JEDDAH, 6 August 2003 — Al-Tahlia Mosque (Talaat Lami), one of Jeddah’s most famous mosques, is located in a crowded shopping area where it has become a center for mobile phone theft. Among the victims is the imam of the mosque himself.
There are daily reports of thieves smashing car windows and stealing mobile phones while their owners are performing prayers in the mosque.
Abdullah Muhammad Saed is among the victims. He told Arab News he was performing Isha prayers when his BMW was broken into and his mobile phone stolen. “It was the only time I have left my mobile in the car. I had to spend SR1,500 to have my car window repaired,” he said.
The imam of the mosque, Sheikh Tawfiq Al-Sayeg, told Arab News the thieves were remarkably brazen. “Every day one or two people who are praying in the mosque have the windows of their cars broken and their mobile phones stolen. It is strange since the mosque is right behind the police station. We are also the only district which has mounted police patrolling the streets. Despite this, we have one or two thefts every day and I have been a victim myself,” he said.
He said the gang targeted any car with a mobile phone. “We have recently installed a device to block the phone network inside the mosque so people can stop leaving their phones in their cars. We spoke to the police about this and they assigned guards to the area, but nothing has changed.”
Al-Sayeg says he believes there is a black market for used mobile phones and that the stolen phones are sold there for half the price. “One victim went to a certain place an hour after his phone was stolen and found it. The man who was selling it was arrested,” he said.
