Camel beauty contest canned

2007-09-10 13:14

Riyadh - Saudi Arabia has called off a camel beauty contest scheduled for later this month in the face of the mystery deaths of thousands of the animals that are a national icon in the desert kingdom.

The provincial governor for the Muslim holy city of Mecca, Khaled al-Faisal bin Abdel Aziz, took the decision in the face of the mounting death toll in a national herd estimated at 862 000 animals in 2005, the Al-Watan daily reported on Monday.

In Saudi Arabia, camels are often referred to by the Arabic word mazaen (beauties) and can fetch more than one million riyals a head.

The paper said that Agriculture Minister Fahd bin Abdul Rahman Balghnaim was not ruling out a "criminal dimension" to the deaths, which the Saudi media have described as a "national tragedy".

The minister told the paper that inquiries were now focusing on the agricultural antibiotic salinomycin which tests had detected in fodder given to some of the dead animals.

In some countries, salinomycin is added to the feed given to ruminants to improve their absorption of nutrients.

But in the European Union the addition of anti-microbial growth promoters has been banned since the beginning of last year.

Balghnaim described the antibiotic's presence in the camel feed as "strange" and said his ministry would give the results of the laboratory tests to the competent authorities so they could investigate how and why it had been added.

At least 2 000 animals have died over the past month, according to ministry figures. An AFP count based on press reports suggest at least 5 000 animals have died and thousands more have fallen sick.

The ministry said on Saturday that laboratory tests carried out in both Saudi Arabia and abroad had detected toxic traces of aluminium and an unspecified fungus.

The camel deaths have given rise to a growing number of conspiracy theories both on the internet and from the exiled opposition.

From its base in London, the banned Movement for Islamic Reform in Arabia suggested that a "leading Saudi prince has poisoned thousands of camels belonging to other owners".

- AFP