Man killed in police resistance By Ibrahim Alwi JEDDAH – An unidentified man died while resisting arrest when police were called to Jeddah's Corniche Wednesday following complaints that a group of African males were “trespassing and blocking areas of the Corniche with beach buggies and motorbikes”. The group reportedly responded to police officers by hurling stones and glass bottles. According to police, officers' appeals for restraint failed, prompting them to fire warning shots to disperse the group. “One shot ended up hitting one of them, killing him instantly,” said Misfer Al-Juaid, spokesman for Jeddah Police. – Okaz/SG Musicians, dancers arrested as Hai'a halt party By Abdul Aziz Al-Tubei'I and Mohammed Al-Zahrani TAIF – The Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice (Hai'a) arrested a Yemeni singer and his two Saudi backing musicians in a raid on a mixed-sex party at an “istiraha” rest house in Taif on Tuesday night. According to Hai'a officials, over 100 persons were in attendance at the event in the Al-Faisaliya district of the city, and among the arrested were “women in a state of undress dancing with other people on a stage”. The owner of the premises and the event organizer reportedly fled the scene and are being sought by the authorities. – Okaz/SG Father gets 50 lashes for child negligence By Eid Al-Harthi JEDDAH – A local court has sentenced a man to 50 lashes after what was described as “parental negligence” led to his two-year-old son accidentally swallowing a piece of hashish. Wednesday's ruling determined that the father of the child was guilty of possessing and using hashish, charges denied by the defendant. The child was in a coma when admitted to hospital earlier this week, and hospital staff called in the authorities after a urine test revealed traces of the drug in the boy's blood. - Okaz/SG Crash exposes drugs, illegal immigrants By Ibrahim Al-Hudheifi AL-MAKHWA – Five Saudis providing transport to 14 illegal Yemeni immigrants were arrested Tuesday after a car crash which led to the further discovery of drugs and firearms. The accident, which occurred as the group headed towards Jeddah, led to 11 of the passengers being hospitalized in Al-Baha, three of them placed in intensive care. Officers found in the vehicle captogon pills, hashish, a pistol and bullets. – Okaz/SG ‘Close to death' desert man found By Abdullah Al-Maqati SHULUM – A man whose car got stuck in sand as he lost his way in the desert on Wednesday has survived after a frantic 24-hour search ended with rescue teams finding him “close to death” on Thursday. The family of the individual informed the authorities that he had failed to return from a trip to a desert farm where he tended camels, and Civil Defense teams set about combing desert areas between Muwyah and Dhalam.
