Saudi men arrested for flirting

Published: Feb. 23, 2008 at 12:05 PM
Order reprints
MECCA, Saudi Arabia, Feb. 23 (UPI) -- Police in Saudi Arabia say they arrested 57 young men in Mecca for flirting with girls and playing loud music and dancing to attract the girls' attention.

The men were arrested this week at shopping centers in Mecca on the orders of the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, which enforces Saudi Arabia's conservative brand of Islam, Wahhabism, the BBC reported.

Earlier in the month, Saudi authorities enforced a ban on the sale of red roses used to mark Valentine's Day, which is viewed in Saudi Arabia as a "pagan Christian holiday" which encourages relations between the sexes outside of marriage, the BBC reported.


© 2008 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved.


RAAF airplane retiring after 45 years (2 min)
India earmarks $100M for Sri Lanka aid (5 min)
Britain to conduct Iraq torture inquiry (8 min)
Teen tried to sell naked photos of mom (8 min)
Bali bombers suspected in another blast (16 min)
Obama, Medvedev sign agreements on nukes (21 min)
More female vets with children homeless (21 min)
In a shocking upset, elephants defeat humans in a hotdog bun eating contest. Humans: 143 buns. Elephants:...
Man arrested for smashing a slice of pizza in his girlfriend's face. "It only takes two minutes...
Americans got to see fireworks on July 4th, Nigerians get Militants blowing up a Chevron and Shell...
After winning a big game, some people go to Disneyland. But if you're this guy, you wander your...
The best video of a $7.4 million Texas DPS helicopter watching 30 drug smugglers get away ON RAFTS...
Iran, desperate to regain top billing before Jackson's funeral tommorrow, warns the West against...