MAKKAH, 15 June 2007 — Over treacherous mountain passes heavily monitored by Saudi boarder guards, illegal Yemenis continue to make their way to the Kingdom in search for jobs.

Trekking alone is dangerous and so many Yemenis enlist the help of local guides to help them safely reach the Kingdom. Many speak about a notorious mountain man known by his nickname Sabe Al-Jabal (The Mountain Lion), whose network of smugglers bring people over the border and into the Kingdom evading the Saudi authorities and charging people substantive amounts of money.

Perhaps the most iconic thing about the Mountain Lion is the fact that he never accompanies migrants in person and rather relies on his accomplices, who he guides across the mountains giving instructions over a cell phone.

The Mountain Lion has achieved a near-legendary status, illegal Yemenis across the Kingdom say how he is able to complete the impossible and through tight security bring people across the rugged mountainous Saudi-Yemeni border.

In the Al-Muaiseem district of Makkah, Arab News met a group of Yemenis, who had traveled across the Yemeni-Saudi border with the help of the Mountain Lion.

“I arrived in the Kingdom a year ago with a group of Yemenis,” said Ali Hussein. “We couldn’t find work in Yemen and so decided to come to the Kingdom for work. We had heard about this man called the Mountain Lion and so contacted him asking him to sneak us across the border,” said Hussain, adding that his group made contact with the Mountain Lion through a member of the group, whose cousin had managed to enter the Kingdom two months earlier.

“He told us to get to the village of Abu Areesh on the Saudi-Yemeni border,” he added.

On arriving at Abu Areesh, the group found the Mountain Lion waiting for them. “He divided us into different groups depending on where we wanted to go in the Kingdom. The further we wanted to travel from the border into Saudi Arabia, the more expensive it becomes,” said Hussein, adding that they were made to sit in different vehicles, while the Mountain Lion briefed the drivers on which roads to take and when and where to stop for rest.

“I paid SR2,500 to be smuggled to Makkah. I remember that on the way the driver would constantly stay in contact with the Mountain Lion, who would give directions and knew the road like the back of his hand. When I reached Makkah, the Mountain Lion telephoned the driver to ensure we had reached our destination safely,” said Hussein, adding that once they had reached Makkah, they had to depend on themselves and avoid capture by the authorities.

Most of the Yemenis smuggled into the Kingdom work low-paid jobs and have to pay monthly installments to the Mountain Lion. In Makkah, to avoid the authorities the illegal migrants live in remote parts of the city, generally on the mountains of Al-Bujaidi, Al-Hamr and Al-Fawarah.

Abdullah Hassan, another illegal Yemeni migrant, told Arab News that he paid SR1,800 to get to Makkah. “Throughout the trip the Mountain Lion was in contact with the driver giving him instructions what to do and where to go. I don’t know which road we took but it was definitely dangerous,” he said, adding that the Mountain Lion has a reputation for bringing Yemenis into the Kingdom.

Through some illegal Yemenis, Arab News managed to contact with the Mountain Lion. This reporter pretended to own a farm and told the Mountain Lion that I wanted to smuggle workers from Yemen. After paying various middlemen I managed to meet the Mountain Lion in person.

Short, aged in his 40s and with rugged weather-beaten features, the Mountain Lion viewed me with an eye of suspicion asking me all sorts of questions. Before the meeting, my middleman told me that the Mountain Lion never stays in one place for longer than an hour and like a mafia boss commands complete respect from the people working under him.

“He even manages to arrange deportations for non-paying customers and gang members that don’t listen to him,” he told me.

The Mountain Lion avoided niceties in our conversation and came straight down to business, asking for SR15,000 as a down payment. When I told him I did not have that sort of money he simply asked me to leave and quickly disappeared. The meeting with the Mountain Lion lasted a few minutes. He obviously smelt a rat and became suspicious.