Soccer Mania Upsets Housewives.


JEDDAH, 12 June 2006 — Summer is here, school is out and the perennial
vacation season is beginning. But for 46-year-old housewife Samia Ahmad, the
next few weeks will be less like a summer break and more like a bad dream.

"This month will be a nightmare to me," said Samia Ahmad. "Instead of going
out and enjoying the summer vacation, my husband and son have been glued to
the TV screen since the first day of the World Cup."

Indeed, soccer has always been considered mainly a male interest, and
housewives in Saudi Arabia are finding themselves forced to confront the
reality of men and boys hypnotized in front of television screens for the
next 26 days.

Samia admits that she will be watching the World Cup when the Saudi national
team takes to the pitch on Wednesday. Otherwise, she plans on being out of
the house as much as possible during the month-long run of 64 matches. (As
of this morning: Eight games down, 56 games to go.)

Arwa Abdurrazzaq, 33, said she's seeing the World Cup as an opportunity for
a little "me time."

"I've decided to take advantage of my husband's interest in watching
football," she said.

The deal is this: As long as her husband is watching football, Arwa has free
reign to visit friends and go shopping. She says this is a particularly
sweet bargain since traffic will be light during the matches.

An SMS message of unknown origins has been circulating around the Kingdom as
a kind of plea. It says: "My dear wife, I've been loyal to you all the past
years. Keep away from me these days and let me enjoy watching the World Cup
without disturbance." Joke or no joke, many husbands have been forwarding
this SMS onward.

One husband took it up a notch and persuaded his wife and children to take a
nice, month-long trip to visit relatives in Madinah.

"I told my wife not to call or disturb me until the World Cup is over unless
it is an emergency case of illness or death," said Abu Omar, 32. "At the
same time, I don't want to feel guilty for letting my wife get bored waiting
impatiently for the World Cup to end."

At least one housewife interviewed by Arab News has decided to play the good
sport.

"It is selfish when some wives, who are not into soccer, ignore their
husbands and try to stay away from them when watching the matches," said
Salma Abdullah, 27.

One month of intense soccer action every four years seems like an easy
sacrifice, she says, especially considering the idea of reciprocation.

"A woman must respect and share her husband's interest as long as he respect
hers and stays with her when watching her favorite movies," says Abdullah.
"It is a matter of communication and understanding each other's different
interests."

So if you find your husband lost in soccer action over the next few weeks,
perhaps the best thing to do is, afterward, force him to sit and snuggle
with his loving wife and a bowl of popcorn to watch "The Notebook" or some
other "chick flick."
After all, the World Cup arrives only once in every four years.

  Man Confesses to Wife She Is His Fourth.


JEDDAH, 12 June 2006 — A newly wed bride in Jeddah believed until Saturday
that she was the happiest woman in the world and her husband the ideal
husband any woman could ever dream for. The husband's cell phone would often
ring late at night causing the husband to jump out of the nuptial bed and
switch his phone off without bothering to check who the caller was. When the
bride suggested that the husband check the number to know who would be
ringing at such an unlikely hour, the husband would assure her by saying he
loved her so much that he didn't want his cell phone to distract him from
her for even a split second. The newly wed bride was flattered and lost for
words. Good things never last and after a short while the woman learnt from
a reliable source that her man had fathered dozens of children and had
married three times before. In fact she was only his fourth wife and all
this time he had been lying about his love for her. The young lady flew in
to an immediate rage and demanded a divorce. The husband wanted her to
return all the money he had spent on her. Left in a somewhat difficult
predicament a lawyer advised the young lady that if she filed a case of
deception or breach of trust against him she was likely get a divorce
without paying a single penny.

    Hard Labor for Stripping Woman of Abaya


MAKKAH, 12 June 2006 — A court in Makkah on Saturday sentenced two youths to
five years hard labor and 150 lashes each for removing a woman's abaya at a
shopping mall in Makkah, press reports said yesterday.

Police said one of the youths, who worked in the shopping complex,
encouraged the other to strip the young woman of her abaya. The woman
complained to local police who immediately arrested the suspects.

The court handed down the relatively harsh punishments to the two men after
establishing the truth of the charges brought against them.

*Rapist Jailed*

In another case, the court sentenced a man to five years in jail and 3,000
lashes for raping a young woman in a deserted building in the Rusaifa
district of Makkah.

According to the police, the rapist, who was drunk at the time of the
assault, was caught with help from the victim's father.

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