@ossobucotemp,
Thanks Jo, someone has been voting my posts down on this thread. I suspect it may be the OP who seems a bit of a Saudi propagandist.
Basically every country in the ME has both Shia and Sunni. Iran is mainly Shia, Saudi Arabia Sunni. Each country supports their own group which is why there are proxy wars going on in Yemen and Syria, and now it looks like Lebanon will kick off.
They're both as bad as each other, but the Sunni/Shia divide is a running sore that makes the Israeli/Arab situation look like a hangnail.
All this talk of magic cities in the desert is a distraction. Btw, the Saudis are all pretty well off, the poor people are the migrant workers in the gulf, other Arabs, mostly Palestinian and Indians, Filipinos and other South East Asians.
And if you think chrome, glass and ostentatious displays of wealth equal western values look at Dubai.
Quote:A British man and woman jailed in Dubai for kissing in public have lost their appeal against their conviction.
Ayman Najafi, 24, and Charlotte Adams, 25, were sentenced to a month in prison with subsequent deportation and fined about £200 for drinking alcohol.
The pair were arrested in November after a local woman accused them of breaking the country's decency laws by kissing on the mouth in a restaurant.
Najafi said he was "very disappointed". The pair plan to make a second appeal.
The initial complaint against them was made by a 38-year-old woman who said she was offended by their behaviour at the Jumeirah Beach Residence, where she was dining with her daughter.
The pair's defence lawyers said the woman - who did not appear in court - had not seen the kiss herself, but had been told by her two-year-old child that the girl had seen them kissing.
The defendants also claimed they had merely kissed each other on the cheek, and therefore had not broken any laws.
The BBC's Ben Thompson, at the court, said the judge spoke entirely in Arabic as he quickly dismissed the appeal, saying he upheld the previous sentence.
They were fined 1,000 dirhams, which is about £200. They now have 30 days to appeal.
It was left to the defence lawyer to explain the verdict to Najafi and Adams.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8602449.stm