SAUDI BARBARITY

Father of the convicted Muslim teenage girl to appeal to parents of the dead baby to save her from being beheaded

Our "friends" the Saudis continue to live in the 7th century. This is one more story of Muslim barbarity. It may already be too late for this young woman.

Mon, 2007-07-16 14:01
By Walter Jayawardhana
Asian Tribune
Asian Tribune
http://www.asiantribune.com/index.php?q=node/6552
Colombo, 16 July (Asiantribune.com): Mohamed Sultan Nafeek the father of the 19 year old Sri Lankan girl, who is sentenced to be beheaded in Saudi Arabia said in Colombo that he was scheduled to fly on June 16 to the desert kingdom to appeal to the parents of the baby boy who died while the convicted teenager was bottle feeding him.
"I will ask them to pardon my daughter for the sake of Allah, it was not her intention to kill," Sultan Nafeek said.
Under Saudi Arabian law the victim’s family is entitled to pardon an accused of a crime and spare the Life from being beheaded.
But when the case was taken up in Dawadimi, about 250 miles West of Riyadh the Saudi employers of Rizana Nafeek refused to pardon the poor Sri Lankan Muslim girl and she was sentenced to be beheaded under Saudi Arabian law.
When the alleged crime occurred, Rizana was only a minor of 17 years old and a crooked Sri Lankan job agent had sent her to Saudi Arabia by distorting her age as minors cannot be sent to foreign countries for employment under Sri Lanka law.
She did not get any opportunity to tell the courts what her real age is and under international law a minor cannot be put to death under any kind of circumstances.
Sources close to Nafeek’s family said a Sri lankan Muslim Minister also will be flying with Rizana’s father carrying a special letter from Sri Lanka’s president Mahinda Rajapaksa addressed to the King of Saudi Arabia to intervene in the matter in granting clemency for the girl.
Until the last moment the girl’s father had not received a visa to enter Saudi Arabia but he was with high hopes he would be granted one.
Mohamed Sultan Nafeek, a poor wood cutter from the impoverished Eastern town of Muttur in Sri Lanka, allowed her to go and work in Saudi Arabia as he was unable to build a decent house for his family and they still live in a mud hut without any basic amenities. "We live in abject poverty, we only live in a mud hut which has no proper toilet or a well to draw water. This is what made Rizana to go to Saudi," he said while waiting for his visa in Colombo.
Rizana was employed as a house maid. But in addition to her household chores, babysitting, for which she has had no instructions or training , was also added to her list of duties.
The unfortunate incident occurred while she was bottle feeding the baby.

READ THE WHOLE ARTICLE
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
UPDATE:
Asian Tribune
Delay in issuing visas to Sri Lankan team to enter Saudi a puzzle
Mon, 2007-07-16 18:21
Saudi Arabian Embassy in Sri Lanka has so far not issued the necessary visa's for the Sri Lankan team, including the Deputy Foreign Minister, to enter Saudi Arabia and make representations on behalf of the 19-year -old Sri Lankan House maid, Rizana Nafeek, sentenced to beheading. The visa applications were made a week ago and the delay is yet to be explained. The father and mother of the condemned teenage housemaid is expected to travel to Saudi Arabia to appeal in person for clemency from Mr & Mrs Naif Jiziyan Khalaf Al Otaibi, the father and mother of the deceased 4-month-old boy who was alleged to have been killed by the Sri Lanka Housemaid. The Sri Lankan team due to leave for Saudi Arabia is led by Deputy Foreign Minister Hussein Bhaila.

I will follow and update as news becomes available.