JEDDAH, 13 August 2003 — An acutely ill AIDS patient was removed from the New Jeddah Clinic Hospital by security guards on Monday afternoon and dumped outside his place of work. The 57-year-old Indonesian, Abdul Rahim Mahmood, suffered cuts and bruises to his hands and face as a result of being violently ejected from the security guards’ car.

Mahmood was admitted to a Jeddah hospital almost two weeks ago because he was weak and unresponsive, according to Abdul Rahman Bawazir, a manager at Rajab and Silsilah, where Mahmood is employed.

“His condition improved, and he was discharged from the first hospital. However, his condition quickly deteriorated again and we had to take him to New Jeddah Clinic Hospital. He remained there for seven days,” he told Arab News.

“In the course of tests they ran on Abdul Rahim, they discovered that he had AIDS. The hospital notified us and we responded by delivering to them a letter saying that we would pay for all costs associated with his treatment. Since we had no place to immediately care for him, we asked the hospital to be patient for one day while we made arrangements.

“We were in the process of arranging for transfer to another hospital which is more specialized in caring for AIDS patients, and at the same time arranging for an exit visa, when the hospital just dumped him in front of our offices on Palestine Street in the middle of the afternoon.”

“They could have arranged for his transfer by ambulance with King Saud Hospital, but instead they left him on our doorstep,” he continued.

Arab News visited Mahmood in King Saud Hospital’s AIDS ward. He was barely conscious, with his eyes open, staring at the ceiling. On his hands and face were scratches and bruises. His right eye was swollen and bruised.

Mahmood Khoja, an administrator at King Saud Hospital, told Arab News: “Mr. Mahmood arrived yesterday evening in an unresponsive state, with what appeared to be fresh cuts and bruises to his hands and face.

“Our doctors have examined him. As a result of our findings, and the inhumane manner in which he was treated, we have filed three complaints with the Ministry of Health against the New Jeddah Clinic Hospital.”

Mahmood’s manager, Bawazir, said: “When we found Mr. Mahmood outside our offices, we contacted King Saud Hospital. They immediately responded by sending an ambulance to pick him up. Since then, we have spoken with Dr. Yehya Al-Noor, and we are very impressed with the care, compassion and professionalism they have shown.”

Faisal Battah, a senior administrator at New Jeddah Clinic Hospital, told Arab News: “This is a terrible incident. Unfortunately, I cannot comment on what happened until I have consulted with our lawyers. Once that has happened, we will have a statement for the media.”

Several people came across Mahmood as he lay on the pavement yesterday afternoon. Some brought him water and someone brought him a mattress to lie on. When the police arrived, they contacted the Red Crescent Society, who dispatched an ambulance to pick up Mahmood.

However, when the ambulance arrived, the paramedics refused to transport him because he had AIDS. The ambulance technicians explained to witnesses that they did not transport AIDS patients because they were not equipped to properly disinfect the ambulance afterward.

Dr. Talal Akram, Deputy Manager of Health Affairs at the Ministry of Health in Jeddah, told Arab News: “If we look at it from the human side, we feel disgusted because what happened is not representative of our society or our religion.

“There will be some coordination between the health affairs authorities and the immigration department to treat the patient here in Jeddah before deporting him back to his country.”