Saudi Arabia Arrests Nine Women’s Rights Activists, Two From US - Report

Saudi authorities days detained at least two dual US-Saudi citizens during a roundup of at least seven activists and writers, some of whom had links to the Saudi feminist movement, according to US media reports.

The seven men and two women arrested Thursday are journalists and academics who had connections to the 11 women's rights activists detained last spring, but it's not yet known what they've been charged with.

Two of detained - Salah al-Haider and Bader el-Ibrahim - hold dual citizenship with Saudi Arabia and the United States, the New York Times noted.

Neither the American embassy in Riyadh, the Saudi capital nor a spokesman for the Saudi embassy in Washington responded to requests for comment on Friday, the NYT noted. However, a US State Department official confirmed the arrest of Haider and Ibrahim to Reuters and said the department had "engaged the Saudi government in this regard."

However, some US lawmakers did make statements about the arrests, with Florida Senator Marco Rubio tweeting, "Saudi Arabia has reportedly unleashed another wave of arrests of women’s rights activists including detention of two US-Saudi dual citizens."

"Our strategic partnership with Saudi Arabia is important, but actions like this make it very difficult to sustain it," he added.

Meanwhile, earlier in March, Saudi authorities released several detained feminist activists,