Saudi Arabia: Did They Or Didn’t They?

Saudi Arabia denied a report in Britain’s Sunday Express that said the Kingdom offered the Israel Air Force flight paths to attack Iranian nuclear facilities.

The Sunday Express reported this week that the Saudis had agreed to turn a blind eye and not interfere should Israel and the United States attack Iranian nuclear facilities via Saudi air space.

A senior Saudi official said that the report was baseless, adding that his country would demand that the newspaper print a retraction and apology.

The United States, France and United Kingdom demanded access last week to Iranian nuclear facilities after Iran revealed the existence of a second uranium enrichment plant in a letter to the International Atomic Energy Agency.

Saudi Arabia Inaugurates Its First Coed University – Go KAUST!

Saudi Arabia has inaugurated its first-ever fully integrated coed university, and its ruler declared the institution will be a “beacon of tolerance” in a world attacked by extremists.

 The multibillion dollar King Abdullah Science and Technology University, or KAUST, boasts state-of-the-art labs, the world’s 14th fastest supercomputer and one of the biggest endowments worldwide. It breaks many of the conservative country’s social taboos by allowing, for the first time, men and women to take classes together.

Saudi officials have envisaged the postgraduate institution as a key part of the kingdom’s plans to transform itself into a global scientific hub — its latest efforts to diversify its oil-reliant economy.

Saudi royals and dignitaries attended the inauguration ceremony outside the coastal city of Jeddah, where the university is located.

“Humanity has been the target of vicious attacks from extremists, who speak the language of hatred,” King Abdullah said at the inauguration. “Undoubtedly, scientific centers that embrace all peoples are the first line of defense against extremists. And today this university will become a house of wisdom … a beacon of tolerance.”

Oil Minister Ali Naimi hailed the university’s opening as a pivotal step forward in the oil-rich kingdom’s quest to strengthen its economic base.

“With all the natural resources that God has endowed us, the kingdom is keen to diversify its sources of income for the future,” Naimi said in remarks carried by state media.

So far 817 students representing 61 different countries are currently enrolled, with 314 beginning classes this month while the rest are scheduled to start in the beginning of 2010. The aim is to expand to 2,000 students within eight to 10 years.

Saudi Arabia Closes Broadcaster After Sex Show

Saudi Arabia has closed the Jeddah office of a Lebanon-based television network after it aired an interview with a Saudi man speaking about his sexual escapades, a government spokesman said.

Mazen Abdul-Jawad, 32, was arrested last month in the Red Sea city of Jeddah after shocking Saudi Arabia, one of the most conservative countries in the world, by recounting details of his sexual exploits on Lebanese channel LBC.

The divorced father of four spoke to camera from his bedroom in Jeddah about how couples can spice up their sex lives.

“Everything happens in this room,” he said on an episode of the salacious show “Ahmar Bilkhat al-Areed” (Wide Red Lines), before launching into descriptions of foreplay techniques and tricks for cruising women on the streets of Jeddah.

A spokesman for the ministry of culture and information in Riyadh said a committee had decided to close the Jeddah office of LBC because of the interview.

The daily al-Watan newspaper said authorities also closed other offices of LBC, which is mainly owned by Saudi billionaire Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, in the kingdom.

Abdul-Jawad has been charged with publicizing vice and lawyers say he may face the death penalty.

Like many Arab countries, Saudi Arabia prohibits sexually explicit content on television and in newspapers, magazines and books.

Saudi Arabia Clamps Down On Female Gyms

“Let her get fat!” is the slogan women in Saudi Arabia are using to challenge a clampdown on female-only gyms.

Unhappy at the growing number of unlicensed female gyms, the Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs recently closed two in the Red Sea city of Jeddah and one in the city of Dammam on the Gulf Arab coast for not having a license.

In response, newspaper columnists and bloggers are promoting the sarcastic line “let her get fat!” as a way of fighting back, though it is likely to be a losing battle.

In Saudi Arabia, where clerics have extensive influence in society, gyms are sexually segregated because of conservative tribal and religious values.

Female participation in sports has long been a controversial issue in the kingdom, with physical education banned from public girls’ schools and clerics issuing religious prohibitions on female participation in sports.

While male gyms get licenses from a government sports body, female gyms have no official authority overseeing them.

“The idea of female fitness is non-existent within our government,” said Fouziah Alouni, a prominent women’s rights campaigner. “Depriving women of this is yet another way of marginalizing them. Give us a justifiable reason or leave woman alone. This is unbearable.”

Saudi Man Divorces Wife Via Text Message

A Saudi man has divorced his wife by text message, a newspaper has reported.

The man was in Iraq when he sent the SMS informing her she was no longer his spouse.  He followed up with a telephone call to two of his relatives, the daily Arab News reported.

A court in the Red Sea city of Jeddah finalized the split — the first known divorce in Saudi Arabia by text message — after summoning the two relatives to check they had received word of the husband’s intention, the paper said.

Saudi Arabia practices a strict form of Islamic Sharia law, and clerics preside over Sharia courts as judges.  Under the law a man can divorce his wife by saying “I divorce you” three times.

The Saudi man was in Iraq to participate in “what he described as ‘jihad’,” according to the Arab News. Many Saudis have gone to fight with al Qaeda militants against the Iraqi government and U.S. forces.

Sandstorm Blankets Saudi Capital Of Riyadh

Residents of Saudi Arabia’s capital, Riyadh, are cleaning up after a huge sandstorm blanketed the city with a thick layer of yellow dust.

Cars and houses are covered by sand after the storm forced the closure of the international airport and shut down schools.

The Saudi Press Agency says flights to Khaled International Airport were diverted to airports in Jeddah and Dammam. The airport has since reopened.

Hospitals dispatched emergency teams to dozens of residents suffering from breathing problems.

Billowing clouds of sand engulfed the city and surrounding areas, forcing drivers to slow to a crawl and people to stay indoors.

Sandstorms are common in Saudi Arabia during the spring.