Tourists get 'Ya Hala!' from Saudi religious police

[Amelia]

Tourists get 'Ya Hala!' from Saudi religious police

04 December 2006

Stuff.co.nz

RIYADH: Saudi Arabia's bearded religious police, who have been known to force men to cut their hair, are being re-trained to handle a potential influx of non-Muslim tourists, a government official said.

The Supreme Commission for Tourism (SCT) said that the Authority for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice – otherwise known as the religious police, or "mutawwa" – had volunteered to take part in an orientation programme.

"It was the Authority that requested that some of its members be able to participate in the Ya Hala (Welcome!) programme," Magid al-Shiddi, SCT spokesman said.

"It aims to teach how to deal with people of different cultures and develop communication skills," Shiddi said.

Saudi Arabia, the birthplace of Islam which imposes strict Islamic law, this year announced a drive to attract tourists from around the world to a land that has long remained closed to many outsiders, especially non-Muslim Westerners.

The religious police, with powers to prevent drugs, alcohol and prostitution, roam city streets checking that unrelated men and women do not mix and that shops close during daily prayers.

In the past, some members of the morality squad have even been known to force men to cut their hair. But recently there has been domestic pressure for them to ease their zeal as the country tries to institute social and economic reforms.

[Neil D]

uh oh....the standards are slipping...... :-)