WikiLeaks Cables: Saudi Princes Throw Parties Boasting Drink, Drugs and Sex *
THE GUARDIAN: Royals flout puritanical laws to throw parties for young elite while religious police are forced to turn a blind eye

These Saudi students at a prayer event in Riyadh conform to the puritanical image of the country, but worldly pleasures are available behind closed doors to the very rich, WikiLeaks cables show. Photograph: The Guardian
In what may prove a particularly incendiary cable, US diplomats describe a world of sex, drugs and rock'n'roll behind the official pieties of Saudi Arabian royalty.

Jeddah consulate officials described an underground Halloween party, thrown last year by a member of the royal family, which broke all the country's Islamic taboos. Liquor and prostitutes were present in abundance, according to leaked dispatches, behind the heavily-guarded villa gates.

The party was thrown by a wealthy prince from the large Al-Thunayan family. The diplomats said his identity should be kept secret. A US energy drinks company also put up some of the finance.

"Alcohol, though strictly prohibited by Saudi law and custom, was plentiful at the party's well-stocked bar. The hired Filipino bartenders served a cocktail punch using sadiqi, a locally-made moonshine," the cable said. "It was also learned through word-of-mouth that a number of the guests were in fact 'working girls', not uncommon for such parties."

The dispatch from the US partygoers, signed off by the consul in Jeddah, Martin Quinn, added: "Though not witnessed directly at this event, cocaine and hashish use is common in these social circles."

The underground party scene is "thriving and throbbing" in Saudi Arabia thanks to the protection of Saudi royalty, the dispatch said. But it is only available behind closed doors and for the very rich. >>> Heather Brooke | Tuesday, December 07, 2010

*And, of course, we shouldn't forget about their fondness for pretty boys. – © Mark

'Decriminalise Personal Drug Use', Suggests Chairman of the Bar Council
THE TELEGRAPH: Personal drug use should be legalised, the leader of the country’s barristers has suggested.

Nicholas Green QC, the chairman of the Bar Council for England and Wales, said it was "rational" to consider "decriminalising personal drug use". Photo: The Telegraph
Nicholas Green QC, the chairman of the Bar Council for England and Wales, said it was “rational” to consider “decriminalising personal drug use”.

Taking such a step would save the economy billions of pounds – drug-related crime costs the economy £13billion a year - free up police time, cut crime and improve public health.

However campaigners and MPs rounded on the remarks, made in a newsletter to barristers, saying it sent out the wrong message on drug use.

Mr Green, who runs body which the 4,500 criminal and defence barristers, said: “A growing body of comparative evidence suggests that decriminalising personal use can have positive consequences.

“It can free up huge amounts of police resources, reduce crime and recidivism and improve public health. All this can be achieved without any overall increase in drug usage. If this is so, then it would be rational to follow suit.”

Mr Green, who has made his name primarily as an expert in competition law and arbitration issues, said the Council was apolitical and could speak out in favour policies “which work and not those which simply play to the gallery.

"And this will save money and mean that there is less pressure on the justice system.” >>> Christopher Hope, Whitehall Editor | Tuesday, July 20, 2010

What a ridiculous suggestion! What do we want? The streets full of stoned people? How sensible a suggestion can this be at the very time that smokers of tobacco have been all but criminalized? Are we to eliminate one bad habit and replace it with another one which is far, far worse?

I would be the last person to sing the praises of smoking cigarettes, smoking is an unhealthy habit, but it’s a damn site better than taking drugs. Common sense, it seems, has been thrown out of the window. – © Mark

Ridiculous*! California to Hold Statewide November Vote on Legalising Marijuana
TIMES ONLINE: To get high or to not get high — that will be the question on the ballot in California’s November elections.
As the Golden State’s hippies reach retirement age, pro-marijuana advocates have joined forces in an effort finally to force a state-wide vote on making weed legal, and not just for medical purposes.

Under the proposed law smoking marijuana to get high would be as acceptable as drinking beer to get drunk as long as users were aged 21 or older. It would also become legal to grow up to 25 sq ft (2.3sq m) of the plants per residence, and for local governments to authorise and tax the transportation and sale of the drug.

If the ten-page initiative is passed it could set in motion a chain of events throughout the US that could bring an end to the era of marijuana prohibition. Or at least that is what marijuana advocates hope. >>> Chris Ayres, Los Angeles | Thursday, March 25, 2010

*Where the hell is the sense in all but banning the smoking of tobacco almost everywhere in California only to leagalize the smoking of marijuana? People are taking leave of their senses! So is tobacco-smoking to be brought back in bars and restaurants, too? It should be if the smoking of marijuana is going to be allowed. – © Mark

Nicolas Sarkozy Affair Revealed in Notes of Ex-spy Chief Yves Bertrand
Photo of Nicolas Sarkozy courtesy of the Times Online
TIMESONLINE: President Sarkozy had an affair with the wife of one of his present Cabinet members about four years ago, when he was serving as Interior Minister, according to the former head of French police intelligence.

The alleged episode was one of a multitude of damaging secrets reported yesterday from the private notebooks of Yves Bertrand, who was central director of the powerful Renseignements Généraux (RG) spy agency for 12 years until 2004.

The police chief, whose shadowy service had long been a political tool for French rulers, also recorded in 2003: “Chirac has been for a facelift in Canada.”

The diaries, packed with potentially explosive accounts of drug-taking, illicit sex, blackmail and corruption among French leaders, were seized by judges recently as part of an investigation into dirty tricks. They were leaked to Le Point, a news magazine.

Mr Bertrand, 63, also recorded intimate details of the private life and family of Lionel Jospin, Prime Minister and candidate against President Chirac in the election in 2002.

His regular informants included journalists who were paid, said Le Point. “These notebooks are a terrifying journey under the skirts of the Republic,” said the magazine, which quoted only edited excerpts.

“One could laugh if this exercise in underhand police work had not sometimes broken careers, thwarted democracy and sometimes destroyed lives,” it said.

Key names were omitted by Le Point, but its summary of the notebooks appeared to confirm an assumption that after 2002 the RG was working for President Chirac to undermine Mr Sarkozy when he took over the Gaullist movement and made a bid for the presidency.

One of the unconfirmed reports then was that Cécilia Sarkozy, is [sic] wife, had been tipped off by the RG of his alleged infidelity. Nicolas Sarkozy Affair Revealed in Notes of Ex-spy Chief Yves Bertrand >>> Charles Bremner in Paris | October 10, 2008

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