GURAYYAT, 13 December 2007 — No matter how conservative you are, the Saudi border patrol would like you to know that they have a right to confirm the identities of people wearing the niqab (face veil). The daily Al-Riyadh reported yesterday that Saudi border police chased down a man who had run a checkpoint instead of submitting to their request to see his wife’s face. The police impounded the man’s car and are investigating the possibility of pressing charges against him. The incident occurred recently at the Haditha border crossing on the Saudi-Jordan border. Border police wanted to confirm that the photo of the man’s wife on her Saudi Passport matched the face of the person hidden beneath the veil. The man, obviously quite conservative, scoffed at the idea of allowing such disgrace to fall upon his house — so he stepped on the gas and attempted to run the checkpoint at an international border crossing, which is not exactly the wisest thing to do. Of course, some people in Saudi Arabia may take umbrage at the idea of a strange man gazing upon the faces of their women. However, Saudi officials would also like people to know that it is not unheard of for illegal migrants and drug traffickers to take advantage of the facemask to mask their identities. This poses a dilemma, but one that could be easily resolved with a little understanding from the people that the Border patrol officers are only doing their jobs.
