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30 Saudi shops caught in anti-Valentine crackdown
The retaliation of the Saudi religious police against those flouting the ban on Saint Valentine festivities, announced last week by the local press, has struck some 30 shops in Jeddah, who were found clandestinely selling gifts and cards for the lovers' fest. According to a report on the Saudi daily al-Medina, the religious police carried out various searches in the run-up to the 14 February celebrations. "Despite the circular from our ministry and the body for the promotion of virtue banning these celebrations we have found businessmen flouting this," said a commerce ministry spokesman. The offending shops were in the al-Balad and al-Hindawiah areas of the Red Sea port of Jeddah, where in out of sight they had supplies of red love cards and romantic presents which they sold secretly to a few trusted clients. The religious police has fined the 30 shops, confiscating and burning all the material seized. Last week the same moral police had warned that it wanted to organised anti-Valentines patrols, recalling a fatwa issued by the Saudi chief mufti sheikh Abdelaziz al Sheikh, who wrote that "any Muslim who believes in Allah and in the Day of Judgement cannot celebrate this event". Despite this young Saudis have shown they want to recognise the lovers' fest, as red roses were sold out, and their price had leapt in just a few days from 5 to 12 riyals each. Posted by: ryuge 2007-02-20 |
| http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=180946 |