A Jordanian university has expelled two fourth-year Saudi undergraduates for what it says was a “breach of meetings and symposiums regulations” following the intervention of one of the students at an open meeting with the Saudi Cultural Attaché, Ali Al-Zahrani. Brothers Ali and Yahya Hadi Aal Mansour, however, said the true reason for their expulsion from Al-Ahliyyah Amman University was Ali's support for a petition submitted to the embassy by a group of Saudi students. “Dr. Al-Zahrani said at the meeting that some of us organized unacceptable gatherings, and he was referring to a petition that a group of Saudi students presented to the Kingdom's ambassador to Jordan, Fahd Al-Zaid,” Ali said. “The petition drew attention to the Cultural Attaché's lack of attention to our affairs and its failure to address a lot of issues related to our studies.” Ali said the petition contained “legitimate demands” and that six students were chosen to “represent them and meet the ambassador who welcomed them and promised to tackle the obstacles they face”. The open meeting was held in the presence of the president of Al-Ahliyyah University. “Dr. Al-Zahrani then accused me of belonging to ‘those unacceptable gatherings', and when I asked to be given the chance to deny the accusation the university president told me to be silent or leave the hall, which I did quietly,” Ali said. Ali was notified the following morning of his expulsion for a violation of regulations governing meetings and symposiums. Yahya said he himself was dismissed one day after his brother over a letter presented to the university president in which he objected to his brother's expulsion. “He told me to leave his office and I was expelled the next day,” Yahya said. Al-Zahrani said the university had the right for its decisions to be respected. “We tried to have the decision revoked but we have clear instructions from the Minister of Higher Education not to intervene in the university's decisions,” Al
