A Saudi Arabian man who was arrested for bragging about his sex life on television has apologized for his comments while Saudi authorities discuss whether he should be charged with a crime, according to local media.

Mazen Abdul Jawad appeared earlier this month on Lebanese channel LBC's show "Red Lines," on which he discussed foreplay, sexual conquests and how he picks up women, all taboo subjects in deeply conservative Saudi Arabia.

According to the Saudi daily newspaper Arab News, Abdul Jawad has initiated a damage-control campaign and on Sunday "appeared in the pages of a local newspaper apparently wiping away tears from a handkerchief as he apologized and begged for forgiveness."

Abdul Jawad is a 32-year-old airline employee and divorced father of four.

In Saudi Arabia, pre-marital sex is illegal and unrelated men and women are not allowed to mingle.

According to Arab News, Abdul Jawad is not in jail and is considering filing a complaint against the show's producers for presenting him "in the worst possible manner by taking two hours of footage and condensing it down to a minutes-long segment."

Ashraf Al-Sarraj, the lawyer representing Abdul Jawad in his possible complaint against LBC, told Arab News, "We will study the case and eventually present it to the Ministry of Information."

According to the paper, "LBC refused to comment on the matter until it has more time to formulate a response."

The segment in question has, since its initial broadcast, been posted on YouTube and been viewed hundreds of thousands of times. It includes scenes of Abdul Jawad discussing his enjoyment of sex and how he lost his virginity at age 14. Abdul Jawad is also shown in his bedroom, where he holds up sexual aids to the camera. It ends with him cruising the streets of Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, in his car and looking for women.

CNN has been unable to reach Abdul Jawad, the Saudi Ministry of Justice or the Saudi Ministry of Information for comment.

http://edition.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/meast/07/27/saudi.sex.bragger/index.html

King Fahd's Fountain ( نافورة الملك فهد‎) is a fountain located in the Sea-side of the city Jeddah, Saudi Arabia named for King Fahd. It is the tallest fountain in the world, with water achieving a maximum height of 312m (1023ft). Each of the three massive pumps deliver 625 litres (165 gallons) of water per second. The water is propelled through 126mm (5 inch) nozzles at an incredible speed of 375 km/h (233 mph).

The Jeddah Fountain, also known as King Fahd's Fountain is one of the most striking landmarks of the city of Jeddah. A riveting attraction, the Jeddah Fountain is a prominent feature of the city skyline.

Built to complement the magnificence of the Salam Palace, the Jeddah Fountain is a spectacle in the Arabian Gulf. Unlike most other fountains around the world, which operate on freshwaters, Jeddah Fountain makes use of seawater.

The salinity and arenaceous qualities of seawater posed numerous hurdles in the construction of the Jeddah Fountain. The resistance of water flow could be best countered by using huge pumps and pipes close to the jet of the fountain. However, these pipes were not to be displayed to public, and hence came the idea of placing them under the water.

The pump house and electrical substation of the Jeddah Fountain were constructed on a submersible barge which was about 90 meters in length. All the support structure for the mountain was built in another town, in accordance with the needs of the project.

After completion, these structures were assembled for the Jeddah Fountain and towed to Jeddah where the seabed had been leveled for this purpose. In order to blend with the surroundings, all the machinery of the fountain has been placed about 30 meters under the water.

Jeddah Fountain operates with the help of three centrifugal and 18 auxiliary pumps of 3.5 MW each. Every second, these 18 pumps deliver 625 liters of water each. Two of the main pumps jet the water at the same time, delivering 1,250 liters per second.

On a calm day, seawaters jet up to a height of 312 meters (1,024 feet approx.) from the Jeddah Fountain. The plume of this fountain is supposedly taller than the magnificent Eiffel Tower of Paris. This plume of water weighs more than 18,750 kilograms when hanging in the air for about 15 seconds.

Stringent maintenance measures and excellent planning have made the Jeddah Fountain one of the most incredible attractions in Saudi Arabia. It is truly an ode to architectural brilliance.

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Saudi activist: Female minister 'first step' but more needed

 (CNN) - The appointment of a woman to Saudi Arabia's influential council of ministers is a "first step" for women's rights in the country, but it's unclear if she will have any real power, an outspoken advocate said Sunday.

"It is something really great, and we are very proud of our king that he took this decision," said Wajeha al-Huwaider, a prominent Saudi activist and writer. "And I think it's going to be the first step toward the reform that he promised."

King Abdullah on Saturday appointed Norah al-Faiz to serve as the newly created deputy minister for women's education as part of a major Cabinet reshuffling. It is the first time a woman has been appointed to the council.

"I'm very proud to be nominated and selected for such a prestigious position," al-Faiz said. "I hope that other ladies, females, will follow in the future."

 Al-Faiz said she's confident she won't be a token member of the council.

"I think by being the second person after the minister, I think I have enough power to work in the improvement of girls' education," she said.

But al-Huwaider said it is unclear if al-Faiz will have any real power, or if she will follow the path of other Saudi women who had been appointed to lower councils but were never heard from.

She noted that Saudi women still do not have the right to drive and are recognized under Saudi law as the property of men.

"Even this minister now ... she is not really in control of her life," al-Huwaider said. "It is not up to her; it's up to her male guardian."

She said the "guardianship system" is the first thing that should be removed by the new Saudi government.

"This is the main thing that is controlling our life," al-Huwaider said. "We want to be able to drive our cars, you know, to feel like we are just like the rest of the world."

Other positions that were replaced were the head of Saudi Arabia's influential Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice as well as the ministers of health, justice, culture and education.

Khaled al-Maeena, editor in chief of Arab News, an English-language daily newspaper in Saudi Arabia, said that the entire Cabinet reshuffling "sends a clear signal that the king means business."

"King Abdullah has always been saying this for quite some time, that he would like to see the country progress," al-Maeena told CNN. "He has taken many initiatives, reforms, enhanced the power of women. ...

"And right now, by getting these people who are young -- some of them -- who have the right ambition and the right knowledge, to go ahead, I think it means that there is going to be a march toward progress."

 Al-Maeena said that King Abdullah has "always been on the side of women and this stems from his pure and ideal Islamic values, which gives rights to women. ..."

"But unfortunately," he said. "Over the past few decades, there had been some, you know, backrolling of women's participation."

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is an Arab country and the largest in the Arab peninsula. It is also called “The Land of the two holy Mosques” which refers to Mecca and Medina. Its main religion is Islam and more specifically: Sunnis and their spoken language is Arabic with a Bedouin dialect. The climate is known to be extremely hot and arid, and during summer the temperature could reach 50 degrees. Saudi Arabia was not united; on the contrary it was split upon nomads, Najd and Hejaz. Hejaz is a whole region defined by the red sea and along the Great Rift Valley. Moreover it includes the two holy cities (Mecca and Medina). This region was previously occupied by Egypt, Ottoman Empire and Britain. The Hejazis adhere to a more moderate interpretation of Islam than does the Wahhabi sect that arouse in Najd, due to their previous occupations by foreigners and their link to the sea. Whereas the Najd (meaning “upland”) is located in the central region and its main and largest city is Riyadh. It was composed of several tribes such as Tamim and Tayy before King Abdul Aziz has put an end to nomadic life in 1932. Since the beginning of the Kingdom, there was an understanding between Al Saud the royal family and Al Wahab regarding the way of ruling the country. Wahhabism became a dominant form of Islam in Saudi Arabia, and it is one of the most fundamentalist interpretations of Islam by Muhammad Bin Abdel Wahab. For instance, they established what we call “Moutawiin”; this is a sort of police that tries to maintain the Shariia ruling. An example of the Moutawaa role is to make sure that women are wearing their veils and their “abaya” properly. Saudi Arabia is considered to be a monarchy rules by Al Saud, and the Koran has the equivalence of the constitution. It follows the Islamic law or Shariia. The Shariia is also applied in courts when it comes to crimes. Homosexualities, drunkenness, murder, robbery, adultery so on and forth are all equivalent to crimes and its consequences could attain amputation and capital punishment! Human rights in the Saudi kingdom are not issues to be discussed, whenever there is censorship in the media then it is believed to be the best thing to do for several reasons. And concerning the right of women to drive, well it is still not taken into consideration. Economically, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is based on petroleum whereby it represents 75% of the budget revenues, and 90% of the export is from the oil industry. Moreover, Saudi Arabia is part of the OPEC (Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries). Nowadays, the kingdom is suffering from a surplus of foreign labor and from the Saudi people unemployed. Therefore, it decided to apply the saudization, which means to employ a certain percentage of Saudi nationals in each private company.

                                                   gbasbous@baldati.com