King orders no flogging of journalist

Mon, 26 Oct 2009 17:57:14 +0000

Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz Monday ordered the cancellation of a court sentence of 60 lashes imposed on a female employee of a satellite television channel because of her involvement in a program about sex.

Wire services quoted Information Ministry spokesman Abdul-Rahman al-Hazzaa as saying that the king had ordered the flogging dropped and her case, as well as that of another woman, be transferred from criminal court to a media court run by the ministry.

Saudi woman to be lashed for promoting program about sex

Sat, 24 Oct 2009 15:19:01 +0000

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia — Remember the unfortunate Saudi man who got five years in jail and 1,000 lashings for boasting about his colorful sexual life on television?

UAE sheikh detained while torture allegations probed

Mon, 11 May 2009 23:07:40 +0000

A member of the United Arab Emirates’ ruling family has been detained while prosecutors investigate allegations that he tortured an Afghan grain dealer in 2004, according to a government statement issued Monday.

The allegations stem from a videotape of the 2004 assault that purportedly shows the detained man, Sheikh Issa bin Zayed al Nahyan, beating the victim with a nail-studded wood plank, setting his genitals on fire, hitting him with a cattle prod, and repeatedly running him over with an SUV.

Torture caught on camera in UAE

Mon, 04 May 2009 18:50:04 +0000

The Abu Dhabi government, a staunch U.S. ally, has reversed course and announced that it will launch a “comprehensive review” of the videotaped torture of an Afghan businessman — purportedly inflicted by a member of its ruling family.

The videotape, aired by ABC Television April 22, shows the Afghan, Mohammed Shah Poor, being beaten with a nail-studded wood plank, having his genitals set on fire, his anus pierced by a cattle prod and then repeatedly run over by an SUV.

Child bride "divorced"

Thu, 30 Apr 2009 19:26:31 +0000

RIYADH — A man who signed a marriage contract to wed an 8-year-old girl has agreed to legally divorce the child following widespread condemnation by Saudis of the agreement, according to Saudi press reports.

The case drew international attention after a Saudi judge in Onaiza twice refused to annul the marriage contract, which the father of the girl concluded with his 47-year-old friend in order to pay off a debt.

No marker

Thu, 30 Apr 2009 13:51:14 +0000

The 100-day mini-milestone has not been ballyhooed in Saudi Arabia or the other Gulf states, and there's been precious little commentary in the local press.

The reason may be that Arabs are still holding their breath to see what actually will emerge as Middle East policies in the Obama administration.

The atmospherics have changed — a lot. But when it comes to the region’s carbuncles of tough problems, all that the Arabs have seen so far is a promise of change.

Girls against child marriage

Thu, 16 Apr 2009 22:21:26 +0000

Saudi activist Wajiha Al Huweidar, who helped found the Saudi Society for the Defense of Women's Rights, put together a video quoting Saudi girls saying why they are against child marriage. It is posted on YouTube and has not been blocked by the Saudi government.

The video: "I Am a Child, Not a Woman."

A Saudi Happy Hour menu

Tue, 24 Feb 2009 18:04:57 +0000

Alcohol is forbidden in the kingdom. But that does not stop entrepreneurs from opening "bars." Usually, these establishments are found on residential compounds where foreigners live. But not always. There's a Cuban cigar bar — La Vida Havana — on a downtown Riyadh street.

Valentine's Day in Riyadh

Sat, 14 Feb 2009 22:25:05 +0000

Alex lives in Riyadh. A few days ago he ordered Valentine's Day roses for his girlfriend. When he picked them up from the florist today, they'd been wrapped in wrinkled old paper from the local IKEA outlet. Because the mutawwa, or religious police, were out in force today looking for violators of the ban on Valentine's Day, Alex took the added precaution of putting his jacket over the floral display while he walked to his girlfriend's office. As Alex observed, this is one of the things that "makes living in Saudi fun." There were no mishaps, and the roses were delivered.

Obama won't like what Mitchell hears

Fri, 30 Jan 2009 18:44:32 +0000

The president's special envoy, George Mitchell, must be gathering some disturbing reports on his Middle East listening tour.

Frustration in Riyadh

Fri, 23 Jan 2009 11:25:28 +0000

Saudi Prince Turki Al Faisal, the kingdom's former ambassador in Washington and one-time intelligence chief, has laid out in a exceptionally candid op-ed about why the Saudis are angry and frustrated with U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East.

He urges Washington to get behind the 2002 Saudi-backed Arab Peace Initiative offered Israel, a plan that Saudi King Abdullah said recently would not be on the table forever.

Obama's oath-taking word slip well-understood

Wed, 21 Jan 2009 00:31:28 +0000

Mahmoud Tariq, a Pakistani who runs a supermarket chain in Saudi Arabia, was watching the Inauguration in the lobby cafe of Riyadh's Intercontinental Hotel with three Pakistani friends.

Saudis watch swearing-in live on satellite tv

Tue, 20 Jan 2009 20:59:08 +0000

The two most popular satellite television stations among Saudis both covered Obama's swearing-in live tonight. Viewers noted that both channels — the Saudi-owned Al Arabiya and the Qatar-owned Al Jazeera — never agree on anything. But commentators on both stations tonight were wondering whether or not Obama would say his full name and mention his middle name: "Hussein." (He did.)

A Pakistani viewer

Wed, 21 Jan 2009 00:32:13 +0000

Mohammed Nadeem Baig, chief accountant at FAL residential compound, and a Muslim from Pakistan, is excited and also said he would be glued to his television at 8 p.m. local time.

He wants a "vacation from war"

Tue, 20 Jan 2009 17:48:25 +0000

This is What They Hope For

Tue, 20 Jan 2009 16:25:52 +0000

Mr. Mazen Motabagani was in the middle of lunch with his family when I reached him on the phone. The scholar said he's just got one question about Obama: "Is he going to look for his re-election or America's real interest?"

Asked what issue is most important for him, Motabagani replied: "Justice in the Middle East. Real justice, not just for one party over the other. I hope Obama gets that message."

Riyadh: A Muted Reception

Tue, 20 Jan 2009 16:29:48 +0000

It's now late afternoon in Riyadh, the capital. Thousands of miles away, Americans are already gathering on the National Mall as dawn breaks in Washington. But here, Obama's inauguration is not generating much public excitement.

None of this morning's Arabic newspapers noted the inauguration on their front pages. A couple had short stories inside, noting that Obama had pledged to remove U.S. troops from Iraq. Another ran a piece suggesting Obama will only be different in “Packaging” and “Style" from his predecessor.

Detainee update

Mon, 12 Jan 2009 20:51:49 +0000

Human Rights Watch responded to my earlier query about the political detainees this evening. Here is their update: Apart from Al Faleh, two other of the 11 detainees have been released since the hunger strike. Another was released some months ago. And, according to a human rights source here, prison conditions lately have improved for the seven still held.

Political reformist freed from Saudi prison

Mon, 12 Jan 2009 11:18:26 +0000

Last November, about 70 Saudis protested the detention of 11 political reformers by staging a two-day hunger strike. The strikers fasted in the privacy of their homes, but publicized what they were doing online, including on Facebook. They did this to avoid violating the government ban on public gatherings.

Now, one of the better-known detainees, Matrouq Al Faleh, 55, a political science professor at King Saud University, has been freed. He returned home Saturday night after eight months in prison, according to his wife, Jamila Al ‘Uqla.

Birth Day a Secret? No way.

Mon, 12 Jan 2009 11:17:13 +0000

In the digital age, forget trying to forget your birthday....

"Now, with Facebook, it's hard to hide your birthday," said Saudi blogger Ahmed Omran, whose friends took him to dinner for his 24th last May.