MAKKAH, 9 June 2008 — Members of the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice in Makkah yesterday arrested Sohail Akhtar, the suspected boss behind the illegal sale of abortion pills in the city. According to Health Ministry regulations, the sale of abortion pills is subject to stringent medical supervision. Sohail, an Asian expatriate, was caught red-handed in a sting operation while selling three packets of Cytotec Searle containing 42 tablets. The pills are sold illegally for SR100 each. The suspect has been handed to police for further investigations.
Two Arrested for Murder of Cabbie
DAMMAM, 9 June 2008 — Jubail police yesterday arrested two Saudi men who murdered a 57-year-old Saudi taxi driver on Thursday. The taxi driver’s body was found in his car at a vacant lot in the Warsh neighborhood of Jubail. He had been beaten and dragged along the ground with a metal noose tied around his neck. The two men told police that they beat the man with an iron rod and strangled him with the noose during a drunken brawl. They then dragged him to his car, which they abandoned at the parking lot.
1.12m Tons of Garbage Removed
MAKKAH, 9 June 2008 — The cleaning division of Makkah Municipality removed more than 1.12 million tons of garbage over the past 12 months, according to a statement by Abdul Salam Mushat, undersecretary at the Makkah Mayoralty yesterday. Garbage included 430,350 tons of building waste, 372 tons of paper and 693, 357 tons of other types of waste. Cleaners also removed 1,277 abandoned vehicles and sprayed 21,690 liters of liquid insecticides across the city.
