A family in Saudi Arabia has filed suit in a religious court against an unnamed genie, or jinn, who sounds most unpleasant: It steals cellphones, whispers threats and occasionally flings stones.
Posts Tagged ‘Saudi Arabia’
Geithner to talk regulations on Mideast, Europe tour
July 12th, 2009 |
No Comments
US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner leaves Washington late Sunday for four days of talks in Europe and the Middle East expected to focus on financial regulations, Iran and terror financing. Geithner is scheduled to visit Saudi Arabia, France and Britain, three of the countries participating
Back on side
July 11th, 2009 |
No Comments
By Neil Arun
Irbil
Iraq thrashed Palestine 3-0 in a football match that will be remembered less for its scoreline and more for celebrations better suited to the lifting of a siege.
Forced by violence at home to play all its games abroad, the Iraqi national side ended its six-year exile on Friday in the northern city of Irbil.
Fans who had followed the fortunes of their team on TV roared deliriously as they saw the first players jog on to the pitch.
Chants of "Iraq, Iraq" rang through stands which felt, in the blazing afternoon heat, like the rim of an exploding volcano.
"Sport was under sanctions," yelled Iraq’s most famous football fan, a man from Baghdad known only by one name, Khaddouri. "Now the embargo has been lifted."
Before kick-off, scores of white doves were released. They swirled around the stadium, unwilling to leave. Heavily armed soldiers shooed them off the pitch.
Welcoming the Palestinians
Iraq’s national team is a regional superpower. Traditionally one of the strongest sides in the Middle East, in 2007 they were crowned Asian champions after defeating Saudi Arabia.
The victory coincided with the climax of the sectarian conflict that engulfed Iraq after the US-led invasion in 2003. Fans celebrated in the streets, briefly defying the threat of bombings that had become a daily norm.
The Palestinian team is one of the weakest in the region. It has developed fitfully, with the movements of its players constantly curtailed by the conflict with Israel.
At the game in Irbil, no Iraqi fans commented on the footballing disparity between the two teams. Instead, they focused on what they saw as a bond with the Palestinians – another Middle Eastern society brutalised by violence.
As the visiting team stepped on to the turf, the stadium loudspeakers urged the crowd to welcome them. The stands obliged, erupting in passionate cries of "Long Live Palestine!"
Parts of Iraq may now be safe enough to host a foreign team but the Palestinians’ home is not. Like the Iraqi side a few years ago, the players must ply their trade abroad.
With few away fans accompanying them, they rely on charitable cheers from the home crowd.
Adjusting the Palestinian scarf around his neck, veteran Iraq fan Khaddouri said: "The Palestinians are our brethren. If they can send their team to Iraq, so can everyone else."
Kurdish scorer
The first goal came in the 30th minute of the first half, scored off a corner kick. The stadium erupted.
The scorer was Hawar Mulla Mohammed, a Kurd. In Irbil, capital of the semi-autonomous Kurdistan region, Hawar is a local hero.
He gives the Kurds a strong reason to support the largely Arab Iraqi team at a time of rising tensions between Baghdad and Irbil, most notably over Kirkuk, a violent, oil-rich city claimed by both Kurds and Arabs.
Another two goals followed in the second half. The Palestinians defended gamely, stifling the Iraqi strikers’ more flamboyant efforts.
Khaddouri stalked the sidelines as if squaring up for a fight. He exhorted the crowd with his arms.
The chant came back from the stands for a man as famous as the players themselves: "Khaddouri! Khaddouri!"
Outside the stadium, traffic came to halt. Horns blared and young men leaned out of cars and pick-up trucks, draped in Iraqi flags or the Kurdish region’s distinctive tricolour.
They lingered in the streets long after the game ended – like the doves, unwilling to leave. A few soldiers tried half-heartedly to usher them away.
Neil Arun is based in Iraq as an editor for The Institute for War and Peace Reporting.</p
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
Family takes Saudi ‘genie’ to court for harassment
July 11th, 2009 |
No Comments
A family in Saudi Arabia is taking a "genie" to court, accusing it of theft and harassment, reports say.
They accuse the spirit of threatening them, throwing stones and stealing mobile phones, Al Watan newspaper said.
The family have lived in the same house near the city of Medina for 15 years but say they only recently became aware of the spirit. They have now moved out.
A local court is investigating. In Islamic theology, genies are spirits that can harass or possess humans.
‘Get out of the house’
"We began to hear strange sounds," the head of the family, who come from Mahd Al Dahab, told the Saudi daily. He did not want to be named.
"At first we did not take it seriously, but then stranger things started to happen and the children got particularly scared when the genie started throwing stones."
He added: "A woman spoke to me first, and then a man. They said we should get out of the house."
A local court says it is trying to verify the truthfulness of the claims "despite the difficulty" of doing so.
Many Westerners know the term genie from the tale of Aladdin and the magic lamp, or the 1960s American sitcom, I Dream of Jeannie.
But the BBC’s Sebastian Usher says genies, or jinn, in Islamic theology can be a lot more sinister.
They are believed to be normally invisible but with the ability to assume human or animal form, and are often said to be motivated by revenge or jealousy.
There is a lingering belief in genies in the Muslim world that predates Islam, our correspondent says.
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
Iraqi footballers win on return
July 11th, 2009 |
No Comments
The Iraqi football team has celebrated a victory in the first international football match to be held in Iraq since the US-led invasion of 2003.
The final score in the match played in the northern town of Irbil against a Palestinian team was 3-0.
The game has been hailed as a symbol of the promise of better times ahead for Iraq, and players released a number of white doves before kick-off.
The last time Iraq played at home was in 2002 in a 2-1 win over Syria.
Since then the team – one of the best in the Asian region – has led a nomadic existence.
The country celebrated when Iraq’s players won a notable victory in the Asian Cup tournament in 2007, beating Saudi Arabia in the final by one goal to nil.
The players have since struggled to rediscover that championship-winning form, although they put in a creditable performance in the recent Confederations Cup in South Africa.
During that competition, which pits the champion nation from each continent against each other, Iraq drew with New Zealand and South Africa – the hosts of the upcoming 2010 World Cup – and lost narrowly to European Champions Spain.
Nevertheless, the BBC’s Gabriel Gatehouse in Baghdad says a win at home is a rare and welcome good news story.
The Palestinian players are themselves no strangers to conflict.
But the very fact the game took place inside Iraq, speaks of a country desperately trying to move beyond violence and insecurity, our correspondent says.
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
Courts convict 331 in Saudi al-Qaida trials
July 8th, 2009 |
No Comments
Saudi Arabian special security courts have convicted more than 300 people for al-Qaida terrorist activities in the first known trials of members of the group in Osama bin Laden’s ancestral homeland.
Al-Arabiya, a privately-owned Saudi TV station, reported today that 331 people in 179 cases had been tried and one given the death sentence. It quoted a justice ministry official as saying there had also been prison terms, travel bans, fines and house arrests, with an unspecified number of defendants acquitted.
Those convicted were described as having been involved in “supporting and financing terrorism” as well as going to “areas of conflict to fight” – an apparent reference to Iraq and Afghanistan, where Saudi nationals have made up a large proportion of all foreign fighters.
Saudi Arabia, backed by the west, has pursued a successful anti-terrorist strategy since May 2003, when al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula first surfaced in the kingdom, home to 15 of the 19 hijackers in the 9/11 attacks.
Al-Qaida’s 30 attacks targeted expatriate residential compounds, oil installations and government buildings. The authorities claimed to have foiled a further 160 attacks. In the worst single incident 22 foreign workers were killed in an attack on the Gulf city of al-Khobar in May 2004.
Hundreds of alleged militants have passed through government rehabilitation and re-education programmes. But there have also been allegations of torture and ill treatment. Human Rights Watch has said Saudi trials may not meet international standards and that up to 3,000 people were still detained without charge.
The Saudi interior minister, Prince Nayef bin Abdul Aziz, announced last October that 991 suspects had been charged with participating in attacks over the preceding five years. It was not known before yesterday’s announcement that any trials had begun, probably for security reasons.
guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
Hajj officials confront swine flu threat
July 1st, 2009 |
No Comments
Saudi workshop discusses ways to minimise spread of swine flu during pilgrimage season
The elderly, young, infirm and pregnant should stay away from this year’s hajj to avoid catching swine flu, Saudi health officials said today.
Their recommendations followed a workshop aimed at minimising the spread of the disease during the pilgrimage season, which attracts about 4 million Muslims from around the world.
Other measures include vaccinating people at least a fortnight before their arrival in the country and encouraging international delegations to stock medication to prevent and treat the virus causing swine flu.
Participants in the workshop stressed the need to encourage pilgrims to cover their noses when sneezing, cough into tissues and wash their hands with soap. Face masks, another precaution, are already worn by pilgrims to protect against pollution in Mecca and Medina.
The Saudi health minister, Dr Abdullah Al-Rabeeah, said at a press conference in Jeddah that the World Health Organisation experts who took part in the workshop were satisfied with the safeguards in place.
Asked about the efficacy of vaccines against swine flu, he said: “The available vaccines are yet to be evaluated and assessed, a process that might take months.” He disagreed with claims that the media had exaggerated the threat posed by swine flu, saying: “The danger of the disease comes from the absence of immunity and vaccination against it.”
Fever-detecting cameras will be installed at King Abdulaziz airport in Jeddah, the main gateway for pilgrims entering Saudi Arabia. This week another six cases were announced in the country, raising the total to 81.
guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
On Inauguration Day, will my cell phone work?
January 16th, 2009 |
No Comments
I am one of the 240,000 people with free tickets attending President-elect Barack Obama’s swearing-in ceremony on the steps of the U.S. Capitol next week. And like the other 2 million or so people descending upon Washington, D.C., this weekend for the festivities, I am counting on my cell phone to not only keep me [...]