In partibus infidelium (KSA)

Back to my blog in Spanish

2008-12-14T18:55:00.001Z

I am sorry to tell you that I couldn't manage this blog and my Spanish blog at the same time. I am also sorry if you don't speak Spanish.

I regret to tell you that you can find me only in my Spanish blog: crispal.blogspot.com.

Thank you .

Saudi Arabia: 28,000 Scorpion Stings Each Year: Researcher

2008-05-20T07:27:00.001Z

28,000 Scorpion Stings Each Year: Researcher
Arab News

DAMMAM, 20 May 2008 — A Saudi expert on scorpions has said that between 24,000 and 28,000 cases of scorpion stings are reported in the Kingdom annually.

“The 20 varieties of scorpions found in the Kingdom are poisonous to various degrees. While some are fatal, others cause lesser complications, although these can be painful,” said Abdul Rahman Al-Asmari, head of the Scorpion Studies Center and deputy director of research at the Armed Forces Hospital (AFH) in Riyadh.

The center, which is part of the AFH, was launched as a large number of soldiers are being stung and bit by scorpions and snakes each year. “The research center undertook detailed studies of scorpions in 2006 and developed an effective antivenom,” Al-Asmari told Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper.

He added that during the study some types of scorpions were discovered in the Kingdom for the first time.

“We conducted tests to classify the scorpions that were found in the Kingdom. We also sought the help of latest nanotechnology to develop different varieties of antivenom,” he added.

Al-Asmari said that a major difficulty in treating scorpion poison was that the anti-scorpion venom used in one region would not work against the same type of scorpion in another. So, separate antivenoms have to be developed for each variety of scorpions in different regions.

The center’s study also included methods of identifying different types of scorpions during diagnosis and how the poison works in the human body. The World Health Organization recently invited Al-Asmari to Geneva to explain the center’s findings on Saudi scorpions, he added.

Al-Asmari said the center intends to carry out research on other poisonous creatures, such as snakes, to manufacture antivenoms for all sorts of poison. The center is the first of its type in the Gulf region.

He added that several institutions are helping the center, including the Ministry of Health, the Armed Forces Hospital, the King Saud University and the King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Center.

It also shares its know-how with scorpion specialists in Egypt, Oman, India, Britain and United States, he added.

Al-Asmari warned that scorpions mostly come out during hot summer nights and that people should avoid walking barefoot outside after the sunset, especially in farmlands.

He also warned that children and the elderly are more vulnerable to scorpion poison than young men and should be quickly brought to health centers when stung.

Islamic supremacists killing singers, actors, and artists in Iraq

2008-05-13T07:49:00.000Z

From Jihad Watch.

Their work is un-Islamic, you see. Imagine what fun Muslims who share this perspective could have once they gain control in Europe! "Iraqi artists and singers flee amid crackdown on forbidden culture," by Afif Sarhan and Caroline Davies in The Observer, May 11 (thanks to all who sent this in):

Iraqi singers, actors and artists are fleeing the country after dozens have been killed by Islamic radicals determined to eradicate all culture associated with the West.
Cinemas, art galleries, theatres, and concert halls are being destroyed in grenade and mortar attacks in Basra and Baghdad.

According to the Iraqi Artists' Association, at least 115 singers and 65 actors have been killed since the US-led invasion, as well as 60 painters. But the terror campaign has escalated in recent months as both Shia and Sunni extremists grow ever bolder in enforcing religious restrictions on the citizens of Iraq....

In November Seif Yehia, 23, was beheaded for singing western songs at weddings, and painter Ibraheem Sadoon was shot dead as he drove through Baghdad. In February Sunni fighters killed Waleed Dahi, 27, a young actor, while he rehearsed for a play due to open at the Jordanian National Theatre this month.

Culture was encouraged during Saddam Hussein's regime, but no longer. Abu Nur, an Islamic Army spokesman, said: 'Acting, theatre and television encourage bad behaviour and irreligious attitudes. They promote customs that affect the morality of our traditional society.'

A Physical Description of Angels

2008-05-05T08:53:00.000Z

From Arab News

A Physical Description of Angels
Commentary by Sayyid Qutb

In the name of God, the Lord of Grace, the Ever Merciful

All praise is due to God, the Originator of the heavens and the earth, who assigns angels to be messengers, endowed with wings, two, or three, or four. He adds to His creation what He pleases. Indeed God has power over all things. (The Originator, Fatir, 35: 1)

The surah begins by offering all praise to God, as its whole purpose is to make our hearts turn to Him, contemplate His signs, appreciate His mercy, and look at the wonders of His creation. We are made to fully appreciate these wonders so that our hearts overflow with His praise and glorification: “All praise is due to God.”

Next comes God’s attribute indicating creation and His bringing it into being: “the Originator of the heavens and the earth.” It is He who has originated all these great bodies, some of which we see around us. We know only a little about the smallest and nearest to us of all these bodies, i.e. our earth. Yet they are all subject to one law of nature that keeps them in harmony, despite the huge distances separating them, which we can only imagine with great difficulty. Despite their great sizes and endless spaces separating their orbits, there exist certain relations between them, which, if disturbed even by just a little, could lead to a major catastrophe.

We often pay little attention to Qur’anic references to the creation of the heavens and the earth, or to its scenic descriptions of the universe. This is because our senses have been blunted by familiarity. Therefore, these scenes do not elevate us to the same level of inspiration that they give a heart that remembers God always, and thus remains sensitive to what His able hand produces. Only such a heart feels the awe these scenes impart.

An alert heart which maintains its bond with God does not need accurate information about the exact positions of stars, their sizes, relations to each other in position or movement, the thickness of the atmosphere around each, or the orbits they follow in order to appreciate the awesomeness of this great, wonderful and beautiful creation. It is enough for such a heart that these scenes play their precisely stringed music. It is enough for it to look at the stars shining across the dark night sky; or the light reflected by a full moon; or the dawn breaking through the darkness giving a feeling of new life; or the sunset heralding the darkness that brings a feeling of farewell; or the earth with its endless vistas; or indeed a single flower with its color and shape that takes us long to contemplate.

The Qur’an gives us inspiring directives so that we contemplate these creatures, large and small. Looking at only one of them is enough evidence of the greatness of its Creator and makes us address our glorification, praise and prayer to Him alone.

“All praise is due to God, the Originator of the heavens and the earth, who assigns angels to be messengers, endowed with wings, two, or three, or four.” (Verse 1) This surah dwells long on God’s messengers, revelation and the truth it contains. The angels are God’s messengers to His chosen servants on earth. The message they bring is the greatest thing in life. Hence God follows the reference to His creation of the heavens and the earth by mentioning the role of the angels whereby it is they who make contact between heaven and earth, fulfilling the greatest task of all as they deliver His message. It is a message from the Originator of the heavens and the earth to His prophets whom He sends as guides to mankind.

For the first time in the Qur’an we have a physical description of the angels. Previously we were given descriptions of their nature and role, such as “Those that are with Him are never too proud to worship Him and never grow weary of that. They extol His limitless glory by night and day, tirelessly.” (21: 19-20) “Those who are near to your Lord are never too proud to worship Him. They extol His limitless glory, and before Him alone prostrate themselves.” (7: 206) Here, however, we have a reference to their physical appearance. They are ‘endowed with wings, two, or three, or four.’ This description does not, however, help us imagine how they look, because we do not know anything about their physique or about the form their wings take. We can do no more than take this description as it is, without adding anything from our imagination, for anything we may imagine could be wrong. We do not have any definite description of how the angels look from a reliable source. What we do have though in the Qur’an is this description and a reference to the angels in charge of hell: “Over it are appointed angels who are stern and severe: they do not disobey God in whatever He has commanded them, but always do what they are bidden to do.” (66: 6) Again this description does not give any physical delineation. It is reported in a Hadith that ‘the Prophet saw Gabriel in his natural form twice.’ One report mentions that Gabriel ‘has 600 wings.’ (Related by Al-Bukhari and Muslim.) Again we do not have here a physical description, so we must leave it at the level God has imparted to us, accepting that all knowledge belongs to Him.

Wings are specified as being in twos, threes and fours, but man knows only a two-winged form in all birds. Therefore, the opening verse states that God ‘adds to His creation what He pleases,’ thus making it clear that God’s will is free, unlimited to any one form of creation. We know and see countless forms of creation, but the ones we do not know about are far more numerous. “Indeed God has power over all things.” This comment is broader and more comprehensive than the statement before it. Its import applies to all forms of creation, origination, transformation and alteration.

Turkish Barber Detained Over Profane Remarks

2008-04-17T07:19:00.000Z

Turkish Barber Detained Over Profane Remarks
Ebtihal Mubarak, Arab News

JEDDAH, 17 April 2008 — Officials at the Jeddah General Court confirmed yesterday that they are dealing with the case of a Turkish barber who is allegedly facing the death penalty after being tried for swearing at God.

The officials said they were unable to provide specific details of the case yesterday and advised Arab News to contact President of the Jeddah General Court Sheikh Rashid Al-Hazza’a, who is on leave, on Saturday.

Hani Al-Hajri, head of press relations at the court, also said he would only be able to provide details on Saturday.

According to the Turkish press, the barber, Sabri Bogday, had an argument with a neighbor, an Egyptian tailor, and was arrested by police after the tailor filed a complaint that he had sworn at God. Bogday has reportedly been in prison for 13 months, while his accuser has disappeared.

Abdul Rahman Al-Lahem, a Riyadh-based lawyer, said rulings in such cases depend on judges’ own interpretations of the Islamic Shariah.

“Some judges consider it heresy and infidelity, and say that the accused cannot repent and so faces death penalty. Others consider the statement to be disbelief, thus allow the accused to retract what he has said and repent and then set him free,” said Al-Lahem.

He said according to Saudi law the testimony of an accuser would not be accepted if it were shown that he or she might have some ulterior motive. “If two people have an argument, the testimony of one of the two against the other cannot be legally accepted,” Al-Lahem said.

He added that the Investigation and Prosecution Board must have investigated the case before taking it to court and that Saudi courts rarely issue guilty verdicts in such cases.

“Sentences in these cases are limited and considered rare, because the judgment is not based on something that is written,” he said.

Hasan Al-Malki, a Saudi researcher in Islamic studies and history, said if a Muslim were to reject Islam and then later repent, the repentance would be valid. “Thus it seems logical that Muslims who make a joke or swear at Allah or the Prophet (peace be upon him) and then repent should be allowed to repent,” said Al-Malki.

According to the Turkish press, an appeals court is expected to look at the case within the next 10 days.

The case has attracted the attention of state leaders. Turkish President Abdullah Gul has written to Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah requesting a pardon for Bogday, who moved to Jeddah from southeastern Turkey more than a decade ago. Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan also contacted Saudi officials on the barber’s behalf.

28 Al-Qaeda Militants Arrested in Kingdom

2008-03-04T06:29:00.000Z

P.K. Abdul Ghafour, Arab News

JEDDAH, 4 March 2008 — Saudi Security forces have arrested 28 militants, who were involved in rebuilding the Al-Qaeda network in Saudi Arabia to launch another campaign of terror across the Kingdom, an Interior Ministry spokesman said in a statement.

The militants had been collecting funds on the pretext of supporting the needy in Pakistan and Afghanistan — money that was, in fact, being used “to finance their criminal activities,” said the spokesman.

One of those arrested was carrying a recorded message of Al-Qaeda’s second-in-command Ayman Al-Zawahri on the memory card of a cell phone. “The bearer of this message is one of our trusted brothers, therefore, please give him your donations to help hundreds of families of captives and martyrs in Pakistan and Afghanistan,” Al-Zawahri said in the audio recording aired by the Kingdom’s state television.

The Interior Ministry spokesman added that a person visiting Makkah had brought the recording to the Kingdom.

56 Arrests Since December

The latest arrests bring the total number of militants detained by Saudi authorities since December 2007 — when 28 people were arrested over alleged plans to attack sites outside the holy cities of Makkah and Madinah during the Haj season — to 56.

The Interior Ministry statement added that the 56 men were of different nationalities and included the head of the group. The men had reportedly been close to establishing hide-outs for their cells, forging travel documents and launching a media campaign through the Internet to spread their deviant ideology.

The spokesman said investigations proved that the newly detained militants belonged to Al-Qaeda and had been in contact with its leadership abroad. Those arrested were also recruiting young men and sending them to different regions of the Kingdom to participate in activities that undermine the security of Saudi Arabia.

Clampdown on Al-Qaeda

The latest arrests indicate that Al-Qaeda and other terrorist and extremist organizations are still trying to destabilize the Kingdom, the world’s largest oil supplier. A major sweep last April netted 172 militants, including pilots trained to carry out attacks on oil refineries using civilian planes.

The Kingdom has orchestrated a heavy crackdown on Al-Qaeda since 2003. It has also been building a 35,000-strong rapid reaction force to protect oil installations after a failed Al-Qaeda attack in 2006 on the world’s largest oil processing plant at Abqaiq in the Eastern Province.

Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah has stressed that Saudi Arabia will root out terrorists from the country and has praised security forces for their work against militants.

Interior Minister Prince Naif said his forces had foiled 95 percent of attacks and that 58 police officers have so far died in anti-terror operations.

Poland and Malta Stand Up to European Union, United Nations on Abortion

2008-03-02T18:24:00.000Z

by Samantha Singson
February 28, 2008

LifeNews.com Note: Samantha Singson writes for the Catholic Family and Human Rights Institute. This article originally appeared in the pro-life group's Friday Fax publication.

The governments of Poland and Malta broke rank with the European Union on the question of abortion this week. The dissension occurred at the UN Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) which convened it’s annual two-week meeting at UN headquarters in New York on Monday. The reaction of Poland and Malta happened after the EU tried to shift the meeting’s agenda to include the right to abortion.

On Tuesday Radoslaw Mleczko, the Polish Under-Secretary of State in the Ministry of Labor and Social Policy, told the gathering of UN Member States that Poland generally aligned itself with the EU but that any EU reference to sexual and reproductive health could not include abortion.

On Thursday afternoon, the head of Malta’s mission to the UN, Ambassador Saviour F. Borg said, “Malta would like to clarify its position with respect to the language relating to sexual and reproductive health and rights in the [EU] statement. Malta firmly continues to maintain that any position taken or recommendations made regarding women’s empowerment and gender equality should not in any way create an obligation on any party to consider abortion as a legitimate form of reproductive health rights, services or commodities.”

The split in the European Union is significant because the EU hardly ever splits on questions of social policy at the UN. Even countries that are generally anti-abortion go along with the more radical approach taken by the United Kingdom, France and Germany. They do this as an agreement that the EU will always work out their differences behind closed doors and present a united front at UN negotiations.

This works to the advantage of the pro-abortion states since they outnumber the anti-abortion states.

Moreover, an EU that is divided is one that can be defeated on social policy questions. In fact, the last time the EU split in any significant way was in the UN cloning debate which resulted in the UN calling for the ban of all forms of human cloning, an effort opposed by the UK, France, Germany and other left-wing European governments. It is unclear how meaningful this current split will be in the negotiations which will begin in earnest tomorrow.

Pro-life and pro-family issues were also woven into UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s opening remarks to the commission on Monday when he criticized the now widespread practice of choosing abortions based on the sex of the baby, an issue that was all but taken off the agenda at last year’s CSW despite solid support from both civil society and numerous governmental delegations.

In his speech to launch the new UN multi-year campaign to end violence against women, the Secretary-General stressed, “Through the practice of prenatal sex selection, countless others are denied the right even to exist. No country, no culture, no woman young or old is immune to this scourge.”

The Secretary-General also highlighted the importance of families and children stating, “We know that violence against women compounds the enormous social and economic toll on families, communities, even whole nations. And we know that when we work to eradicate violence against women, we empower our greatest resource for development: mothers raising children.”

Among the many pro-life and pro-family lobbyists attending the CSW is a large contingent of high school girls from Overbrook Academy in Rhode Island. Fourteen year old Elsa Corripio told the Friday Fax, “We want these delegates to know that there are many young people who believe in respecting life.”

Ana Paola Rangel, 15, added, “Maybe we can't change the world, but we know we can make a difference.”

The CSW meeting continues through next week.

Lies, more lies, and the truth of it

2008-03-02T18:17:00.001Z

Lies, more lies, and the truth of it

Johnny D. Symon
February 29, 2008

With Spain's general election looming, I've spent a little time searching out the inevitable anti-American ploy from the present incumbents. Those incumbents, as you may recall, were originally chosen to rule Spain for and on behalf of terrorists when three days before the election on March 14, 2004, their little helpers dealt their block vote, thus overturning yet another inevitable win that all major opinion polls had predicted. Since that time Spain's lunatic government have transformed this once great country, turning it almost overnight into a sleazy, crime ridden, and overrun, overpriced, Banana Republic. Its President recently described Hugo Chavez as a great patriot, and he always has a kind word to say about Infidel Castrato in Cuba, but not once has he had a kind word to say about the United States. And this is not solely because he's never been invited to the Whitehouse as he's persona non grata, I reckon he's never been invited because if he finds something that ain't been nailed down, it'll be winging its way back to the old banana plantation with him.

I've never encountered such an all-round bad government as this lot. Lying's their middle name, and if one were crazy enough to believe all the jive emanating from the pre-electoral PSOE government you'd get to thinking that the 1980's PSOE government, headed by Felipe Gonzalez, was the best thing since sliced terrorist, when in fact that bum and his chums destroyed the economy, so much so that when José Maria Aznar gained office in 1996, he soon discovered that the Spanish Pensions Fund was completely empty. He literally had to apply for a bank loan to supply the pension needs of Spain.

About three weeks back Zapatonto assured Spain that he would not form a new government if he did not receive a large majority, then this week in a TV interview, he stated that if need be he'd form pacts with other Left-wing parties. In my book this is a contradiction, but in Zappo's it's simply a way of life. The truth is, he and his unsavory and immoral, lying, cohorts, are getting worried about the outcome of the March 9 election, so worried that most of the leading lights, or darks, to be more exact, or maybe it's dorks, have taken on themselves the task of resurrecting the old hate America vote-promoting ploy. WMDs, George Bush and his "illegal Iraq war" are just two much-used recent examples, Aznar is another. During several TV debates Zapatonto took the space to rant on about the past; Franco and fascism, Aznar and terrorism, and his recent favorite of a non-existent "extreme Right-wing" on Spains political scene.

On the superb Antena 3 breakfast show, "Espejo Público," last Wednesday, one journalist remarked that Zappo and his crew are acting like those who ran the show in the United States during the so-called McCarthy witch-hunts, though in my view, Zappo and his loons are much worse on the witch-hunt stakes. They managed to exclude the Spanish Conservative party from attending any inter-party meetings in Catalonia by making secret agreements with Catalonia's most radical political movements. The truth came to light only when a secret jointly signed letter of agreement slipped out of their grasp. Then when two people were killed by a bomb blast at the T-4 Building of Madrid airport, December 30, 2006, planted by ETA, Zappo and his buddies continued secret negotiations with those terrorists, while telling the public that no negotiations were taking place. Zappo admitted this just several days back.

To make matters worse, he and his Leftist Loons have found themselves at war with the Spanish Church and major Christian organizations, over their gay civil marriage law, their new quickie divorce law, and numerous other little ditties that Christians in general do not approve of. Spain's Vice President, "De la Vaguely," rumored to be lesbian herself, (58 yet unmarried,) explained recently that neither the Catholic Church or anyone else will dictate morals to the government. Both herself and several other Leftist Loons, in reference to Christianity, are slipping in the term "ideology."

Truth be known, the "science of ideas" pitched against "spiritual faith and knowledge" are impossible to reconcile. For me the ideology tool holds no mysteries because those who think and act like beasts can never comprehend that spiritual dimension and its subsequent physical dynamics, whereas people like myself who can, find ourselves understanding where they're coming from too.

You see, personal taxation is a curse because it instills a false atmosphere of balance; if everyone pays their personal tax, and benefits and returns are available, such as marriage allowance, child allowance, adoption allowance, and so on, then those who live alternate sexual lifestyles and pay their full dues to Big Brother, start wondering why they're getting less out of that purse. I reckon that Alan Keyes' problems are due in great extent to his intention to abolish personal tax, for with personal and even small family business tax removed, the other side will find themselves without their pressure tool, for the very existence of personal taxation leads governments to offer handouts, and handouts can be fickle and contrived.

Finally, I guess, both the horizon of faith and of ideology join to become one, and folks increasingly become blind to obvious truths of spiritual harmony and balance, and I am not aware of any Western nation that does not use tax money to bribe it's servants prior to election time.

The first time I witnessed the ideology trick happening in Spain was about two months back on Tele Cinco's breakfast show, where Monseñor Juan Antonio Martinez Camino, spokesman for the Catholic Church, delivered a superb round of points surrounding the church's opposition to the Anarchist Cause. In retaliation the other side not only slipped in the "ideology" tag, they also falsely accused the Spanish Church of telling their folks to vote Conservative, when in fact they were merely advising Catholics to vote for the party that promoted the same moral cause upheld by the church.

This false allegation left the other side open to attack on a charge of double standards, for in truth, the Socialist government were being promoted openly by Spain's Islamic Community leaders as the party to vote for, which is quite obvious as no future Islamic State could form with a Conservative government in place ... Al Andalus regained requires the pro-Islamic PSOE remaining in government, for that was the very purpose behind al Qaeda's "block vote" for Zappo, back in March 11, 2004, and I shouldn't have to remind you all that Gibraltar and Southern Spain are in the most strategic location in Europe, they form the gateway to the Mediterranean, though likewise, they could become a gateway for Europe's Islamic takeover.

Spain's present government are in place by terrorist favor, so next month's general election could prove to be of greater future historic interest than most would believe. For many years I've held the belief that Spain's present government, the PSOE, are nothing more than a stupid and unwitting arm on the body of Radical Islam, and when I say stupid it's used mildly, for the funny thing is that Radical Islam would reverse everything the PSOE government have been doing over the past four years, and I reckon it would take only three months to do it; Gay marriage would go, fast divorce, gay adoption rights, etc. In effect their unholy alliance will be the end of them.

I'm certain within myself that if the present incumbents are voted in for another destructive term, future historians will stand back in awe. They'll regard present-day Spain as the fulcrum point and successor to 1492, that was a fulcrum for Islam's expulsion from the Iberian Peninsular. Islam's Paradise Lost shall be turned to gain with a PSOE win next month. That's one thing I'm certain of. Yet already the Loon Regime's subjects are crying out against the huge immigration problem. This does not phase the government though, yet it should, because a recent poll found 71% of their own supporters and voters were worried too.

Spain, thanks to Zapatonto and his crew, is now second to United States in nations that receive the most immigrants, but Spain is a small country with just 45 million inhabitants ... or so we're told.

C S Lewis once said, "We laugh at honor, and are shocked to find traitors in our midst." And you know? There's a strong point there, and it's wisdom interconnects and weaves its way around world history and present-day world politics, because if someone's political career is flawed in the honors regime, then we'd be foolish to place our trust in them.

So come voting time the first thing any sensible person would do would be to check out the character and history of a prospective national leader, for after all, we're not their servants, they're ours. Our allegiance is not to them but their allegiance is meant to be to God and man.

Dr Alan Keyes is considering legal redress due to several cases of political stonewalling against him, and I'm with him all the way, as is the above quote by C S Lewis, for the point is here that I've yet to see the other candidates stand up and be counted, defending Alan Keyes' right to fight for the candidature. And if I was one of those candidates everyone would have to stick their fingers in their ears, for I'd be hollering from every high point in every State, saying, "I'm a man of honor. So I won't speak if he can't!" You see, without honor no one can be trusted. I reckon Alan's plight can be likened to some of King Solomon's judgments. I believe old Solomon would sit back and watch each and every candidate, then say, "One man spoke up and is thus deemed honorable, therefore, Alan Keyes and that man shall be the sole candidates." However, if no one spoke up, only Alan Keyes would be chosen. I firmly believe in spiritual wisdom and judgment, so I reckon if the others don't play fair in the honors stakes before the big day, how can we expect them to begin afterwards.

But maybe I see yet another lesson, another truth even, in various pre-electoral events that are taking place on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean. For on both sides everything rests on figureheads, and each one is raised up and attacked from the other side.

"This thing Allegiance, as I suppose,
Is a ring fitted in the subject's nose,
Whereby that organ is kept rightly pointed
To smell the sweetness of the Lord's anointed."
— G.J.

Because God's invisible we've taken to hoisting up some straw man, and placed him in His stead; "One nation under God" becomes one nation under some man or woman, and we've failed to notice the stark truth of this. Other national leaders then find it easy to attack a nation completely by abusing and accusing it's leader, whereas with "one nation under God," it's entire people would feel a sense of righteous indignation, though sometimes I wonder why Americans en masse fail to take attacks against their leader as an attack against themselves, their families and their ancestry too. After all, this used to be the case way back when, in the days of good old Theocracy. Those were the days when true national faith led to true and positive change, and those changes were nigh on impossible for the enemy to deny.

Contact Johnny D. Symon at johnny_symon@yahoo.com

© Copyright 2008 by Johnny D. Symon
http://www.renewamerica.us/columns/symon/080229

Gunmen kidnap Iraqi Chaldean Catholic archbishop

2008-02-29T18:04:00.002Z

MOSUL, Iraq (Reuters) - Gunmen kidnapped the Chaldean Catholic archbishop of Mosul on Friday in the northern Iraqi city and killed his driver and two companions, police said.

"He was kidnapped in the al-Nour district in eastern Mosul when he left a church. Gunmen opened fire on the car, killed the other three and kidnapped the archbishop," said provincial police spokesman Brigadier-General Khaled Abdul Sattar.

An assistant to Cardinal Emmanuel III Delly, the Chaldean patriarch of Baghdad and spiritual leader of Iraq's Catholics, said they had heard that three people had been killed and they did not know the fate of the archbishop, Paulos Faraj Rahho.

A number of Christian clergy have been kidnapped or killed, and churches bombed in Iraq since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion.

Last June gunmen murdered Catholic priest Ragheed Aziz Kani and three assistants in Mosul, 240 miles north of Baghdad, after stopping his car near a church in the eastern part of the city.

The assailants dragged out the priest and his assistants and shot them dead in an attack that was condemned by Pope Benedict.

A former Archbishop of Mosul, Basile Georges Casmoussa, was kidnapped at gunpoint in 2005, but was released after one day of captivity and said no ransom was paid.

Chaldeans belong to a branch of the Roman Catholic Church that practices an ancient Eastern rite. Most of its members are in Iraq and Syria, and they form the biggest Christian community in Iraq.

Christians make up about 3 percent of Iraq's 27 million, mostly Muslim, population. According to a 1987 census there were 1.4 million Christians in Iraq, but the number now is thought to have fallen below one million.

While violence across much of Iraq has fallen in recent months, U.S. and Iraqi officials say that Mosul is the last urban stronghold of al Qaeda, which they identify as the biggest threat to the country's security.

(Writing by Michael Holden, editing by Tim Pearce)

Left With Few Choices, Widows Rely on Charity

2008-02-29T15:49:00.000Z

Najah Alosaimi, Arab News

RIYADH, 29 February 2008 — Umm Koloud is a 41-year-old Saudi mother of six girls. She lives in a squalid apartment in Athoqbah, Eastern Province. She gets SR2,100 in social insurance every month, over half of which goes to rent. “We are living under a constant threat of eviction,” she said. “We just can’t afford SR1,100 for rent every month.”

Umm Koloud’s husband died seven months ago. She is one of Saudi Arabia’s estimated 182,403 widows, many of who scrape by with little or no support from blood relatives or in-laws.

For Saudi women the passing of a husband often means more than losing a loved one; it means beginning a phase of more responsibility, challenge and economic uncertainty. Some widows are left without relatives able to take them in or offer even modest financial support.

And because of the Saudi guardianship laws, many of these widows are caught between the rock of an indifferent extended family and the hard place of a system that prohibits them from managing many of their own affairs.

A male guardian — known as mahram, who is usually a spouse, father, brother or son — is often required to sign on behalf of women. A woman who doesn’t have anyone to be her mahram has no alternative but to become a ward of the state under the guardianship of a local Islamic court.

In most cases, however, a widow usually ends up finding a mahram within their extended families or getting re-married, in some cases as a second wife.

Saedah F., 36, got married at 19 to a man much older than her. She never graduated from high school. She’s the mother of numerous children; she didn’t say how many. When her husband passed away, the women who married him before her got most of the inheritance set aside for his wives. “My children and I haven’t inherited much,” she said.

Sociologist Ahmed Al-Hariri said that the Saudi custom of parents forcing young girls to marry older men is partly to blame for many relatively young women becoming widows. While forced marriage is forbidden in Islam, many girls find it difficult not to submit to the marriage wills and selections made by their parents.

Often marriage is viewed as a way to get out from under the wing of the parents, too, leading girls to make hasty decisions that might be contributing to Saudi Arabia’s growing divorce rate.

Like divorcees, widows are faced with the “damaged goods” stigma that causes problems with finding another husband.

Fatimah Hussan, who lives in Dammam, has a different problem that leads to similar complications: Her husband is serving 17 years in prison and has still 15 years to go.

“I have two children at home and can’t find a place to put them while I’m at work,” said Hussan, who survives in part through charity from neighbors and friends. She says her social insurance disbursements barely cover the SR11,000 she pays in rent annually.

Hussan’s only option for a mahram (other than to become a ward of the state) is a married brother who lives on the other side of the country in Najran. She said moving to Najran would be a burden on her brother who has a wife and earns a modest income. Finding work and living on her own has been difficult, she added.

For example, she said she tried working as a cook of traditional Saudi food in a kitchen of a restaurant, but the owner said he could not hire a woman. Men and women must work in segregated environments under Saudi law, an accommodation that most small businesses cannot afford to provide.

The Ministry of Social Affairs provides welfare to Saudi women who are landless, single and with at least two children. As soon as a son turns 18, however, the mother becomes his dependent and in many cases she is no longer eligible for ministry disbursement based on being a single-woman head of household.

According to Suhaylah Zain Al-Abidin, a women’s rights activist and member of the nongovernmental National Society of Human Rights (NSHR), depending on financial help is not a cure to the predicaments of these women, but rather simply a treatment of the symptoms.

“Keeping widows surviving on charity exacerbates their feeling of hopelessness,” she said. What would give them hope, she added, was to implement programs to help widows recuperate their emotional losses and to encourage them to be active members of society. Vocational and continuing education courses would be a positive step, she said.

Blogger’s Family Urges Authorities to Allow Prison Visits

2008-02-24T08:18:00.000Z

Ebtihal Mubarak, Arab News

JEDDAH — The family members of the detained Saudi blogger Fouad Al-Farhan said yesterday that although Saudi authorities allowed Al-Farhan for the first time to make a telephone call from Jeddah’s Dahban Prison on Feb. 12 they would still like to continue to visit him.

Prior to the telephone call, the 32-year-old Saudi father of two has only been seen once by his father-in-law during a brief visit on Jan. 5. Al-Farhan told him that he was being kept in solitary confinement and subjected to questioning for 15 minutes a day. He has also not been informed of the charges against him. The family’s requests for further visits have so far been denied.

Speaking about Al-Farhan’s telephone call on Feb. 12, his wife told Arab News, “He talked to his mother briefly over the phone assuring her that he is all right and that he is not being harassed.” She added that he initially called home and that she was out with their children and so he telephoned his elderly mother, who lives in Taif.

She said although her husband spoke to his mother on the phone, they were still unaware of whether he was facing charges, whether he was still in solitary confinement and whether he had been given the right to legal access.

“Since he was talking to his mother for less than 10 minutes for the first time in more than two months, she was mainly concerned about his health. You know how mothers are,” she said.

Maj. Gen. Mansour Al-Turki, spokesman for the Interior Ministry, told Arab News earlier this month that there is no update on the Al-Farhan case other than the ministry’s previous statement that the blogger was being held for “interrogation for violating non-security regulations.”

Al-Turki would not clarify exactly why Al-Farhan was being held and whether it was in connection with his blog www.alfarhan.org. Al-Turki was unavailable for comment yesterday.

“Since his arrest, I rarely leave home hoping he might call. That Tuesday I had to leave to buy some things for the children,” said Al-Farhan’s wife, who has not seen her husband since Dec. 10 after officials — following his arrest at his office the same day — brought him home to search his belongings. “I was in one of the rooms with my children accompanied by women officers when they searched the house,” she added.

Saleh Al-Kathlan, head of the Monitoring and Follow-Up Committee at the National Society of Human Rights (NSHR) in Riyadh, said that the NSHR had sent a second letter to the Interior Ministry last week inquiring about Al-Farhan.

Al-Khathlan said the letter mentioned the issue of allowing Al-Farhan’s family to visit him. “According to Saudi Criminal Law detainees should not be denied visits after more than 60 days. They also have the right to see a lawyer for advice,” he added. In five days’ time, Al-Farhan will have been in prison for 80 days.

Article 119 of Saudi Criminal Law states that “the investigator shall order that the accused may not communicate with any other prisoner or detainee, and that he not be visited by anyone for a period not exceeding 60 days if the interest of the investigation so requires, without prejudice to the right of the accused to communicate with his representative or attorney.”

This is the second letter the NSHR has sent to the Interior Ministry regarding Al-Farhan’s case. “So far we have not received a response. But we will keep on following up the case,” said Al-Khathlan.

Hussein Al-Sharif, head of the NSHR’s Western Region office and a professor of law at King Abdul Aziz University in Jeddah, told Arab News earlier that the General Investigation and Prosecution Board (the Saudi equivalent of an attorney general’s office) is allowed to legally detain people for up to six months.

After six months, detainees are either freed after investigation is done or presented in a court for trial if they are charged. Al-Farhan can be thus detained for another three months.

His wife said she was perplexed how to answer her children’s queries about their missing father. She told Arab News that her youngest child Khetab, who is only 5 years old, shocked her the other day when he said that his father was not traveling but in prison. “I’ve tried to keep disturbing news away from them. However, after more than two months the kids miss their father dearly,” she said.

Last Tuesday she remained all day at home beside the phone. “I thought to myself maybe phone calls are only allowed on that particular day. But he didn’t call last week,” she said.

Al-Farhan’s blog leads with the slogan: “Searching for freedom, dignity, justice, equality, public participation (shoura), and all the rest of lost Islamic values, and for Raghad and Khetab” (Farhan’s two children).

Al-Farhan is considered in the Saudi blogosphere as being the “Dean of Saudi Bloggers” for blogging under his real name. www.alfarhan.org has tackled social issues in the Kingdom, condemned terrorism and called for “open” and “real” dialogue within the Kingdom.

Tensions Surround Qatar's First Christian Church

2008-02-23T10:57:00.000Z

Wednesday, 20 February 2008

By BosNewsLife News Center with BosNewsLife Correspondents in the region

Roman Catholic Church will open for worshippers next month

DOHA, QATAR (BosNewsLife)-- A bitter debate continued in Qatar Wednesday, February 20, about the construction of the first Christian church in this Muslim nation, which is scheduled to open next month.

Conservative Muslims are furious, but the emir of Qatar, home of international broadcaster Al-Jazeera, has refused to prevent the church inauguration, in time for Easter.

"If all goes well, we will celebrate Easter in our new church", confirmed the Doha-based Roman Catholic Church of St. Mary in a statement to Radio Netherlands Worldwide (RNW) network.

The church has been constructed without a bell tower or cross, apparently to prevent more tensions with the local Muslim population. St. Mary's parish priest, Father Tomasito Veneracion, a Filipino, stressed in published comments that the church would be "merely a place for collective prayer." In addition, the church had reportedly to promise authorities that it will not engage in missionary activities.

POPULAR REFERENDUM

Yet despite these compromises, Muslim intellectuals and several media outlets in Qatar are not satisfied, saying only a popular referendum can decide on whether to allow a Christian church in the Arab emirate.

"The cross should not be raised in the sky of Qatar, nor should bells toll in Doha", commented the influential Al-Arab newspaper.

In a letter to Al-Watan newspaper, engineer Rashed al-Subaie said Christians have the right to practice their faith, but should not have permission to build places of worship. Lawyer and former Justice Minister Najib al-Nuaimi was quoted as saying that Qatar "is a Muslim country, not a secular one," adding that "a referendum is the only way to ensure that the church is socially acceptable."

Non-Muslims, like elsewhere in the region, are in a minority, however church observers say among guest-workers there are many Christians.

LARGE CHURCH

The new church is expected to serve some hundred thousand Catholics residing in the tiny emirate, most of whom are from the Philippines, India and Lebanon. The St. Mary Church, which costs 18 million dollars, will reportedly contain a conference hall, a library, accommodation for clerics and a café.

Construction of other chruches, including can Anglican church, will begin in May, according to Qatar's Anglican priest Canon William Schwarz. Building has already begun on a Greek Orthodox Church and another for Copts.

Despite protests, Italian ambassador in Doha, Ignatio Di Pashi, suggested to local media he does not expect church closures. "A few years ago, opening a church in Qatar was sort of impossible", he was quoted as saying. "But Qatar has changed since the coming of the
new emir."

Since coming to power in 1995, Prince Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thanihas made clear he wanted to the tolerant face of Islam and to accommodate the new Christian minority in his gas-rich country. Thirteen years later Christians want to see that promise fulfilled.

Once St. Mary’s opens, neighbour Saudi Arabia, which also practices Wahhabism, will be the only Arab nation in the Gulf that bans churches.

Corruption cases on the rise in Saudi Arabia

2008-02-20T16:51:00.000Z

By Mariam Al Hakeem, Correspondent. Gulf News.
Published: February 20, 2008, 00:54

Riyadh: Bribery cases in Saudi Arabia increased by 15 per cent in 2007, according to a recent report released by the Saudi interior ministry.

Despite the fact the cases of bribery increased last year, no case was reported in the Baha region, the report added. Baha is located in the southern part of Saudi Arabia.

However, the report did not say why no bribery cases were reported in this area in particular while cases of bribery were reported in other parts of the kingdom.

The report noted that 221 expatriates in Riyadh were accused of bribery last year. It did not say the overall cases of bribery reported in Riyadh that year. It added that 237 Saudis were involved in bribery cases in the eastern province in 2007.

Imprisonment

The total reported cases of bribery in that year in the province amounted to 340, the report pointed out.

Bribery is on the increase in Saudi Arabia despite Saudi government efforts to fight it by enacting relevant laws.

The first Saudi anti-bribery law was enacted in 1962. The law was amended in 1968 and then in 1992.

The last amended law to combat bribery, endorsed by the Saudi Cabinet in 1992, stipulates severe punishment against those who receive bribes.

The law notes that "any employee who accepted or received a promise or gift to perform any duties of his function, shall be punished with imprisonment for a period not exceeding 10 years or a fine not exceeding one million riyals (Dh1m) or both."

Using connections or influences, or what is known in Arabic, as "wasta" is common in the kingdom. The practice is not considered illegal in official circles. It is not unusual to see people seeking "wasta" to get things done outside of the normal procedures.

Observers attributed the spread of this practice, among other things, to the social and tribal connections in Saudi Arabia.

Sharjah shops told to 'behead' mannequins

2008-02-20T16:47:00.002Z

By Mariam M. Al Serkal, Staff Reporter. Gulf News.
Published: February 19, 2008, 17:31

Sharjah: Mannequins in Sharjah shops should be headless and only model “decent” clothing, a Sharjah Municipality circular has stated.

The municipality has urged shopkeepers to abide by a ban that prohibits the display of mannequins with facial features, said a senior Sharjah Municipality official.

“The only clothes on display now should be decent and the mannequins should be headless,” said Khalid Al Jaberi, head of market control at Sharjah Municipality.

A circular was recently sent to all shops stating the heads of mannequins be removed and that they are forbidden to wear underwear, to uphold the traditional and religious values of the emirate.

“We reinforced the ban because it was a religious issue that raised many complaints from residents, who were against shops displaying men and women’s undergarments on realistic mannequins,” said Al Jaberi.

He said no fines had been imposed on shops because everyone had adhered to the circular.
Sharjah Municipality originally implemented the ban five years ago following a fatwa issued by the Islamic Affairs Department.

However, the ban has been reinforced because several outlets had stopped abiding by the rule.
The municipality has always been keen on conserving the traditional Islamic values of Sharjah and has already implemented several rules, including the ban on men selling women’s undergarments in shops.

The Sharjah Economic Development Department ordered 10 shops to close in March 2007 for flouting the rule, and instructed all shops and shopping centres to hire only female employees to sell women’s undergarments.

Top Lawyer Comes to Yara’s Defense

2008-02-20T11:57:00.001Z

Ebtihal Mubarak, Arab News

JEDDAH — A prominent human rights lawyer said yesterday that the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice committed various violations in the way one of its members arrested a 37-year-old businesswoman in Riyadh.

Yara was arrested on Feb. 4 by commission members for being in the family section of a Riyadh Starbucks cafe with a Syrian colleague.

“There is a good possibility of winning the case against the commission if Yara filed a lawsuit at the Court of Grievances,” Abdul Rahman Al-Lahem told Arab News.

He added that the commission member in this case violated an order from the Interior Ministry that binds commission members to produce suspects at the local police center. It is the local police’s responsibility to investigate such cases.

“The Interior Ministry rule is clear on that matter,” Al-Lahem said. “The commission must hand over anyone they arrest in any case to the police.”

The lawyer added that placing a suspect in a taxi for transfer is a clear violation of existing rules, which is what happened in Yara’s case. Al-Lahem said that the commission member should have had proper identification. “He’s actually violating the commission’s own rules,” he said. “When arresting someone, they should present the commission’s ID card.” Yara has claimed that the member who arrested her refused to produce any identification.

The lawyer also questioned the commission’s claim that Yara and her colleague were violating Islamic law and instead criticized the commission member for forcing Yara into a taxi.

“What is a Shariah violation?” he questioned. “Who defines one? There is no legislation that prevents people who are not related from meeting in public. In fact, being in a limousine with an unrelated man is more of a ‘khulwa’ than being in a coffee shop.” (Khulwa is defined as being in a state of seclusion with an unrelated man or woman.)

In its statement on Monday, the commission charged that Yara and her colleague violated Labor Ministry regulations for “working together”.

Al-Lahem countered this saying the commission is not authorized to monitor Labor Ministry violations.

“The minister of labor is the only authority to check on such violations,” he said. “Does the commission now want to monitor all violations in the country?”

In addition, the commission accused two prominent Saudi columnists — Abdullah Al-Alami of Al-Watan newspaper and Abdullah Abou Alsamh of the Okaz daily — of supporting illegal and un-Islamic activities.

Abou Alsamh denies making any un-Islamic remarks in his column and said he merely questioned the commission’s interpretations about khulwa.

“My point was that the commission members humiliated her,” he said. “They said that under Islamic law a woman couldn’t travel without mahram (a legal male guardian). If so, then why is the government allowing this? Why are local airlines not prohibiting women from traveling alone?”

In Al-Alami’s case, the commission threatened legal action against him for describing Yara’s arrest as an “abduction”.

“I still stick to what I said in my column,” Al-Alami told Arab News yesterday. “I’m committed to human rights as mandated under the law.”

Arab News attempted to contact Abdullah Al-Shathari, the head of the Riyadh branch of the commission, who released the statement on Monday. He was, however, not available.

— Additional input by Ali Al-Zahrani

Forbidden Inside, Permitted Outside

2008-02-19T10:03:00.000Z

Amal Zahid • Al-Watan

The minute her picture — she was wearing her hijab — was published in one of the local newspapers, she became the subject of gossip and backbiting. When she approached the teachers’ room at the school she worked in, all the heads popped up to stare at her. They maliciously made fun of her. She dared to break society’s rules publicly. It would be all right for a woman to uncover her face in the dark or when no one is watching, but to have the guts to challenge traditions and uncover her face publicly, that’s a shameful crime.

We’re moving into closed circles of duality and hypocrisy, unable to survive. Society accepts many habits as long as they are practiced without being brought to the world’s attention. This is just an evident proof of the duality of standards that govern our society and control people’s brains and thoughts. It also exposes the social hypocrisy that dominates our everyday life, which becomes vicious once associated with women and their appearance.

What’s criticized and rejected in full view of people is accepted and approved without their knowledge and in the dark. The family might be aware that their daughter is out with her face uncovered without being upset about it. But they get agitated and furious when they know that her face becomes known to the public and on the pages of local newspapers.

Many welcome the presence of Saudi women in scientific, cultural and economic forums. In fact, they usually applaud the idea whenever the event takes place outside the borders of the Kingdom. But when forums happen inside the country and women participate, attend or contribute, then they are criticized. There are many social situations that follow a similar pattern: forbidden inside, permitted abroad.

Everyone knows that Saudi women not only remove their abayas once they leave the country, but they also compete in following the latest fashion trends when abroad. They spend a fortune on their outfits so that they don’t feel left out of the fashion parade that Saudi and Gulf women start during summer vacations in other Arab or European countries. The famous streets of London, Paris or Cairo are like carnivals displaying the latest in fashion trend worn by Saudi and Gulf women.

This proves that it’s impossible to impose a certain trend on people when it comes to dress codes or behavior. Threats and terrorizing make people have dual personalities. They become schizophrenic. They will rush at the first opportunity to ditch anything that’s been imposed on them when they’re sure that they are neither monitored nor supervised.

Prohibiting things that the scholars disagree upon and imposing traditions on people will lead to social hypocrisy. It will increase the number of people who secretly do things that they oppose publicly. We need to review many of our social habits that are practiced in the name of religion and are severely restricting Saudi society. We might at one point make peace with ourselves and manage to stand in the face of the changing world.

‘Transsexual’ Seeks Sex-Change Operation

2008-02-15T10:29:00.001Z

Saudi Gazette

Friday, 15 February 2008

MAKKAH - A 38-year-old unmarried woman here who claims to be a transsexual needs money and an edict from a noted Muslim scholar in order to undergo a sex-change operation.

The woman told Arabic daily newspaper Al-Riyadh she confirmed her dysfunction at age 17.

"It was around that age when I detected thick hair growth on my body as well as the lowering of my voice," she said.

A check-up with doctors showed that she has no ovary and that her male hormones are higher than her female ones.

Although medical reports show that some of her body parts are those of a man, her family refused to allow her to undergo a sex-change operation.

The women went to several doctors all over the Kingdom, hoping for someone to perform the operation. All of them refused.

They said that for one, I don't have male reproductive organs. Secondly, the Ministry of Health has to approve the operation, she said.

She said that through Internet research, she learned that patients need to get two medical reports from two psychiatrists, in addition to undergoing tests and physical check-ups, before they can even consider for such operation.

One of the physicians she went to referred her to Al-Amal Hospital - which turned out to only treat addiction and psychological problems.

I thought of slitting my wrists after that if not for the fear of God, she said.

As substitute for suicide, she turned to cough syrups; often ending up between a state of hysteria and dizziness, or sleeping for two days straight.

She went to Egypt two years ago for a mastectomy. Her doctor also suggested male organ implantation.

But I turned down the offer because I didn't want to do anything without the approval of the Saudi Ministry of Health, she said.

The woman also turned down suggestions to travel to Sweden to seek humanitarian asylum for the same reason.

She said that her family only approved of her desire to undergo sex-change operation after her father passed away three years ago.

A Syrian doctor with whom she has been consulting with reiterated the need for the operation.

A hospital in Miami, USA can do it - but for $17,000.

She said that several Saudi lawyers have offered to take up her case with the Ministry of Health.

A noted Muslim scholar told her to get in touch with the Grand Mufti.

Dr. Ali Bin Sulaiman Al-Hanaki, Director General of Social Affairs here, said they do look into and provide assistance to similar cases but only upon submission of medical reports and required documents.

Ex-Husband Continues to Make Life Hell for Abused Wife

2008-02-12T09:00:00.000Z

Ebtihal Mubarak, Arab News


Amal with a copy of the court verdict. (AN photo)

JEDDAH — Six broken teeth. Debts in excess of SR200,000. Bruised spirit and a battered body. That's precisely what 42-year-old Amal got from a marriage of 15 years.

What's worse, her ordeal has not ended even though she divorced four years ago - Amal is now faced with a possible lawsuit if she fails to pay her former husband around SR75,000 for "child support" by the end of this month.

Not surprising then that though her name means "hope" in Arabic, Amal, a divorced mother of five, said she had lost all hope of any improvement in conditions for Saudi women and had a complete lack of faith in the local legal system.

She had struggled for 15 years to survive life with an abusive husband. Seeking justice in Saudi courts for a year and half has not only left her broke and in debt but also with a court order that obliges her to pay child support.

She recalled an incident that took place 11 years ago. "My husband began beating me in front of the children. The beating got more violent and I could not take it anymore. I managed to run out into the street, dressed only in a house dress."

Amal thought her husband might be hesitant or ashamed to attack her in public but that was not the case. He followed her and, in front of everyone, began hitting her. He then returned to their apartment, leaving her bleeding in the street.

"Some of my teeth were broken and I was bleeding. I felt pain and shame and people gathered to watch but did nothing to help me." After some time, an Egyptian offered Amal a lift to the King Fahd Hospital. Once she arrived at the hospital, no one called the police. The hospital did, however, contact her family members who came and took her away later that night.

A year after the incident, Amal decided to get a divorce. To support her case, she went to the hospital to get a copy of the medical report from the emergency room but was told that it had been lost. At that point, she felt powerless to do anything and so she returned to the misery of her life with her husband.

During her marriage, Amal alleges, her husband allowed her to work so he could take her salary. As a nurse, she initially received SR6,000 a month though it was later increased to SR9,000. However, her husband took this wage and gave Amal a paltry SR1,500 as allowance. The end of her marriage began when he approached her one day, demanding thousands of riyals. She said she was already in debt due to his constant demands for money and that, because she sensed danger, she did not go to work that day. "Get me the money. I don't care where but get me the money tonight," her husband said, according to Amal.

That night, he came back and when Amal told him she did not have the money, he called her family, saying, "Come and get your daughter before I throw her in the garbage."

Amal left the apartment that SR60,000 of her money had furnished with only the clothes on her back and a small bag with her baby's feeding bottles and belongings inside.

At that point, she was able to convince her family that she could no longer live with her husband. Amal filed a lawsuit accusing him of physically and physiologically abusing her for 15 years in front of their children. In court, her husband denied everything and said he wanted her back as his wife.

"You've been married for 15 years and you are now asking for a divorce?" the judge asked Amal. She said that the judge never listened to her and that sometimes she felt she did not exist in the courtroom as he completely ignored her.

Amal said she could not afford to hire a lawyer. Also, she said that the judge never asked for her neighbors' testimony. Her sisters' husbands, who took an oath in front of the judge that her husband was abusing her, supported her statements. Her husband, subsequently, denied all accusations.

In the end, the judge granted the divorce after she relinquished her land grant and agreed to support her children financially. The court order directed that Amal have custody of the five children and asked her to support them until they were adults. (Arab News is in possession of a copy of the court order issued four years ago.)

Though the demand for the wife to support the children was unusual, Amal said it was one of the preconditions for the divorce set by the judge since it was she who sought the divorce. Since Amal did not want the case to drag, she agreed to the same without seeking legal advice on the issue.

However, working as a nurse from morning till night made it hard for her to take good care of her children, especially the boys. So, when her husband saw the kids playing on the street one day, he took them away and filed a complaint stating that she was not taking care of the children. Amal then told her husband to keep the three boys and leave the two daughters with her.

Though he agreed, to her dismay, her husband demanded that she pay him SR3,000 every month to support the boys. Amal says she had no choice and agreed to his terms. She paid him the amount for eight months. However, bogged down by heavy debt she had carried forward over time, Amal almost went bankrupt and found it impossible to pay the agreed amount.

Instead of taking her financial condition into consideration, her husband simply became infuriated. And, according to Amal, all hell broke loose.

Over the last four years since she has separated, her ex-husband has been constantly harassing her for money and has filed numerous reports against her at local police stations, complaining that Amal had abandoned her children and stopped supporting them financially.

Now, Amal said, her husband is threatening to file a lawsuit against her at the end of the month if she fails to cough up SR52,000 in arrears for child support. "When will all this end? I'm exhausted and have a huge debt. To make matters worse, even charity organizations and government bodies are refusing to help me because I am a working woman," Amal told Arab News.

When Arab News got in touch with her husband, he admitted that he was going to proceed with the lawsuit if Amal failed to give him the money she owed him by the end of this month. Even though he argued that his wife had misrepresented him - and that he had "beaten her only once" - he countered that the money that Amal supposedly owed him was in excess of SR75,000 and not SR52,000 as claimed by his wife.

What's more, he felt, the judge had erred when stating that Amal should pay for child support until the children were adults - the payment should have been for life, he argued. Whatever the merits, or demerits, of his argument is left for everyone to judge. However, one thing is clear: for Amal and her ex-husband, the whole thing is turning out to be a strange case of "till debt do us part".

Mystery of Missing Nurse Deepens With Phone Call

2008-02-10T05:40:00.000Z

Mystery of Missing Nurse Deepens With Phone Call
M. Ghazanfar Ali Khan, Arab News

RIYADH - Attempts by the South African Embassy, relatives and acquaintances to find Dannelene Noach, a nurse who has been missing since November last year after whistle-blowing on alleged irregularities at a local hospital, have been unsuccessful.

"We have written more than half dozen letters to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in a staggered timeframe to trace Noach, but to no avail," South African Ambassador John Davies said yesterday.

Adding to the intrigue in the case is that the family claims Noach contacted them about 10 days ago.

"It was a landline call; we were able to trace the number and passed it on to the South African Embassy in Riyadh," said Lee-Ann Noach-Pienaar, the daughter of the missing nurse.

"My mother sounded very desperate," she added.

The family says that they suspect Noach is being held captive and that her captors are allowing her to contact her family, but would only allow her to speak in English so they could understand the conversation.

"I don't know how it all happened, how she managed to call her family in South Africa from an undisclosed location after so many days," said Davies. "We have received general information about Noach from King Abdul Aziz Medical City, where she used to work, but we have failed to trace her so far."

Family members have contacted the Saudi and South African governments for help, but they say their efforts have been in vain. Noach, from Cape Town, worked in Riyadh for about seven years. The last time she spoke to her daughter before disappearing was on Nov. 20.

"We spoke on the phone every day. On the first day I couldn't contact her I thought there was probably something wrong with her phone, but when we didn't hear from her the next day then I knew something was wrong," said Noach-Pienaar.

"The embassy has already conveyed its concerns to the Saudi officials," said Davies. "And we have heard that the nurse is being kept captive somewhere in the city."

According to Noach-Pienaar, her mother, who worked as a clinical coordinator at the Riyadh hospital, was asked in May last year to conduct an audit of her department and had discovered financial discrepancies implicating some officials.

"As soon as she submitted her report, she was suspended without pay. She had taken the matter up with a local human rights organization because they cited (her use of) black magic as the reason for the suspension," said Noach-Pienaar

"Sharia law in UK is 'unavoidable'"

2008-02-07T16:35:00.000Z

BBC News

Dr Williams says Muslims should have a choice in legal disputes

The Archbishop of Canterbury says the adoption of certain aspects of Sharia law in the UK "seems unavoidable".

Dr Rowan Williams told Radio 4's World at One that the UK has to "face up to the fact" that some of its citizens do not relate to the British legal system.

Dr Williams argues that adopting parts of Islamic Sharia law would help maintain social cohesion.

For example, Muslims could choose to have marital disputes or financial matters dealt with in a Sharia court.

He says Muslims should not have to choose between "the stark alternatives of cultural loyalty or state loyalty".

In an exclusive interview with BBC correspondent Christopher Landau, ahead of a lecture to lawyers in London later on Monday, Dr Williams argues this relies on Sharia law being better understood. At the moment, he says "sensational reporting of opinion polls" clouds the issue.

He stresses that "nobody in their right mind would want to see in this country the kind of inhumanity that's sometimes been associated with the practice of the law in some Islamic states; the extreme punishments, the attitudes to women as well".

But Dr Williams said an approach to law which simply said "there's one law for everybody and that's all there is to be said, and anything else that commands your loyalty or allegiance is completely irrelevant in the processes of the courts - I think that's a bit of a danger".

"There's a place for finding what would be a constructive accommodation with some aspects of Muslim law, as we already do with some other aspects of religious law."

Dr Williams adds: "What we don't want either, is I think, a stand-off, where the law squares up to people's religious consciences."

"We don't either want a situation where, because there's no way of legally monitoring what communities do... people do what they like in private in such a way that that becomes another way of intensifying oppression inside a community."

Multiculturalism 'divisive'

Under English law, people may devise their own way to settle a dispute in front of an agreed third party as long as both sides agree to the process.

Muslim Sharia courts and the Jewish Beth Din which already exist in the UK come into this category.

Dr Williams' comments are likely to fuel the debate over multiculturalism in the UK.

Last month, one of Dr William's colleagues, the Bishop of Rochester, said that non-Muslims may find it hard to live or work in some areas of the UK.

The Right Reverend Dr Michael Nazir-Ali said there was "hostility" in some areas and described the government's multicultural policies as divisive.

He said there had been a worldwide resurgence of Islamic extremism, leading to young people growing up alienated from the country they lived in.

He has since received death threats and has been placed under police protection.

Coffee With Colleague Lands Woman in Trouble

2008-02-05T05:54:00.000Z

Raid Qusti, Arab News

RIYADH, 5 February 2008 — A Saudi mother of three, who works as a business partner and financial consultant for a reputable company in Jeddah, didn’t expect that a trip to the capital to open the company’s new branch office would have her thrown behind bars by the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice.

Yara, a petite 40-year-old woman, was in tears yesterday after she narrated to Arab News her encounter with a commission member that ended in high drama.

Yara, who has been married for 27 years, said she spent several hours in the women’s section of Riyadh’s Malaz Prison, was strip-searched, ordered to sign a confession that she was in a state of “khulwa” (a state of seclusion with an unrelated man) and for hours prevented from contacting her husband in Jeddah.

Her crime? Having a cup of coffee with a colleague in a Starbucks.

Yara said she arrived in the capital yesterday morning from Jeddah to check on the company’s new office.

“The minute I came into the office my colleagues told me that we have an issue with the electricity company and that we do not have power but that it would be back on in half an hour,” she said.

As they were waiting, they decided to go to the ground floor of the building to have a cup of coffee in the family section of Starbucks. Family sections are the only places where men and women can sit together in establishments in Saudi Arabia. Officially, these sections are for families only, but in practical terms these sections — usually in international chains like Starbucks — become the only places where unrelated men and women can be comfortable that they won’t be harassed by commission members.

But yesterday Yara and her colleague found themselves in trouble with the commission. One moment they were sitting together discussing brand equity and sovereign wealth funds; the next moment she found herself in commission custody.

Shortly after they took their coffee and Yara opened her laptop, a member of the commission approached the two and demanded the man step outside.

“Then (the commission member) came to me and said: ‘You need to come with us. This man is not a relative,’” she said.

When she told the commission member that she wanted to contact her husband by phone, he refused.

“I am the government,” Yara quoted him as saying. He then ordered her to come with him.

Yara described how the commission member had to wave a taxi down to begin the hours-long process of punishing the woman for having a cup of coffee in a public place with a colleague. When she hesitated about entering the taxi, she said the commission member threatened her.

“I am the government and you have to get in,” she said, recounting the words of the commission member.

Inside the taxi, Yara said the commission member snatched her phone from her as she tried to call her husband. She told Arab News that even the cab driver felt uneasy but, knowing the power of the commission in Riyadh, refrained from interfering.

Eventually the cab approached a GMC Suburban, the vehicle of choice for the commission members, parked in front of one of the commission centers. Yara pleaded with the cab driver not to leave her.

“I was begging him to stay with me,” she said. But the taxi driver was ordered to move on and Yara found herself locked in the back of the GMC.

Time passed, she said. Commission members came and went. She said they preached to her about the grave sin she committed.

“Your husband is no good,” she said, recounting the words of the commission members. “He should not have let you do this.”

She said she was admonished for traveling alone. The commission members told her that her colleague admitted that they always went out together. (Later, she learned that her colleague, a Syrian national, was also arrested. He still remains in detention.)

“I told (the commission member) that I am a good Muslim, a mother of three, and a God-fearing person who would never do shameful things,” she told Arab News in tears.

Last year, the Interior Ministry issued a ruling that the commission cannot detain people and must pass them on to the police.

Yara said that she was handed a confession.

“He told me I needed to fingerprint this paper stating that I got my mobile phone and bag back,” she said. “When I told him my phone was still confiscated, he threatened me: ‘Just do it!’”

She said that she fingerprinted the paper under duress.

“I had no other choice ... I was scared for my life ... I was afraid that they would abuse me or do something to me,” she said, as she broke down in tears again.

Then another person got into the GMC and switched on the engine.

“The next thing I saw from the window was that we were approaching a place with a sign written on the outside: Malaz Prison,” she said.

Inside the prison, Yara recounts being taken to a cell with a one-way mirror. On the other side was a sheikh.

“I could not see him because there was a dark window,” she said, adding that each time she paused he would reprimand her, telling her what she did was wrong. “He kept on telling me this is not allowed.”

Yara told the sheikh that her husband knew where she was and what she was doing. He then started writing a report. Another pre-written confession was fingerprinted, she said. She pleaded with prison authorities to contact her husband.

“They would not let me contact my husband,” she said. “I told them... please... my husband will have a heart attack if he does not know what has happened to me.”

She was not given a phone to call her husband. She was not given access to a lawyer. “They stripped me,” she said. “They checked that I had nothing with me and threw me in the cell with all the others.”

Meanwhile, Yara’s husband Hatim, an executive director of a prominent company, was in Jeddah when he received a phone call. “My friend contacted me and told me that the commission had captured my wife,” he said.

He booked the next flight to Riyadh and, after some strings were pulled, Yara was out of jail.

“I look at this as if she had been kidnapped by thugs,” said Hatim. “There’s really nothing else to it ... I know this has nothing to do with the country, but these (people) are thugs. Unfortunately, they told her that they are ‘the government’ so she could not resist.”

The Syrian colleague was still in custody by the time Arab News went to press. He is a senior financial analyst, who is described by acquaintances as a devout Muslim whose mother teaches Qur’an recitation to children.

Catholics in the Gulf

2008-02-03T06:02:00.001Z

Interesting video:

Saudi Arabia: Is Defacing of Images in Outdoor Adverts Forced?

2008-02-03T05:30:00.000Z

An interesting article about self imposed censorship in Saudi Arabia provoked by fear of offending local customs.

Hasan Hatrash, Arab News

JEDDAH, 3 February 2008 — Have you ever wondered why some advertisements in Jeddah show people’s faces while others have the faces marked out?

Well, you aren’t alone. Even the responsible authorities wonder why some advertising agencies still produce signs where the faces of the people in the advertisements are digitally blurred out.

The habit of defacing images stems from a traditional aversion in Saudi Arabia toward depicting the human face in images, such as advertising billboards. But Saudi authorities say there is no law against showing advertisements without the alterations.

“There is no rule or regulation that enforces the deformation of a human figure or face in any advertisement,” Ahmad Al-Zahrani, an official at the Ministry of Information and Culture, told Arab News yesterday.

Nevertheless, some advertising agencies appear averse toward depicting human faces. “What is happening is self-imposed censorship,” said Qaswara Al-Khateeb, head of the advertising committee at the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

Khateeb says ad agencies tend to deface their signs in order to avoid any complaints from people, especially authorities, who might use this as a pretext for having the ads removed, or for otherwise getting the agency in trouble.

He said that since most agencies are foreign owned, they tend to be extra cautious in matters that might be interpreted locally as a violation of religious or cultural mores.

Al-Khateeb, who is also a director of Full Stop advertising agency based in Jeddah, said that his agency has been producing both outdoor and magazine advertisements without any defacing to the human forms on their products.

“My agency has produced many outdoor advertisements without blurring the face for many years and we haven’t received any complaint from any authority,” he assured.

Even the authorities one would assume to be most likely to protest seem nonplussed by the concept of showing human faces on advertisements for products and services.

“We only get involved if the issue is against public respect or if it is not an authorized advertisement,” said Ahmad Al-Ghamdi, the head of the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice in the Makkah Region. He rejected the suggestion that the Commission would go after advertisers who do not deface their images.

However, Aboud Shami, group managing director of Impact BBDO advertising, told Arab News that the Commission has visited his agency in the past — 10 years ago — ordering him not only to blur out human faces but also alter the images of animals, either by blurring them out or drawing lines through their necks.

But today, Shami said, things are different. “We don’t receive any more complaints or visits be members of the Commission,” he said.

Ahmad Asim, Saudi account director at a local advertising agency, said that he used to work with a major international agency seven years ago; there he saw members of the Commission frequently ordering image alteration.

“Since many agencies live by the fear of the past, we still see blurred faces in the outdoor adverts,” he said. “It will remain this way until the issue is clarified.”

Back on track!

2008-02-02T05:53:00.000Z

STC Restores Internet Connectivity of Clients
Arab News

JEDDAH, 2 February 2008 — Saudi Telecom Company (STC) announced yesterday that it was successful in providing Internet connectivity to clients with 20 percent extra bandwidths than it had before Wednesday's disruption caused by a communication cable cut.

In an official statement, STC confirmed that the cut off of FLAG and SEA-ME-WE 4 cables had reduced Internet connectivity in the Kingdom by 50 percent on the first day of disruption.

"The company with the support of international operators was able to restore Internet connectivity to its clients and it worked round the clock to operate a number of routes with different bandwidths ... as the bandwidths now available for use are 20 percent more than available before the disruption," the statement said.

With regard to providing service to other Internet service providers in the region, especially in the GCC, the company said it was able to provide them with adequate bandwidths to meet their minimum requirements.

Saudi Arabia: Two Executed for Raping a Minor

2008-02-01T20:29:00.000Z

Saudi Gazette

Thursday, 31 January 2008 MADINA -

Authorities beheaded two Saudi citizens Wednesday for raping a child and filming him with a cell phone in Madina, the Saudi Press Agency reported.

Mohammed Bin Bashir Bin Hamid Howsawi and Majed Bin Hassan Bin Darwish kidnapped a minor, raped him and then filmed him with a mobile phone, said a statement by the Interior Ministry carried by Saudi Press Agency.

Riyadh: Rising Crime Rate Worries Expats

2008-02-01T19:03:00.000Z

M. Ghazanfar Ali Khan, Arab News

RIYADH, 1 February 2008 — A series of daytime robberies, attacks, car thefts and purse-snatchings committed by organized crime groups in certain areas of Riyadh have alarmed expatriates and citizens alike.

“Even those working for media and government agencies are not safe,” said Mojib ibn Raza Siddiquee, whose car was stolen on Tuesday from the parking lot of his office. Siddiquee, who works for the Saudi Research & Publishing Company (SRPC), lodged a complaint with the local police.

On Wednesday afternoon, Muzaffar Pathan, branch manager of Al-Kabeer Co., foiled a daring daytime robbery by three youths as he was returning home with his wife. A young miscreant entered his building lobby, snatched the keys of his car and ran down the stairs.

Muzaffar followed the criminal and overpowered him while the thief’s two accomplices were waiting outside his house in a Mazda. After a brief brawl, the two thieves fled in their waiting vehicle (plate number: ya ta laam 907) parked a little further away.

A complaint has been lodged with the local police station, but the thieves are still at large. “I am seriously contemplating relocating myself to a safer city of the Kingdom or even outside,” said Ashif A. Bhatti, a computer professional, whose house was burgled during the holidays this month. The cell phone of Ashif’s son was also snatched by a group of young boys in a separate incident.

“The car of a Pakistani national was snatched just in front of my restaurant in the Wazarat district on Wednesday afternoon,” said Bilal of Lahory Khabey Restaurant.

Nabeel Iqbal Khan, a Pakistani professional, has more stories to narrate and more complaints against the police, who have failed to recover SR30,000 worth of gold and jewelry stolen from Khan’s house a few weeks back.

“It is increasingly difficult to withdraw cash from an ATM and even move around in the city,” he said.

In another incident on Wednesday night, Saquib Manzar, a student of the International Indian School-Riyadh (IISR), together with his friend, was mobbed by a group of young boys with ill intentions.

Thanks to the intervention of a few shopkeepers and some kind passers-by the two teenagers managed to escape. The incident took place in the posh crime-free Rawdah district here.

At the same night in Rawdah, a group of thugs attacked two poor workers and tried to snatch their wallets.

“When the workers strongly refused to hand over their belongings to the criminals, they attacked them with rods and daggers, inflicting injuries all over their bodies,” said Sheikh Ahmed Al-Salman, their sponsor.

“Western expatriates are a bit safe because they are staying in secured compounds,” said a Western executive who didn’t want his name published. He also blamed police inaction for the rising crime rate.

The Riyadh police do not provide crime statistics in a regular and orderly fashion. While police do release crime reports, data that would allow for the identification of trends are not provided to the public or the media.

However, public discourse and newspaper articles in recent years reflect a popular view that crime is increasing in Saudi Arabia’s capital.

Foster Parents Reluctant to Adopt Dark-Skinned Kids: Social Worker

2008-02-01T18:57:00.000Z

Badea Abu Al-Naja, Arab News

MAKKAH, 1 February 2008 — If you are an abandoned child seeking foster parents, your chances of being adopted are much higher if your skin is lighter, according to Najla Rida, the head of the Makkah branch of the Um Al-Qura Charity Organization.

The problem is that most orphans are not fair skinned. Rida says about 85 percent of them have African features and are unwanted by Saudi adoptive families who perceive these children to be outsiders.

“Their looks indicate that they are not of Saudi origin,” she said. “They are the children of illegal residents of Makkah.”

Rida says adoptive families make it clear that they aren’t interested in these children and specifically ask for light-skinned tots. She warn that this phenomenon of leaving these children — widely perceived to have been dumped by illegal aliens on the Saudi street or the product of extramarital affairs — will eventually exacerbate social problems

“These children grow up to hate Saudi society,” she said. “It will take us a long time to rehabilitate them. These children are the result of immoral relationships, poverty and lack of religious values.”

Abandoning babies is clearly a global issue, but the problem is exacerbated in the Kingdom due to the large numbers of uncounted people living outside the system, either as pilgrims that overstayed their visas to eke out a living in the Kingdom or by undocumented migrants crossing from poorer countries in the region.

Saudis interviewed for this report all view the practice of abandoning children at the doorsteps of mosques and hospitals as a criminal and immoral practice.

Nisrin Al-Ghamdi, a psychologist, said that while she wouldn’t call the problem endemic to Saudi Arabia, she does think it could be addressed more compassionately. “In the West orphans are raised and given an education regardless of their origins,” she said. “In Arab countries these children are often considered sinful. They’re raised under psychological suffering and they grow up hateful.”

Al-Ghamdi said that girls are more likely to be dumped than boys due to cultural mores that view girls as more of a hindrance than boys. She also encouraged families and mothers in particular to watch their daughters to prevent them from being raped, which might result in unwanted pregnancies.

Maj. Abdul Muhsin Al-Maiman, Makkah police spokesman, said that when they confront a case of an abandoned baby they usually pass it on to welfare officials while trying to find the perpetrators. “Our role is limited to taking these babies to hospitals to check on their health,” he said. “We then look for their parents.”

If police failed to find the parents of these children they end up in charity organizations such as Um Al-Qura. The officer couldn’t provide statistical data on the number of abandoned babies found in Makkah, which is home to a high number of illegal residents.

Rida said that her organization typically received these babies from the government after it is informed by the hospitals that received the babies from the police.

Islamic scholar Sami Khayat said that Islam encourages marriage in order to prevent the problem of abandoned children. From a religious perspective, abandoning a child implies two sins: one of having an illicit sexual affair and the other of not taking care of one’s offspring.

“Whoever is not (caring for his children) deserves punishment now and on the Day of Judgment,” he said.

Saudi Arabia: Internet Disruption May Last 10 Days

2008-02-01T18:56:00.000Z

Molouk Y. Ba-Isa, Arab News

ALKHOBAR, 1 February 2008 — Disruption to communications in Saudi Arabia and throughout the Middle East and South Asia continues due to a cut in two submarine cables in the Mediterranean Sea.

Both the FLAG and SEA-ME-WE 4 undersea cables have been cut, off the coast of Egypt near Alexandria. Some reports claim that the cut was caused by a ship’s anchor, but neither cable operator has confirmed the reason for the outage.

Regarding the SEA-ME-WE 4 cable, a spokesperson for Alcatel-Lucent said: “Cable damages of this kind normally happen because of seismic activity, earthquakes or anchoring issues. Until the cable is brought back to the surface, the exact cause cannot be determined. The maintenance consortium responsible for repair is taking the needed steps.”

There is no definite time specified for the repair but early indications are that at least 10 days and perhaps two weeks will be needed to bring both cables back to full service. The Fiber-Optic Link Around the Globe (FLAG), is a 28,000 km long submarine communications cable owned by India’s Reliance Communications Ltd.

SEA-ME-WE 4, or the Southeast Asia-Middle East-West Europe 4 project, is a submarine cable system spanning about 20,000 km and linking Southeast Asia to Europe via the Indian Subcontinent and the Middle East. The SEA-ME-WE 4 Consortium is made up of 16 international telecommunications carriers, including Emirates Telecommunication Corporation (Etisalat), Saudi Telecom Co. (STC) and Telecom Egypt (TE).

Estimates have put disruption of Egypt’s nationwide Internet network as high as 70 percent. India is thought to have suffered up to 60 percent disruption. In Saudi Arabia, there is no official estimate of the damage to Internet services, but a manager at one local Internet service provider (ISP) believed that “the Kingdom is struggling to cope with a situation worse than that created by the Algerian earthquake in 2003.”

Throughout the region there are reports that business operations from international stock trading to call centers have been affected by the diminished availability of connectivity. As companies become aware that communication is difficult online, many are switching to telephone systems.

Several Saudi businessmen reported that yesterday afternoon, when placing telephone calls to Europe, their efforts were met again and again with the recorded message “all lines in this route are busy.”

In the coming week, communication across the region will be challenging. It is expected that the problem will grow as companies return to business in Saudi Arabia on Saturday and try to use online services.

With additional regional business hubs coming online Sunday, Internet service will be seriously compromised for home users.

To enable businesses to survive the crisis, ISPs will be forced to make the majority of international bandwidth available to business subscribers with home users facing extremely slow browsing. Web-based e-mail providers, such as Yahoo! and Hotmail, will not be easy to access during peak hours.

U.N. body calls for Saudis to end male guardianship

2008-02-01T18:18:00.000Z

From Reuters.

By Stephanie Nebehay

GENEVA (Reuters) - A United Nations human rights body called on Saudi Arabia on Friday to immediately end its system of male guardianship which it said severely limits the basic freedoms of women in the kingdom.

The U.N. Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women, in its first scrutiny of Saudi Arabia's gender equality record, said Islamic Sharia law should not trump an international women's rights treaty that Riyadh signed in 2000.

The committee's 23 independent experts urged Saudi Arabia to "amend its legislation to confirm that international treaties have precedence over domestic laws," and "enact a comprehensive gender equality law".

They also said that Riyadh should "take immediate steps to end the practice of male guardianship over women" and work to eliminate "negative cultural practices and stereotypes" which discriminate against women.

Saudi Arabia's system of male guardianship severely curtails the rights afforded in the 1979 Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, the committee said.

The rules restrict women's legal rights in marriage, divorce, child custody, inheritance, property ownership and decision-making in the family, as well as choice of residency, education and jobs, the committee said.

It "contributes to the prevalence of a patriarchal ideology with stereotypes and the persistence of deep-rooted cultural norms, customs and traditions that discriminate against women," the committee said. A de facto ban on Saudi women driving further reinforces such stereotypes, the U.N. body concluded.

Although the body has no legal power to enforce its recommendations, it is regarded as a moral authority on women's rights.

SAUDIS SAY NO DISCRIMINATION

A report submitted by Riyadh on its compliance with the treaty said that generally there was "no discrimination against women in the laws of the kingdom".

A Saudi delegation led by Zeid Bin Abdul Mushin Al Hussein, vice president of the Saudi Human Rights Commission, told the committee during a recent debate: "Human rights in the kingdom of Saudi Arabia are based on Sharia law."

Saudi clerics, who rule according to the strict religious tenets, have wide powers in Saudi Arabia under a traditional pact with the royal family.

The country drew international criticism after its Supreme Judicial Council ordered a 19-year-old to 200 lashes and six months in jail for having been with a man she was not related to when she was attacked and raped by seven other men in 2006.

King Abdullah pardoned the gang-rape victim in December.

The U.N. committee urged Riyadh to withdraw its proviso that Islamic law take precedence over the women's rights treaty, particularly as Saudi authorities have given assurances that there is "no contradiction in substance" between the two.

The committee's conclusions were issued at the end of a three-week meeting during which it also reviewed other states.

Saudi Arabia: long weekend due to the Arab League summit

2007-03-28T09:08:00.000Z

The Government of Saudi Arabia has decided to give two days off for all public employees and schools in Riyadh due to the celebration of the Arab League summit. The reason behind that, according to local press, seems to be the need to keep main roads of the city without heavy traffic and also fear of terrorist attacks when main leaders of the Arab world are present in Riyadh.

While nobody is questioning the measure it seems unclear how much will be the cost of giving two days vacation for public employees in the Kingdom.

It is interesting noticing that in Saudi Arabia things are somehow different. ;-)

Blasphemy against Islam

2007-03-27T06:58:00.000Z

Published by Arab News. It is interesting to notice how muslims treat blasphemy against Islam when in Europe blasphemy against Christianity is justified by the sacred law of Freedom of Speech.

Qur’an Abuse Sparks Riot
Khaled Al-Mahdi, Arab News

SANAA, 26 March 2007 — Hundreds of workers, outraged by an alleged desecration of the Qur’an by a French engineer, destroyed facilities and houses of foreign engineers at a giant gas-exporting project in southeastern Yemen yesterday.

Witnesses said workers at Balhaf port in Shabwa province set a helicopter and nine cars on fire. The port is some 580 km southeast of the capital Sanaa.

A security officer at the scene said police forces managed to disperse the rioting workers. “The situation is under control now,” said the officer. He said three workers were injured in clashes with police. Witnesses said police shot in the air to disperse the rioters.

The officer, who spoke on condition of anonymity said there were no casualties among the foreign workers as security forces managed to evacuate them swiftly.

Government officials in Sanaa said an ad hoc panel headed by the Shabwa governor and the province’s security chief would investigate claims by the workers that a French engineer kicked and tore the Qur’an apart.

Yemen is looking to exports of liquefied natural gas (LNG) as an alternative to its dwindling oil reserves and sees the $3.7 billion Balhaf project as key to achieving that.

This is what our politicians do when nobody is watching them

2007-03-20T12:50:00.000Z

Spanish politicians having fun together. Photo courtesy of Arturo. I think is authentic ;-)

Islamic "burkah" comes to Spain

2007-03-19T12:37:00.000Z

According to a report published by El Mundo newspaper, the use of islamic dress code (including burkah and niqab) is spreading in some areas of Spain. The pictures included were taken in Alcobendas (Madrid) and Vic (Barcelona) and not in Kabul or Kandahar (Afghanistan) as it may looks like.

Beirut

2007-03-18T17:45:00.000Z

I remember when I was in Beirut, Lebanon, I went to sleep after a busy day. In the middle of the night I was awoken by the sound of what I thought it was a thunderstorm. The next morning I read in the first page of the newspaper:

"Israel bombs Beirut"

What I thought it was a thunderstorm was the sound of the bombs.

Travelling through the Middle East

2007-03-18T09:04:00.000Z

I have been living and travelling through the Middle East for the last 15 years. I have been in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Oman, Yemen, Iraq, Iran, Syria, Lebanon and Jordan. The fact that I am fluent in Arabic gave me the opportunity of having a lot of nice experiences that I plan to share with you in the near future. If you speak Spanish you should try my original blog (crispal.blogspot.com). I hope you will like it and I would like to encourage you to leave your comments.

Enjoy!

If

2007-03-17T20:09:00.000Z

A wonderful poem by Rudyard Kipling. Thank you J. for your contribution.

If
IF you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or being hated, don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise:

If you can dream - and not make dreams your master;
If you can think - and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build 'em up with worn-out tools:

If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breathe a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: 'Hold on!'

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,'
Or walk with Kings - nor lose the common touch,
if neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,
If all men count with you, but none too much;
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And - which is more - you'll be a Man, my son!

First post

2007-03-16T21:13:00.000Z

This is my first post. This blog is the English version of my own blog, In Partibus Infidelium (crispal.blogspot.com).