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| Arabia | ||
| 900 Rounded Up in Jeddah Raids | ||
| 2005-08-16 | ||
JEDDAH, 16 August 2005 â Security forces raided 157 houses and apprehended 904 people in Jeddah early yesterday morning.
In the latest operation, security forces raided Al-Sharafia and Al-Rabwah districts. The raids began just after midnight on Sunday and continued until dawn. Among the illegals caught in the raid were a gang of car thieves and one of forgers. The police also raided houses of prostitution and unlicensed clothing factories. In Sharafia, police raided what appeared to be at most a two-bedroom apartment and were surprised to find a medium-sized high-tech clothing factory. âYou wouldnât realize that a small place like that (pointing to the apartment) could hold such a large, profitable, sophisticated business,â a policeman at the scene said to Arab News. He added that the building had been renovated to accommodate the machinery needed for the illegal business. Since the police began their crackdown several months ago, overstayers have become more adept at selecting their hideaways; most of them now have two exits. Other hideaways have secret passages that take you to larger rooms with numbers of people living in them. One police officer who found a secret hideaway said, âA cat led me in.â Abu Manea, a 70-year-old Saudi resident of Al-Rabwah, said, âWe are happy that the police are cracking down on our area; the raids will clean it of crime that has affected our children.â He went on to explain, âWe have complained a number of times to the authorities and to the landlords. Each time we go to the landlords, we find there is a foreigner legally working in the Kingdom with all the legal documents. The problem is that that person provides housing for illegal overstayers.â Residents in the districts, both Saudis and expatriates have helped police in pinpointing suspicious individuals and houses in the neighborhood.
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| Posted by:Steve |
| #5 Mr. Wife explained that he never went into the coffee houses in Saudi Arabia because he wouldn't have been safe sitting down (or something like that). He never mentioned anything about the stewardesses, though, except that they were lovely girls. On the other hand, he tried not to stay there more than two weeks at a time -- he really disliked the country -- so he may not have known about their outside interests... or thought I wouldn't be interested in that piece of information. ;-) |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2005-08-16 20:16 |
| #4 mhw: I second that. I lived in Jeddah from Dec. 6 1991 to January 18, 1992 and again from July 6, 1992 to December 11, 1992. I don't recall the gay clubs though we heard rumors but the call girls most certainly were there. Saudia City, the giant complex for Saudia Airline's employees -- mucho flight attendants, 99 % female, many Lebanese girls -- lived there. Always a long line of Saudi cars with male occupants (no femme driving) waiting outside gate to Saudia City, especially when international flights arrived in droves. |
| Posted by: The Angry Fliegerabwehrkanonen 2005-08-16 17:26 |
| #3 Jeddah is the Saudis what San Francisco is to the USA. There are jazz lounges and brothels and gay snack shops (no gay bars). In the US, none of these would be a big deal but over there... |
| Posted by: mhw 2005-08-16 13:59 |
| #2 What, no alk-runners? |
| Posted by: Spot 2005-08-16 12:54 |
| #1 The police also raided houses of prostitution ... Prositutes in the islamic holy land? Who would have thunk it. |
| Posted by: anymouse 2005-08-16 12:01 |