Posted on 09/30/2004 10:26:15 PM PDT by bunkerhill7
Top Saudi cleric bans use of camera phones
Such gadgets spread obscenity in Muslim society, he says; edict issued after Saudis disregard ban on sale and import
RIYADH - Saudi Arabia's highest religious authority has barred the use of cellphones with built-in cameras, blaming them for 'spreading obscenity'. Cellular shutterbugs in Saudi Arabia now risk fines and jail.
This is a final resort after a ban on their sale and import in the kingdom failed to dent their popularity.
Camera-equipped phones are wildly popular throughout the Middle East, particularly in oil-rich Gulf countries, but there has been concern that they are misused in conservative Muslim societies to photograph women without their knowledge.
A wedding in Saudi Arabia ended in a brawl over the photographing of women, and young men in the glitzy malls of the United Arab Emirates have been warned by police not to surreptitiously photograph female shoppers. In Egypt, a women-only beach bars cameras, and cellphones are checked at the entry point.
So far, however, only Saudi Arabia has taken the drastic step of banning the import or sale of camera-equipped mobile phones and declaring them forbidden by religion.
Despite the March ban on their sale and import, the phones are easily smuggled in from neighbouring Bahrain or the Emirates. But cellular shutterbugs now risk having their phones confiscated, and face fines or even jail time.
Sheik Abdul Aziz bin Abdullah Al-Sheik, Saudi Arabia's highest religious authority, announced the religious edict on Tuesday in remarks to Al-Madina daily. The devices, he said, were 'spreading obscenity in Muslim society'.
'All citizens should renounce the use of cellphones with cameras...for it can harm everybody without discrimination,' the paper quoted him as saying. He added that violators 'should be strictly confronted and punished'.
Saudi Arabia is one of the most conservative societies in the world, with strict segregation of the sexes in public places. Women are forbidden to drive and must be covered from head to toe in public.
A wedding party in July turned violent after a female guest was caught taking photographs with her phone, according to reports. Scuffles broke out and spread to the men's section. Some guests reportedly were hospitalised.
Women are sensitive to being photographed, especially without their veils. Segregation during celebrations in Saudi Arabia allows women to shed their black veils and loosen outer robes.
In another case, a Saudi woman was expelled from her university for taking pictures of unveiled colleagues with her phone and posting them on the Internet. -- AP
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