RIYADH, April 11: A Saudi court sentenced a cleric who fiercely supports the segregation of the sexes to five years in prison on Wednesday for ‘incitement’ against rulers, media reported.

Yussef al-Ahmad was also sentenced to a five-year travel ban and fined 100,000 Saudi riyals, said aleqt.com, the website of Al-Eqtesadiya daily.

The cleric, who was arrested in July, had been charged with “disobedience to the rulers and incitement against them”, the website said.

He called for destroying the Grand Mosque, home to the Holy Kaaba, and rebuilding it in a way that would make it impossible for men and women to mix during pilgrimages. Mr Ahmad was arrested after he posted a YouTube video in which he blamed King Abdullah and other officials  for the lengthy periods that people in Saudi Arabia could be detained without trial.—AFP