Police in Taif have completed legal procedures to refer 100 young men to the Bureau of Investigation and Prosecution for creating disorder and chaos during National Day celebrations. Sources said the young men were arrested after they caused trouble and disrupted the flow of traffic and did not respond to calls and pleas by security men to behave themselves. Detainees have been charged with obstructing traffic, smashing windshields, throwing empty bottles at people and starting fires on the main street, according to sources. In Madina, police opened an investigation into three people after receiving tens of reports from citizens whose car windshields were smashed while they drove on the second eastern ring road. It is expected that the authorities on Saturday will refer the suspects to the Bureau of Investigation and Prosecution. Brig. Gen. Muhammad Al-Qahtani, director of Jeddah Traffic Police, said special areas for National Day celebrations should be set up and organized by all government agencies to ensure that participants behave themselves. Traffic Police detected some transgressions during the National Day celebrations on Thursday on the governorate's roads and streets, but the rate of traffic discipline was 95 percent, he said. Action has been taken against people who committed violations such as replacing license plates with patriotic slogans, tinting windshields, jumping red lights and driving on sidewalks, he said. The number of traffic accidents on the evening of National Day was below the average rate, thanks to a smooth traffic flow on most streets, Al-Qahtani said. Accidents included a motorcyclist crash and some simple traffic collisions in which nobody was hurt, he added. Al-Qahtani, who lauded the response shown by the public and their understanding of the role of security men, said most people showed an awareness of the celebration's limits. The officers and noncommissioned officers who maintained order did their jobs with a sense of responsibility and worked until the early morning hours, he added. Al-Qahtani emphasized that national events should not be exploited and considered to be a time to commit violations.
