salaam,
article taken from khilafah.com
Saudis open a can of words
Cracking down on corruption can produce a host of new problems, as Brian
Whitaker explains
Many people in Dubai were shocked this week by news that the Gulf emirate’s
head of customs had been arrested on corruption charges, along with two of
his most senior aides.
The shock is not that the three men are accused of systematically creaming
off tens of millions of dollars in bribes but that the crown prince, after a
two-year investigation, has cracked down on such prominent officials.
Dr Obaid Saqr bin-Busit, the customs chief, is not only a well-known figure
in Dubai, but also a man of some standing internationally: last July he was
elected chairman of the Brussels-based World Customs Organisation for a
three-year term.
In the Middle East, people are accustomed to a certain flexibility when it
comes to customs duties and almost any other kind of government-imposed
restrictions.
People who belong to important families often regard themselves as above the
rules, while others with less influence but sufficient money can have the
rules bent by paying officials.
Occasionally, however, something disrupts this cosy little system.
Last summer, for instance, customs officials in Bahrain searched the cargo
of a plane that was about to leave for Saudi Arabia. It belonged to a Saudi
prince and, by the rules of Gulf etiquette, the officials had no business
prying.
Apologies followed and the plane took off, somewhat later than scheduled.
But what the customs officials had found was interesting: 200 cases of
whisky that, in the puritanical kingdom, could be sold under the counter for
around $300,000 (£206,033).
In most countries, customs officials would probably not insist on kings,
presidents, popes and prime ministers opening up their bags for inspection,
but in Saudi Arabia and much of the Gulf, the number of VIPs who expect
special treatment is enormous.
There are, for a start, about 5,000 Saudi princes. It is difficult to see
why they should all be entitled to royal privileges and why anyone should be
spared the indignity of a search simply because they are in the entourage of
someone who happens to be 4,723rd in line to the throne.
The justification for these privileges is closely linked to the concept of
honour - an essential part of Arab culture. To check a VIP at an airport for
concealed weapons or contraband is to call into question his honour, even
though there is ample evidence that such privileges are sometimes abused.
The hijacking of a Saudi plane to Baghdad last October may be a case in
point.
Although the details are still unclear, it appears that the hijackers took
advantage of the double standards applied in security checks to get their
weapons on board.
A further window into this murky world of privilege and bribery has been
opened up by the arrest in Saudi Arabia of some 15 foreigners who are
variously accused of alcohol offences, terrorism and murder.
Three men - a Briton, a Belgian and a Canadian were recently paraded on
Saudi television confessing to two car bombings last November that killed
one Briton and injured several others.
Five Britons and four Americans (including one with intelligence
connections) are among the others detained for alleged alcohol offences.
With the possible exception of three Americans, all appear to know each
other and to have been involved, one way or another, in a series of illicit
drinking dens in the capital, Riyadh.
The Saudi interior minister, Prince Nayef, has been at pains to point out
that no Saudis are involved.
The basic outline of the case (according to the Saudis) is that here were a
group of foreigners engaged in illegal alcohol activities who got into some
dubious business transactions - buying and selling stakes in their drinking
dens - then fell out and started attacking each other.
The televised confessions were certainly odd enough to cast doubt on their
veracity but, either way, there is plainly a lot more to the story than has
so far been disclosed.
Prohibition of alcohol - as the US found in the early years of the 20th
century - is extremely difficult to enforce, even in a puritanical country
such as Saudi Arabia.
The country’s economy depends on foreign workers - labourers from poor
countries in Asia and Africa, but also skilled westerners. Many of the
westerners are happy to go there, attracted by generous tax-free salaries,
or seeking to escape debts or personal problems back home.
There are around 25,000 Britons living and working in the kingdom.
Discouraged from mixing with the Saudis, they live in compounds with other
expatriates and quickly become bored, drinking to pass the time.
Possibly the illegality of alcohol in the kingdom adds a certain frisson of
excitement that is not to be found by visiting a pub in Britain.
The Saudis, meanwhile, recognise that it’s necessary, up to a point, to
tolerate these western habits.
Although the religious police (the mutawwa) take a much tougher line than
the ordinary police, the general approach is not to persecute drinkers who
keep their activities to themselves and don’t attract attention.
But this raises the question of how to keep such large numbers of foreigners
supplied with illegal alcohol. At one level, there is home brewing and some
distilling, but that is basically a cottage industry and not enough to meet
the demand.
Smuggling of spirits - mainly whisky and gin - has become big business and
most of it is said to pass through customs under the protection of royal
privilege.
Successful smuggling also depends on the existence of a distribution system
and retail outlets - all of them technically illegal in the kingdom.
What began with private drinks parties in people’s homes therefore
developed, eventually, into commercial-scale establishments resembling what,
in Britain, would be regarded as pubs or clubs.
The man credited with turning illicit drinking dens into a business is a
Briton called Gary Dixon (also known as Gary Lyons and Gary O’Nions), who
has just completed a short jail sentence in Dubai for crossing the border
illegally and is now awaiting extradition back to Saudi Arabia.
Although his Empire Club in Riyadh was busted three times by the religious
police over a period of six years, Mr Dixon appears to have led something of
a charmed life in Saudi Arabia.
Former members of the club believe this was because his Saudi sponsor and a
senior police officer received a share of the profits from the club.
During his enforced leisure in Dubai, Mr Dixon wrote a book about his
exploits on scraps of paper which have now been smuggled back to Britain,
and he is looking for a publisher.
This may well cast light on matters reaching far beyond Saudi Arabia’s
expatriate community.
In the meantime, Prince Nayef’s claims that the alcohol-and-bombs affair
involves only foreigners is beginning to look a little thin. The arrests
have certainly opened a can of worms.
The question now is whether the prince will proceed to a more far-reaching
clean-up, with all the embarrassment that that entails, or whether he will
take the easier course and slam the lid back on.
source: www.khilafah.com