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Riyadh, 18 April (AKI) - A 23 year old girl, forced to marry at ten in Saudi Arabia was ordered to pay the equivalent of 16,750 euros to obtain a divorce from his husband, according to Saudi daily al-Watan.

The girl, deemed as a 'rebel' by a judge in the capital, Riyadh, was forced to marry a 67-year-old man due to her family's economic problems, in exchange for a dowry of 100,000 Saudi riyals (16,750 euros).

According to the judge, the girl does not have any grounds for divorce, but if she wants to divorce the husband, she must return the dowry given to the family 13 years ago.

The father of the girl, regrets having married her daughter so young, saying "I made a mistake by forcing my daughter to marry. If she wants to re-marry, it will be her decision who to do it with."

The father of the 23-year-old woman also pleaded for help in order to collect the 100,000 riyal dowry that must be returned.

"I ask those who have the possibility to help my daughter to find the money needed to return the dowry. I cannot help her because our family does not have the economic means," concluded the father.

On Wednesday, a court in neighbouring Yemen annulled the marriage of an eight-year-old girl and a 30-year-old man.

The girl alleged her husband had beaten and raped her although under Yemeni law a groom is not allowed to have sex with his child bride until she reaches puberty.

Yemen is one of the world's poorest countries.

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http://newsvote.bbc.co.uk/mpapps/pagetools/print/news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7351336.stm

BBC News

2008/04/16

Yemeni Child Bride Gets Divorce

Yemen is one of the world's poorest countries.

Although it has no legal minimum age for marriage, the wife is only allowed to live with her husband once she has reached puberty.

Nojoud's unemployed father and husband were also present at the hearing.

The courtroom was packed with members of the press and human rights activists, who are using the case to highlight the need for more child protection in Yemen.

Nojoud told the court she had signed the marriage contract two-and-a-half months ago on the understanding she would stay in her parents' house until she was 18.

"But a week after signing, my mother and father forced me to go and live with him."

Marriage consummated

Her former husband, Faez Ali Thameur, told the court the marriage was consummated, but he denied Nojoud's claims that he beat her.

It is understood that one person attending the hearing has decided to repay Faez the dowry he gave the Nojoud's father before marriage.

Her father, Mohammad Ali Al-Ahdal told the court he felt obliged to marry off his daughter after receiving repeated threats from the would-be husband and his entourage.

He said was frightened because his oldest daughter had been kidnapped several years earlier and had been forced to marry her abductor.

Shatha Nasser says the judge annulled the marriage instead of granting a divorce, to stop the husband trying to reinstate the wedlock.

"We are grateful to the judge" she explains. "Had it been someone with strong traditional views, Nojoud could have been sent back home."

Instead, Nojoud is now living with her maternal uncle, Shu'ee Salem Attabi'ee.

Shu’ee told the BBC that his brother-in-law had had no control over the events.

"He is too frail to defend himself or his family" he explained.

"Nojoud is living happily with me and my eight other children. She is looking forward to going back to primary school as soon as possible."