Four minors have been convicted and sentenced to between six months and two years in prison for acts of theft at the Holy Mosque in Makkah. A Burmese teenager was sentenced to two years and 200 lashes of the whip for stealing a mobile telephone and a wallet inside the mosque, a 17-year-old Burmese male was given six months' jail and 100 lashes for pick-pocketing at the same site, and a Nigerian male of unspecified age was sentenced to one year's prison and 300 lashes for theft during circumambulation. A fourth accused, of 17 years of age, is expected to be sentenced in the next few days. The convicted will spend their sentences at the Dar Al-Mulahadha youth detention facility. Sources said the courts have another three cases on their books of minors committing theft at the Grand Mosque.
