YANBU, 3 January 2008 — When dozens of Yanbu residents flooded Saudi Telecom’s (STC) lines with complaints of their cell phones being disconnected, STC investigated and noticed a trend: all of the irate customers complaining had been recently robbed. A pickpocket — who has yet to be caught — is on the prowl in this port city. Not only does he steal wallets, for some strange reason he also calls STC and cancels his victims’ mobile phone accounts. Speaking to the daily Al-Madinah, Muhammed Al-Khabrani said he was shocked when his cell phone was disconnected three days after his wallet was stolen.
Smuggler Beaten, Begs for Police
Arab News
JEDDAH — A Qat smuggler was transferring large quantities of Qat to Jeddah when police caught him in the act. Instead of turning himself over, he fled on foot into a residential neighborhood. Then to avoid capture, he forced his way into a house. A house owner who mistook him for a burglar, tied him up and gave him a beating he’d never forget. Eventually the smuggler lost consciousness but when he woke up, he pleaded with the house owner to not beat him up anymore and to turn him over to the police who were still in the neighborhood searching for him.
