57 Saudis Arrested For Flirting
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia — Saudi Arabia began interrogating 57 men Saturday who were arrested after allegedly flirting with women in front of a shopping mall in the holy city of Mecca, a local newspaper reported.
The country’s religious police arrested the men Thursday night, alleging behavior that included dancing to pop music blaring from their cars and wearing improper clothing, according to the Okaz newspaper, which is deemed close to the government.
The Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice runs the religious police, who are charged with enforcing Saudi Arabia’s strict Islamic lifestyle.
Its members patrol public places to make sure women are covered and not wearing make up, the sexes don’t mingle, shops close five times a day for Muslim prayers and men go to the mosque and worship.
“Say falafel!”
The police — informally known as the muttawa, literally “enforcer” — don’t wear uniforms. But they are recognizable by their long beards and their robes, shorter than the ones normally worn by Saudi men. They also shun the black cord that sits atop the headdress worn by most Saudi men.
Women in Saudi Arabia are required to wear a long, enveloping black cloak called an abaya and to cover their hair with a headscarf.
The newspaper report said the men who were arrested Thursday could be released if they could prove they did not flirt with any women. Otherwise, they will be transferred to court and stand trial, the paper added.
(AP)
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More like “57 Young Saudi Men Accused of Heterosexuality.” Let’s try to keep things accurate. We all know women are only good for cooking and making babies. When it comes to having fun, however…IT’S HABIBI-TIME!!!
February 23rd, 2008 at 5:25 pmI swear these goat-herders are homo.
February 23rd, 2008 at 7:18 pmI think they are asexual-since when do men get annoyed with men for flirting
February 23rd, 2008 at 7:53 pm
I like the one on the far left. She so preeeeety. Why I can see 1/2 inch of her nose. Wow! So cute!
February 23rd, 2008 at 9:26 pmDon’t you go making google eyes at me! We’ll both be in trouble. We’ll get lashed or some freaking medieval thing like that.
Gawd, these stories are like an old episode of ‘Star Trek’.
Kirk, Spock and 2 crewmembers in red shirts land on a strange planet . . … the ‘red shirts’ flirt with women, get arrested and butt-bumped by the ‘homo-taween’!!
Phasers to maximum power, we’d be doing everyone a favor.
February 23rd, 2008 at 11:23 pmI wonder how the Code Pink would respond to this sort of government… Since they do not want us opposing this sort of thing, I wonder if they think that they could survive for long under the oppression of a true Islamic world?
February 24th, 2008 at 6:29 am