JEDDAH, 25 December 2005 — The gang of beggars faking various ailments on Al-Murabba Bridge, which was featured in Arab News on Wednesday, have disappeared after two concerned citizens took matters into their own hands over the weekend.

On Tuesday night, Seif M. and Abdullah T. made up posters warning motorists of the gang’s Oscar-deserving performances, distributing them to motorists and posting them on the bridge. Perhaps due to their efforts, the bridge — compared to previous weeks and months — was relatively beggar-free throughout the weekend.

On Friday, however, Saleh Muhammad Ali, 46, was on the bridge, begging motorists for money. Seemingly unperturbed by this journalist’s obvious attempt at photographing him, he continued begging, opting not to run off like most others that Arab News encounters on the bridge.

When approached for an interview, Ali was all too willing to talk.

“Why are you taking my picture?” he asked.

“To give it to a couple of people I know who will make up posters with your picture on them to give to people and to post on the bridge and possibly for a future Arab News story,” he was told.

“Will I be arrested?” he asked.

“If you come back to the bridge to beg again, then maybe,” he was told.

Ali then proceeded to remove his kufia and grabbed this journalist’s hand in a failed attempt to kiss it.

What he said next was even more of a surprise: “Please, I beg you, may Allah be pleased with you, call the police. I want to be arrested.”

Ali claims that he arrived in Saudi Arabia on an Umrah visa, with no return ticket home, or any means of supporting himself. Now longing for his family, he said that he sees deportation as his only salvation.

“I am fed up, desperate and want to go home to my family. I was told this bridge was the risky place to be and that is why I am here,” Ali said.

Within a few minutes while speaking with this journalist, Ali’s wish came true as he himself flagged down an approaching police car.

At first, the officers were hesitant to arrest him but were encouraged when Ali handed them this journalist’s business card. The officers made a few calls on their mobiles and then agreed to take him in.

“It is not our responsibility to take him to the deportation office. What we will do is take to the police station, and let our superiors decide. Since you are going to write about this, make sure you put in the story that this is the responsibility of the Anti-Beggary Department. They should be out here arresting the beggars, not us,” the officers told Arab News.

It is not yet clear whether Ali will be deported by the Passport Department or released by the police.