Authorities in the United Arab Emirates have held more than 28 Saudis for violating traffic laws, officials said, and it is expected that final verdicts will include fines of more than SR25,000, confiscation of their vehicles and holding their passports. The actions followed after UAE authorities caught a number of Saudis who had covered their cars' number plates with dust, a practice to exceed speed limits on UAE highways without being detected by speeding equipment. Several of those being held said they were in Zaid City awaiting the verdicts on their violations after they were brought before the Attorney General's Office to set the date for issuing a final verdict. One of the men, H.S., a university student, said he is being held and his car has been impounded. He added that he and a colleague came to the UAE to spend a weekend there. After they had driven about 150 kilometers into the UAE, they were stopped, taken into custody and their cars were towed. He said he was charged with changing the front of his car, which he said was done to protect it from blowing sand. The session for looking into their violations is set for Aug. 8, he added. The student said he expects that the penalty will include a fine of about AED20,000, about SR20,400 and a requirement to sign a document stating that they will not change the front of their car or its number plate. Another Saudi, F.S., said he, too, is being held for changing the front part of his vehicle and that six other impounded cars belonging to Saudis who came to the UAE with their families. Most of them have paid the fine of AED20,000 while others paid AEDR25,000, he said. Emirates authorities at the border did not tell them that their vehicle modifications were not legal in the UAE and that they needed to remove them, he said. They were allowed to enter the country, but they were later stopped by authorities, he added. Saud Bin Ahmad Azayah, Saudi consul general in the UAE, said the Saudi Embassy there has received a number of complaints from Saudis who said they were being held and their cars were impounded due to violating traffic laws such as speeding and obscuring their number plates. Azayah said these violations lead to motorists being taken into custody or submitting their passports as a guarantee, and paying fines, having their vehicles confiscated, in addition to cases being registered against them at the Attorney General Office. Saudi officials are exerting big efforts, in coordination with related authorities in the UAE, to commute the sentences against the Saudis, Azayah said. In some cases some of the Saudis are not aware of UAE traffic laws, he added. He called on all Saudis traveling to the UAE to comply with its laws and regulations so they will not be subjected to matters that spoil their vacations and deprive them of enjoying their time. __
