Man, 74, sentenced to 350 lashes

LONDON: Britain said yesterday that it was seeking the release of an elderly British man facing 350 lashes after being caught with home-made wine in Saudi Arabia, a sentence which his family said could kill him.

Karl Andree, 74, was jailed for 12 months in August last year but remained in prison awaiting further punishment for breaking strict Saudi laws prohibiting alcohol after police found the wine in his car, his family said.

“There were two sentences. The custodial sentence, which finished in August, and then there’s the lashing sentence… which I assume he’s been kept in there because that hasn’t been dealt with yet,” his son, Simon Andree, told BBC radio.

“We have no idea what’s going to happen in respect of that.

“I’m not criticising Saudi because it’s their law, it’s their way of life. My father has served his time, he regrets what’s happened, he just wishes to come home now.”

He said his father, who had worked for oil companies in the kingdom for about 25 years, was in poor health, had suffered cancer three times, and also had asthma.

“He’s an old, frail man and I fear this lashing sentence is potentially a death sentence,” Simon Andree said. “That’s our biggest concern, which is why we are trying to raise the case now to get him out.”

Britain’s Foreign Office, which warns on its website that there are severe penalties for possessing alcohol in Saudi Arabia, said embassy staff in Riyadh were checking Andree’s health regularly.

There was no immediate response from the Saudi embassy in London. – Reuters

Iraq bombs IS targets

BAGHDAD: Iraq had started bombing Islamic State targets with help from a new intelligence centre that had staff from Russia, Iran and Syria, the head of parliament’s defence and security committee said yesterday.

The centre had been operational for approximately one week, said Hakim al-Zamili, a leading Shia politician.

Two Russian generals were stationed at the intelligence centre. – Reuters

Anger over asylum fire

BERLIN: German politicians are expressing outrage over the case of a fireman who has admitted to setting an asylum shelter ablaze and been allowed to walk free pending charges.

No one was hurt in the arson attack in the town of Altena, south of Dortmund.

Seven Syrians, including a pregnant woman, escaped injury after neighbours alerted them. – Reuters

VW scandal movie

NEW YORK: The Volkswagen AG scandal over diesel emissions tests is headed for Hollywood.

Paramount Pictures and actor Leonardo DiCaprio’s production company have bought the movie rights to a yet-to-be-published book by New York Times journalist Jack Ewing. DiCaprio is a leading environmental activist. – Reuters

Jackson topping charts

LOS ANGELES: Janet Jackson scored her seventh No. 1 album with Unbreakable on the US Billboard 200 chart yesterday, making her the third musician to achieve a chart-topping record in each of the past four decades, Billboard said.

Unbreakable sold 109 000 albums, 44 000 songs and was streamed nearly 4 million times, according to Nielsen SoundScan. – Reuters

Yemen aid arrives

DUBAI: Officials at Yemen’s Red Sea port of Hodeidah said the first ship to dock there in three weeks arrived yesterday, carrying desperately needed fuel, as Saudi Arabia denied it was obstructing aid supplies.

International aid officials say imports to Yemen have slowed to a trickle because of inspections of vessels by a Saudi-led coalition looking for smuggled weapons. – Reuters

Russian embassy blast

MOSCOW: Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said yesterday that Moscow considered the shelling of its embassy in Damascus as a terrorist act.

“This is… probably aimed at intimidating supporters of the fight against terrorism,” Lavrov said, before talks with the UN’s special envoy for Syria, Staffan de Mistura, yesterday. – Reuters

Twin birth for panda

TORONTO: The Toronto Zoo in Canada said a panda on loan from China had given birth to two cubs. The cubs were born yesterday and weighed 115 grams and just under 188g.

Zoo staff said the cubs and their mother, Er Shun, “all appear to be doing well”.

It’s the first time giant pandas have been born in Canada. – AP