HAFR AL-BATEN, 1 September 2003 — After 42 years in Iraq, Sahab Al-Rashidi has come back to Saudi Arabia accompanied by 30 members of his family, 3,000 goats and an unspecified number of horses. Al-Rashidi first went to Iraq when he was 21 after killing one of his relatives in a fight. Recently, however, Interior Minister Prince Naif gave his permission for Al-Rashidi to return home.
When he was in Iraq, Al-Rashidi said, he formed an alliance with the Al-Kawasim tribe, a branch of the Al-Thafeer tribe which lives along the Saudi-Iraqi border. He had no problems in Iraq because the people there were busy working and taking care of themselves.
As for his return to the Kingdom, he said: “I came back after the tribal leaders of the Al-Rashidi intervened to solve the problem that originally caused me to leave.”
The leaders in turn approached Prince Naif who gave his permission. “Now I am looking forward for my children to get Saudi nationality so that they can go to school,” Al-Rashidi said.
