SAUDI ARABIA: A lawsuit against a genie

A family in Saudi Arabia has filed suit in a religious court against an unnamed genie, or jinn, who sounds most unpleasant: It steals cellphones, whispers threats and occasionally flings stones.

 “We began to hear strange sounds,” a family member who requested anonymity told the Saudi daily Al Watan. “At first we did not take it seriously, but then stranger things started to happen, and the children got particularly scared when the genie started throwing stones.”

The genie -- or genies -- had demands: “A woman spoke to me first, and then a man. They said we should get out of the house,” said the family member, adding that his clan fled their home near the city of Medina.

Jinns and genies are spirits born out of fire that have supernatural powers. They appear in the Koran and Arab mythology, creatures living between humanity and the elements. One of their most famous incarnations lived in Aladdin’s lamp.

SAUDI ARABIA: Saudi princes' feud goes public

Arab royalty is famous for its ability to resolve familial disputes in private, but that isn’t the case with Saudi princes Khaled and Al-Waleed bin Talal.

In an act of rare public criticism, Prince Khaled bin Talal openly criticized his billionaire brother for propagating vice, and attempting to change the traditionalist norms of the kingdom. In an interview with an Islamist blog, Prince Khaled said, “the objectives of Prince Al-Waleed and others are to open a wide range of intellectual, religious, and ethical changes.”

 He also leveled the charge of violating Shariah, or Islamic law, which makes up the majority of Saudi law.

Prince Al-Waleed is one of the better-known Saudi royals, due to his extensive financial power and his extravagant lifestyle. So extravagant that his 460,000-square-foot palace was featured on VH1.

He is also among the less-conservative Saudi princes and has suggested reforming the legal code to allow modest reforms such as allowing women to drive. This has put him at odds with conservative members of the Saudi royal family, as well as the Saudi clerical establishment.

SAUDI ARABIA: Cross-dressing men arrested at a drag party

Saudi Arabian authorities have charged 67 men detained at a party for reportedly wearing women’s clothing.

Most of the men were Filipino and were arrested while standing outside a private party held in a villa near  the Saudi capital, Riyadh, on the occasion of Philippine Independence Day.

According to the Saudi daily Al Riyadh, the police questioned the men after spotting “suspicious behavior” and then proceeded to raid the party. More women's clothing, cosmetics, and alcohol were reportedly found in further investigations.

The Philippines' vice consul in Riyadh, Roussell Reyes, confirmed the arrests. “Some of those arrested were reportedly wearing gowns and wigs and drinking liquor. It seems that there was a party,” Reyes reportedly told a radio station.

IRAN: Arab world awaits election results

As Iranians head to the polls to elect a president, the Arab world is watching, especially the so-called "moderate Arab states," including Egypt and Saudi Arabia, who have lately been warning of a looming Iranian threat to the region.

The headline of the Saudi-owned London-based pan-Arab daily, Asharq Alawsat on Friday morning read [Iranian presidential candidate Mohsen "Rezai to Al Sharq Al Awsat: we have secured Iran's place as a power...and our people deserve a better life."

He meant better than the life they are living under incumbent president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad

The Iranian president's fiery rhetoric, alleged nuclear ambitions and open support for militant groups abroad make him an unpopular figure both in the West and in those Arab states that maintain warm relations with the U.S., especially Saudi Arabia.

On the opinion page, neocon darling Amir Taheri warned that whoever becomes the next president will have to "reverse the foreign policy that led to diplomatic isolation, United Nations sanctions and threats of war" favored by Ahmadinejad.

MIDDLE EAST: Daily headlines from Gaza, Israel, Iran in your mailbox

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You can subscribe by logging in or registering at the website here, clicking on the box for "L.A. Times updates," and then clicking on the "World: Mideast" box.

— Los Angeles Times staff

SAUDI ARABIA: Stopping militant passions

Why do young Saudi men keep popping up to do bad things in dangerous places?

Saudi militants are instigating terror and death from Yemen to Europe and from Iraq to Pakistan. The Saudi government has been attempting to calm jihadist passions by enrolling extremists in reform schools and silencing radical preachers. There has been progress, but the kingdom’s ultra-conservative brand of Wahhabi Islam keeps churning out those with masked faces and crisscrossed bandoliers.

Tariq Alhomayed, editor of the English-language daily Asharq Al-Awsat, explored the problem Saudi Arabia and the Arab world face in an opinion piece headlined: "Saudi Youth and Terrorism: When Will It End?"

“The ideological war in Saudi Arabia [against extremism] continues to be fought but below the expected level, even though the Saudi media is fiercely in opposition to extremism and the extremists, and there is a social aversion to Al Qaeda, the takfiris, and those who support them,” writes Alhomayed. “But despite this we continue to witness the destruction of our youth.”

He adds: “We should blame ourselves.”

Read the rest of the story here.

-- Jeffrey Fleishman in Cairo

Photo: The aftermath of a suicide bombing in Baghdad. Credit: Reuters

SAUDI ARABIA: An inner-beauty pageant

Forget about backless evening gowns. Don't even think of a swimsuit competition. Two hundred Saudi girls are instead polishing their virtue in preparation for Saturday’s launch of the only beauty contest in the staunchly conservative kingdom.

The Saudi pageant focuses entirely on “inner beauty.” This is keeping in line with the strict Islamic beliefs and traditions of a country where women are forbidden to drive, and appear in public draped in a black robe with a headscarf and often with their faces completely covered.

The aim of the Saudi beauty contest, which will crown the winner “Miss Beautiful Morals,” is to highlight women’s commitment to the values of Islam and not her physical attributes, according to a report published Wednesday by the Associated Press.

For the next 10 weeks, contestants will be observed by female judges who will inquire about their devotion to their parents, their personalities and inner strengths. The winner will be announced in July. 

SAUDI ARABIA: Underage marriages to be regulated

Modernists in Saudi Arabia are striking back in their ongoing fight for influence and power with hardliner Islamists in this ultraconservative nation. After a court refused for the second time to annul the marriage of an 8-year-old girl to a man 40 years older than her, the Saudi minister of justice said last week that his government was planning to regulate the marriage of underage girls.

The Saudi justice minister, Mohammed Issa, told local media that his ministry wanted to “put an end to arbitrariness by parents and guardians in marrying off minor girls." 

The minister, however, did not elaborate on how marriages to minors would be kept in check. Other media reports quoting high-ranking officials said that a new law pertaining to marriage in the kingdom was being drafted and would set the minimum age of marriage as 18. 

SAUDI ARABIA: Court refuses to nix 8-year-old's marriage to 60-year-old

The latest clash in the struggle between Saudi Arabia's religious hardliners and reformists erupted this week when a court refused for the second time to annul a widely publicized marriage between an 8-year-old girl and a man of 60. 

The case has been brought by the girl’s mother, who accused the child’s father of selling her to pay off his debts. 

Saudi Justice Minister Mohammad Issa went on to tell the Saudi Daily Al Watan that the ministry of justice was seeking to “regulate” marriages of young girls but gave no indication the practice would be stopped. 

QATAR: Libya's Kadafi bashes Saudi king at Doha summit

As usual, Libyan leader raised eyebrows Monday with his incendiary but hilarious remarks at the Arab summit in Doha.

As the Emir of host Qatar welcomed Saudi King Abdullah ibn Abdulaziz al Saud, Libyan President Moammar Kadafi interrupted him addressing the Saudi king, saying:

"I seize the opportunity to tell my brother Abdullah, you have been evasive and scared of confrontation for six years. I want to assure you today not to be scared. I am telling you after six years it was proved that lies stand behind you and your grave awaits you. You were created by Britain and protected by the U.S. I consider the personal issue that lasted between you and me is over and I am ready to visit you as well as receive you."