Eamonn Fitzgerald's Rainy Day

It's not that we're stuck in camel mode here; it's just that a visit, even if ever so brief, to the Persian Gulf, reminds us how important the camel really is in the region's life. Yesterday here, we had a camel at the centre of a human drama and today we have a camel, metaphorically, crossing a key fault line in Arab politics. Here's the story.

Saudi Arabia's Foreign Minister Prince Saud Al Faisal responded to Iraq's proposals to strengthen border security to stop foreign killers (among them many Saudis) entering the country and slaughtering the innocent by making a somewhat veiled comment last month. The prince expressed concern about the initiative and said the consequences could be the splitting of Iraq into Shiite south, Kurdish north and central Sunni states, which would "hamper Iraq's Arab identity."

That was the straw that broke Iraq's Interior Minister's back, as it were. "We do not accept a Bedouin on a camel teaching us about human rights and democracy in Iraq, we are proud of our civilization," Bayan Baqer Sulagh told a press conference in Amman. Sulagh then hit the Saudi royal where it really hurts, internationally, anyway: "Saudis should first allow women to drive, as is the case in Iraq," and then added, "four million Shiites live like second-class citizens in the Saudi kingdom."

By the way, on Saturday gunmen kidnapped Sulagh's brother as he drove home through Badr City in Baghdad, where he works as a hospital director. He was freed on Sunday. The AP report on the incident noted that Sulagh's ministry "is one of the most powerful in Iraq and is disliked by many Sunni Arabs." Especially by those living across the border in Saudi Arabia. And now by camel riders. The Gulf News responds today to the fraternal spat by asking, "Since when has riding a camel become a cause for shame? And what is wrong with being a Bedouin?" Its incensed editorial ended with the conclusion that the Sulagh needs to learn how to speak! Now do see how important camels can be?