MADINAH – Twenty six children were stripped of their Saudi citizenship after it was discovered that they had been illegally included on a citizen's ID card, said Muhammad Al-Jassir, spokesman for Civil Status Administration. According to a report in Al-Madinah Arabic daily, the Bureau of Grievances looked into the case and decided that all names of the non-Saudi children should be struck off. The Administrative Court of Madinah had previously looked into the case of the citizen, aged 62, and sentenced him to five years in prison and a fine of SR10,000 for forging official documents and claiming that the 26 children were his. He admitted to the forgery charges and said he had received a total sum of SR410,000 from the children's expatriate parents to include them on his ID card. The citizen had fooled authorities by admitting a pregnant woman to a hospital and claiming she was his wife. After the woman gave birth, he used the birth certificate authorities issued and forged it 25 times. Expatriate parents who wanted their children to obtain Saudi citizenship approached the citizen and paid him large amounts of money to include their children on his ID card. Zaid Al-Tamimi, director of Riyadh Civil Status Directorate, said he was shocked by the story. “It's shocking that he was able to forge one birth certificate so many times and include the children on his ID card.” Previously, authorities have arrested a large number of expatriates involved in such scams. — SG
