The Saudi king has reprimanded a conservative religious scholar for apparently defying a royal decree issued earlier this month imposing restrictions on public fatwas.

The scholar, Yousef al-Ahmad, used a TV programme to call for a boycott of the Panda supermarket chain unless it stopped employing women as cashiers.

Al-Ahmad described boycotting the supermarket as "a noble act" against "innovations in Islam".

"The danger of hiring females in such public places is that it is part of normalising the Western culture and that it is hypocritical and should be stopped," he said.

Under pressure from religious elements, Panda (largely owned by Prince al-Waleed bin Talal), now says it will now remove the 11 women from their posts.

Posted by Brian Whitaker, 27 August 2010.