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More from Michael Buchanan in Riyadh:

"Saudi Arabia is hugely, some would argue, exclusively defined by its religion. The clogged streets of Riyadh are like runways on a Friday morning as everyone, and I mean everyone, prepares to head to the mosque."

"The country's religious leaders have made clear that protests are un-Islamic, which has helped stability in the country, despite the protests elsewhere in the city. But in some districts, like Awamiyya in eastern Saudi Arabia, young people have been taking to the streets on Friday after prayers."

"The area is almost exclusively Shia, as the black flags highlight, and impoverished. It is also extremely nervous at the moment, with these teenagers who were playing football saying they don't engage in politics, a refrain I heard constantly in the area whatever their smiles and eyes were saying."

"It is impossible to over-state how conservative the country is - and why any change that happens is likely to be incremental. Women can't vote, can't drive, can't sign legal documents."

"A suggestion last week that boys and girls should go to the same primary school, was dismissed by one opponent who said it would turn girls into tomboys and boys into transvestites. As one man said to me - we don't challenge our parents at home, so why do you think we'd challenge our government on the streets. "