JEDDAH, 28 March 2006 — A Saudi citizen perching at the top of the compound wall of a newspaper office in Kuwait City threatened to kill himself if his problems were not published in the newspaper and brought to the attention of the authorities, press reports said yesterday.
Abu Sahir, a resident of Tabuk, chained himself up and carried a placard explaining the reason for his strange conduct. He said he chose this unique method because all other means he adopted to get the money a Kuwait diplomat owed him over the past 16 years had failed, Al-Riyadh newspaper said.
It all began shortly before the Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait. Abu Sahir said that he offered some help to the brother of a Kuwaiti diplomat in 1990. The diplomat’s brother was involved in a motor accident at a place close to Tabuk city while he was coming from Jordan. Having been present at the accident spot, Abu Sahir offered help. He took the Kuwaiti to his house and permitted him to stay there until he finished all the formalities related to the accident. The foreigner had informed Abu Sahir that his brother was a diplomat in the Kuwaiti mission in Damascus.
After a few days the diplomat contacted Abu Sahir and informed him that he wanted to buy a number of camels from the Tabuk market because he intended to throw a party. He wanted the camels from Tabuk because of a shortage in the Kuwait markets. So the diplomat went to Tabuk and bought 70 heads of camels on credit as Abu Sahir guaranteed the cattle traders that the price would be paid within a month when the Kuwaiti would send him the money. However, the Kuwaiti did not keep his word. Tabuk traders sought legal intervention to make Abu Sahir pay their money. To escape a jail term, the man sold his house and paid up the debt.
Shortly after that war broke out and he had to wait until the war ended to lodge a complaint with the Kuwaiti authorities. He went to Kuwait and his debtor came to the police station and admitted his inability to pay, as he did not have the required money. Trusting his assurance that he would send the money shortly, the Saudi returned home. However no money was coming forth. He went to Kuwait several times again but did not get his money, the desperate Saudi said.
It was under these circumstances that he decided to draw the attention of the authorities in this manner. The man continued in his self-inflicted imprisonment several hours until the police took him to the police station. Abu Sahir now wants to sue the diplomat for breach of trust, his attorney said.
