RIYADH (Nasser al-Qahtani, AlArabiya.net)
A new female unit of Saudi Arabia's Commission for the Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice will be out in force at a popular heritage festival, cracking down on women who violate the kingdom's dress code.
A Commission source who spoke on condition of anonymity told AlArabiya.net that the new unit will be in charge of arresting or warning women who violate religious ethics as far as dress and behavior are concerned at the Jenadriyah Heritage and Culture Festival.
A festival official, Dr. Salha al-Otaib, told AlArabiya.net that hundreds of female officers have been appointed in order to spare male Commission members the embarrassment of having to mix with women, especially in women-only places or in cases of illicit mixing of the sexes.
Men and women do not mix in the festival since each of them has separate activities and areas.
Last Friday, the female squad caught a group of women drinking and watching pornography in the company of men. The unit will also be working at wedding parties and public marketplaces, the source said.
(Translated from Arabic by Sonia Farid).
