JEDDAH, 10 May 2006 — A young driver who was involved in an accident that killed four of his friends in 2003 fears that he will be arrested and charged with manslaughter. His fears have grown out of a protracted dispute between a car dealer and an insurance company about who should pay the death compensation.

The youth, Raid Al-Ghamdi, was driving the car he had from the dealer on the “lease and own” scheme. In 2003, he had an accident in which four of his friends were killed.

According to an agreement between the insurance company and the car dealer, the compensation to the relatives of the dead — SR400,000 — was to be paid by the dealer. Since the dealer has evaded his obligation for the past three years, the department of civil claims has taken steps to arrest Al-Ghamdi, saying that he bears responsibility for the deaths, Al-Madinah reported yesterday.

Al-Ghamdi’s father, Ahmed, said that soon after the accident, he took the insurance documents to the traffic police who instructed the insurance company to pay the compensation of SR400,000 to the families of the deceased.

The dealer, who released Al-Ghamdi from all responsibilities for paying the compensation, said in a letter to the traffic administration in 2003 that the insurance company was responsible for payment of compensation.

The insurance company, however, said the responsibility was the car dealer’s. It was also pointed out that giving the “lease and own” scheme insurance coverage is the responsibility of the dealer as the buyer becomes the owner only after he has fully paid the money in installments.

According to the clarification by the Jeddah branch of the Ministry of Commerce, the director of civil claims ordered last year that the dealer should present the check for compensation at his office within 10 days. The dealer did not comply with the order so the civil claims decided to arrest Al-Ghamdi on charges that he caused the accident and the deaths of four men.

Since he could not get any help from government departments, Ahmed Al-Ghamdi submitted a complaint to the minister of finance who passed it to the governor of the Makkah Region for necessary action. Finally the governor’s office directed the Jeddah police to see that the dealer complied with the earlier order for the payment of compensation according to the agreement between the buyer and the dealer.

Though the police demanded the dealer pay the money, he has allegedly not done so and the police are waiting further instructions.