its first co-educational university on Wednesday, a high-tech campus with massive funds which reformers hope will spearhead change in the Islamic state. Western diplomats hope the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), which has attracted more than 70 professors and 800 students from abroad, will stimulate reform after recent setbacks such as shelving municipal elections and cancelling cultural events opposed by clerics. - - - - - o o o o o - - - - - King Abdullah has promoted reforms since taking office in 2005 to create a modern state, stave off Western criticisms and lower dependence on oil.But he faces resistance from conservative clerics and princes in Saudi Arabia, one of the world's top oil exporters. - - - - - o o o o o - - - - - Al Qaeda militants launched a campaign against the state in...