Saudi man sentenced for mid-air phone call

Everybody knows using a mobile phone on a plane can be dangerous - but if you are in the skies over Saudi Arabia, it can earn you a flogging. A man has just been sentenced to 20 lashes in the desert kingdom for answering an incoming call while his flight was in the air.

Everybody knows using a mobile phone on a plane can be dangerous - but if you are in the skies over Saudi Arabia, it can earn you a flogging. A man has just been sentenced to 20 lashes in the desert kingdom for answering an incoming call while his flight was in the air.

The offending Saudi was whisked away by waiting police the moment his internal flight from Riyadh touched down in the north-western town of Tabuk, according to Saudi paper Al-Madina.

Most countries ban the use of mobile phones and other types of electronic communication during flights - but few inflict such severe penalties.

Those caught stealing in Saudi Arabia risk having their hands amputated. Sodomy, drug dealing and witchcraft are among offences which can carry the death penalty.

Human rights organisations have condemned the Saudi legal system, and Amnesty International earlier this year called on the international community to intervene.

While the man who answered his mobile phone is flogged, there was no word yesterday on the identity of the person who called him up during the flight.