E/CN.4/2005/61/Add.1 Page 54 expelled from the Kingdom in accordance with articles 18 and 33 of the Residence Regulations. According to the Government, the allegation that he was detained on the grounds of his religious beliefs was merely an attempt to mislead international human rights bodies and influence the proceedings of his trial on the said charges. The Government further indicated that the Kingdom was currently hosting 4-5 million expatriate workers of various nationalities and religions who enjoy all the rights guaranteed to them under the Kingdom’s laws and regulations, the aim of which is, inter alia, to safeguard and protect human rights within its territory. 208. On 10 November 2004, the Special Rapporteur transmitted a communication to the Government regarding information received according to which on 29 September 2004, Khalid Ahmed Al-Eleq, a Shi’ah religious cleric usually resident in Tarut, Turkia, Eastern Province, returned to Saudi Arabia from a period of religious studies at Islamic seminaries in Qum, Islamic Republic of Iran. Upon his arrival at King Fahd International Airport in Dammam, on a flight from Teheran, he was arrested by officials of the General Directorate of Investigation (Mabahith), a branch of the Saudi Ministry of the Interior. The officials did not show any arrest warrant or other relevant decision by a public authority, nor did they orally inform Khalid Ahmed Al-Eleq about the reasons for his arrest. At the time of the communication, he was detained at the Mabahith headquarters in Dammam and no information on the reasons for the arrest or the charges preferred against him had been released. His family had been allowed to visit him twice. According to the information received, the detention was motivated by the Saudi authorities’ determination to repress the teaching and learning of Shi’ah religious studies, as also evidenced by the ban on the establishment of learning centres for that purpose. In this respect, it was alleged that it was a widespread practice of the Saudi authorities to arrest Saudi citizens who were Shi’ah Muslims returning from religious studies in Iran, to detain them without charges for long periods and to subject them to ill-treatment while in detention. This practice allegedly persisted, notwithstanding the lifting of the ban on travelling to Iran in 2001. Observations 209. The Special Rapporteur would like to thank the Government of Saudi Arabia for its replies and awaits a response to her communication of 10 November 2004. She would also like to mention that her concerns have been equally expressed by the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination in its most recent concluding observations on Saudi Arabia (CERD/C/62/CO/8) in which it referred to “reports that persons of some racial or ethnic origins are unable to manifest their religious beliefs in the State party”. Serbia and Montenegro Communications and replies received 210. On 27 October 2004, the Special Rapporteur sent a communication to the Government of Serbia and Montenegro in relation to information received according to which members of many religious communities were affected by a draft bill on religious freedom, churches, religious communities and religious associations that would reportedly give full rights to only seven "traditional" religious communities, leaving other religious communities with lesser rights. It was alleged that all the