ABHA, 26 July 2005 — The Passport Department in Jizan demanded that a 12-year-old child must pay a traffic violation ticket issued in his name before his application for a passport was considered, Al-Watan newspaper reported. The handicapped child is incapable of walking and has neither a car nor a driving license. The father of the child was stunned when he went to obtain a passport for him to travel abroad for treatment. The Passport Department employee refused to issue the passport unless he paid up. “I showed them proof that my son is handicapped and is very young and does not have a driving license,” he said, “the violation was registered in Jeddah and we live 800 kilometers away in Jizan.”