Sarah defies Saudi thugs, won't leave without kids!

WorldNetDaily.com ^ | Friday, June 20, 2003 | Pat Roush

[JohnHuang2]

On the eve of her 24th birthday, Sarah Saga, the courageous, young woman who has sought sanctuary inside the U.S. Consulate in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia for the past five days, was brought face-to-face with members of the Saudi government inside her living quarters. She was not given the choice of refusing these uninvited guests, but told by U.S. consular officers that she must comply with Saudi demands for a meeting.

As Sarah and her two young children huddled in a corner of the room, three Saudi men from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs approached her. She had grown up in a household with an abusive Saudi father who had beaten her on a regular basis, threatened her with a knife, and locked her up in a room for two years as revealed to me in an audiotaped interview a few weeks ago. Now, her worst nightmare was coming true – Saudi men again intimating her and scaring her right inside the U.S. Consulate and in her own bedroom.

One of them said, "Let us tell you what your problem is – but your option is only one." The nervous, frightened woman signed the document placed before her and then the men left. The arrangements had been made. Sarah was to be placed on a commercial airliner at 2 a.m. this morning and her children were to be given to relatives. The Saudis wanted to end this "hostage situation" and get back to their PR campaign in the U.S.

But Sarah has decided that she won't go. "I will never leave my children here to suffer the same horrible life that I had to endure," she tells a Fox News audience. She has locked herself inside her room and keeps her little ones close by.

A couple of days ago, Sarah told her mom that she had a piece of chocolate cake at the consulate cafeteria. "I told Sarah we'll have a big chocolate cake for her birthday when she comes home. That was her favorite."

Birthdays aren't celebrated in Saudi Arabia. They consider it a Western holiday. When I met my daughters in a hotel room in Riyadh eight years ago, Aisha didn't even know her correct age. I brought Alia a "Sweet Sixteen" birthday card as a present, but she was perplexed by it all.

This will be the first birthday in eighteen years that Sarah Saga will celebrate. Although she may be alone in a room in the U.S. Consulate with danger all around her, she can have her chocolate cake with her kids and we can each light one candle for Sarah and pray for her safe return.

---

Fox News has posted addresses of U.S. officials that can be contacted to express support for Saga in her quest for freedom for both herself and her children.

---

[Graymatter]

"Women are still second-class citizens right here..."

Of course. If it were a man in that SA compound, he'd be a political cause celebre---and fed like one.

I thank God for GWB every day, but if he doesn't do something for these women, I won't lift a finger for him on Election Day.

Now where is the organization? Without it, this issue will go away. Where is the protest rally? Where is the petition? The maverick questioner in the audience who'll ask the President or his press secretary, what about these hostages?

[SarahW]

Apparently the guilt skips a generation, too.
Sara Saga was kidnapped by her father, held in the country against her will (helf in a locked room for TWO years, FWIW)
She was brutally forced into marriage; she was forced to have intercourse against her will. Sh has finally managed to escape, no thanks to the U.S., who view her escape as an embarrassment.

The State Department seems to be actively trying to sabotage her attempts to leave with her children.

No loving mother could leave her children in a country like that.

[FITZ]

Elian was on US soil for one. Would you like to see some Marines be killed going in and taking Sarah's Arab children out of Saudi?

I very much doubt Sarah's mother was forced to marry an Arab and she wasn't forced to send Sarah to a foreign country in the first place. The entire blame falls on that mother who abandoned her little girl to that country and was so stupid to marry the way she did in the first place.

[FITZ]

"the bitches wanted to marry the Arab bastards, now they GOT 'em!"

But seriously ---what can our government do, what SHOULD it do when women insist on marrying someone, knowing full well ahead of time that if the marriage doesn't work there will be custody issues. These foolish women give up their own religion, they agree to raise Islamic children, they know that the Middle Easterners view women as property? Can our government force these morons not to marry? But it's supposed to intervene when the marriage doesn't work and the woman wants saving?

[najida]

I think part of it is simple ignorance. The assumption that the whole world is just like here.

I have a friend, in her 60's, from Turkey, who regularly travels all over the ME to teach and do research. She is constantly, I mean CONSTANTLY admonishing those young, marriagable female students who wish to travel over there to do so at their own risk. She usually embellishes with a few horror stories.

[SarahW]

Elian had a dead mother and a living father, Isn't that correct?

[FITZ]

And some are so desperate to be married, they probably ignore her advice figuring if they get themselves in a jam later, our government will just have to get them out. To me there are enough of these stories there is no excuse at all for ignorance about international marriages. There was one here, a woman from Mexico studying and a man from Iran. They married and she gave birth in the US to a US citizen. The man's family didn't want his child to grow up as a corrupt American or be raised as a Catholic which the Mexican woman started to do so he took the boy to Iran where his sisters and mother are raising him. The mother will never see him again until he is an adult. They sometimes will let her talk to him on the phone, and she's upset our government didn't go in there and take him out for her, she apparently didn't expect her own government to do anything.

It's amazing to me that these women can't open their eyes before they make such a drastic mistake. The mistake is all theirs and why they believe American soldiers should be killed over there mistake is beyond me.

[SarahW]

OUr government should put Sara Saga and her two children on a plane and bring them back to the United States, that's what it should do.

[SarahW]

Sara Saga made no such mistake. And she is a US citizen, held on foreign soil against her will, essentially sold into marriage and raped by a man she did not willingly marry.

[FITZ]

Elian was on US soil, his mother brought him here, the father agreed for him to stay with his own relatives, everything was fine until Castro got involved. That was the issue there. If Sarah does what Elian's mother did ---gets her children to the US, then I'd feel the same ---the children (even if they aren't technically US citizens) would have certain rights to stay.

Just as I believe Americans shouldn't have to be killed trying to get those Arab children out of Saudi Arabia, and this incident shouldn't lead to us going to war with the Arabs, it would be different if the Arabs came here to take them out of the US, even if the Arabs have given them Saudi citizenship.

I was under the impression that Sarah's mother allowed her to visit her father over there and that he didn't return her because he believed under Saudi law that he should keep her. It was up to Sarah's mother to understand Saudi law before she got involved in a marriage with one.

[Mr Rogers]

Normally I'm a strong supporter of the law - but I make an exception for Saudi Arabia. I think we should tell the Saudis to pound sand - their 'laws' are too obscene to be recognized by a civilized country. It is like allowing Nazi Germany to execute Jews because it is IAW their laws. Sometimes, you just have to recognize a country is too immoral to give their laws any weight.

[FITZ]

Are her children citizens of Saudi Arabia by Saudi law? Shouldn't women limit their marriage choices to countries like England, Canada, etc where there isn't going to be custody disputes later?

[SarahW]

WHo is going to get killed? The kids are at the consulate already, with their mother.

These children are the product of, basically, rape. The father has no claim to them.

[najida]

They don't understand that 'over there' females have little to no value. And the religion IS the government. Sounds harsh, but erm, ah....

It is extremely ingrained in the culture, and difficult to even comprehend. Like I said, this teacher has to really lay down the law about travel over there (dress, escorts, curfews etc). Even so, I know of a couple of women who have had scares.

Sorta the double edge sword of growing up in such a wonderfully free country like the US. Makes you believe you are invincible. You can't fathom how it could be so different until you are there.

[FITZ]

The plane could be shot down. Why doesn't Sarah do what Elian's mother did, get them over to the US herself? Sarah is half-Arab, under Saudi law, she is probably 100% Arab and Sarah's mother must have realized that in marrying an Arab she was placing her future child at this kind of risk. She went ahead and married him, now she doesn't want to face the consequences of her action.

I know of another American or Mexican (I'm not sure which she is) who married a Saudi and now that she can't bear children, he plans to take another wife and she wants to come back to the US. He isn't going to send her back ----should we go in and rescue her also? I'm sure there are thousands of foolish women in similar situations over there, they've changed their minds and now believe it should be easy to come back but it isn't.

[FITZ]

Makes you believe you are invincible.

They remind me of people who have discovered the hard way that when they're in another country that they are subject to another set of laws. People found with marijuana joints on them in Mexico who thought just by being Americans, they shouldn't have to face any consequences at all for their action and that Americans should go to war if it took that to get them out. Or the American student (Lori something) rotting in prison in Peru for her anti-government activities who believed by being an American, she could do whatever she liked, whereever she wanted.

[VOA]

American mothers! Don't allow your daughters to date Saudis!

American MOTHERS AND FATHERS:

Make sure your DAUGHTER AND SONS watch the movie "Not Without My Daughter" at least once
before they hit puberty.

Tell them that the movie is as good as true.
And that if you marry a foreign national, regardless of their nationality, and they
flee to another country with your children...
YOU ARE BASICALLY ON YOUR OWN.

Don't expect much help at all from the US government.
This has been shown in everything from news reports to day-time talk shows.

[Courier]

Bush is allowing Saudi agents to operate in an American Embassy.

If I agreed with him on each and every other one of his policies, and I don't, that would be sufficient for me never to vote for him again.

Think about it.

Bush is allowing Saudis to enter an American Embassy and intimidate Americans

[expatguy]

Bush is allowing Saudi agents to operate in an American Embassy.

I find this EXTREEMLY disturbing. The embassy should be a place of safety and sanctuary for citizens in need.

[Courier]

I may start a flaming feeding frenzy.

If the only article of impeachment against an American President concerned allowing hostile foreign agents to intimidate an American in an American Embassy, I would vote to impeach.