As of October 2011[update], the secretary-general of the Society for Development and Change was Ahmed Mohammad al-Rebh[1][5] (or al-Ribh[4]). Prior to the creation of the organisation, al-Rebh, an activist from Qatif, had called for political reform and opposed discrimination[4] and had spent time in exile in Iran.[5] In April 2010, al-Rebh had been interrogated by the Qatif branch of Mabahith about his political writing, which included a call for King Abdullah to create a legislative assembly similar to those of Kuwait and Bahrain and criticism of anti-Shi'a discrimination in government policy.[6]