Then I remember we beat them to it.
Posted on 03/26/2002 12:26:28 PM PST by knighthawk
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia--A student who stubbed out a cigarette on a pile of papers caused the March 11 school fire that killed 15 girls, but the authority that oversees girls' education was also held responsible for neglecting problems at the facility, Saudi press reports said Monday.
However, the investigation into the fire in the holy city of Mecca absolved the powerful muttawa, or religious police.
The final report described as ''untrue'' earlier reports that said the muttawa blocked rescue attempts by male firefighters and paramedics because some girls were not wearing long black cloaks and head coverings required in public.
The report, carried by most Saudi papers, came a day after King Fahd forced the retirement of Ali bin Murshid el-Murshid, a Muslim cleric who headed the Presidency of Girls' Education.
The king dissolved the girls' education authority and replaced el-Murshid's with Khedir al-Qurashi, a technocrat in the Education Ministry, which until now had overseen only boys' education.
The step removed a key institution from the control of the religious establishment. Since girls' education was made possible in the 1960s, a clergyman had been in charge to reassure parents their daughters were safe.
After the fire, the media reported rampant corruption and scores of problems plaguing schools in the world's richest Muslim country. Newspapers carried reports about scorpions and snakes in some schools, crumbling ceilings and recurrent electric short circuits in others.
Saudi newspapers, which had made unprecedented demands for el-Murshid's removal, reported the news in large headlines.
The investigation blamed the girls' education authority for putting the school in a building with one, narrow staircase and for allowing about 800 students to occupy a space intended for about 300. It said there were no fire detectors or alarms and too few fire extinguishers.
The report said the girls' education authority ignored an earlier plea from the principal, Munira Fadl-Alrahman Mustafa, to deal with the problem of overcrowding.
The investigation also blamed the principal for not ensuring the removal of trash from the building.
Submission or punishment...
More examples of how much they care.
Then I remember we beat them to it.
If that were true, you'd be legally able to buy 30 seconds of TV time to criticize an incumbent politician 30 days before an election.
You also wouldn't be paying 30-50% of your income to the government, but that's another story.
"The final report described as ''untrue'' earlier reports that said the muttawa blocked rescue attempts by male firefighters and paramedics because some girls were not wearing long black cloaks and head coverings required in public."
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