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Level -> Child beggars thrive on Muslim holy season (10/12/2007 7:45:15 PM)
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Child beggars thrive on Muslim holy season in Gulf states
by Habib TrabelsiFri Oct 12, 11:03 AM ET
Child beggars have proliferated in Mecca and Medina, some maimed by traffickers to draw the sympathy of Muslim faithful who flock to Islam's holiest cities in Saudi Arabia during Ramadan and Eid al-Fitr.
"Organised African gangs deliberately mutilate these child beggars before sending them into Saudi Arabia," Mecca police spokesman Abdul Mohsen al-Mimaan was quoted as saying September 27 in the Saudi pan-Arab daily Asharq Al-Awsat.
"These Africans practice the trade of children who have an arm or a leg amputated or whose body is burned with incendiary materials," Mimaan said.
Muslims from all over the world descend in droves on Mecca and Medina during the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan and the Eid al-Fitr festival that follows so that they can perform the umrah, or smaller pilgrimage.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20071012/lf_afp/gulfsaudireligionislamchildrenbeggars_071012150352
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