Saudis detain American woman seeking to leave with daughter

By ELLEN KNICKMEYER and MATTHEW LEE
Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — Saudi Arabia has taken into custody an American woman who has struggled for years to leave the kingdom with her daughter. U.S. officials and a U.S.-based advocacy group, the Freedom Initiative, confirmed the detention of American Carly Morris. Morris has faced Saudi Arabia’s strict male guardianship laws in a custody dispute with her Saudi ex-husband. Morris had tweeted publicly about her circumstances in recent months. The Washington-based advocacy group says Saudi authorities summoned her to a police station Monday and have not released her. The Saudi Embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to an email for comment. Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman increasingly is including Americans in a crackdown on perceived critics and rivals.