Saudi Arabia's main cancer hospital announced Monday, December 3 it has filed a lawsuit in Riyadh's Grand Islamic Court against tobacco firms and their agents, saying it is fighting a "holy war" against corruption.
"We are fighting a holy war and a noble battle to eradicate the source of the biggest corruption on earth," Ahmad al-Tuwaijri, the lawyer for King Faisal Specialist Hospital (KFSH), told a press conference. "We will demand that tobacco firms be included on the lists of terrorists and those financing and sponsoring terrorism because of the large number of victims that smoking has killed the world over," Tuwaijri said.
The lawsuit, demanding initial damages of $2.9 billion to compensate for 25 years of treatment of smoking-related illnesses, was submitted to the Islamic court last Wednesday and the first hearing is expected later this month, the lawyer said.
The hospital will at a later stage sue the companies for an additional eight-10 billion dollars in damages because the hospital was forced to allocate 60 percent of its budget to build facilities for smoking-related diseases. KFSH says it has treated around three million patients over the past 25 years for illnesses caused directly or indirectly by smoking, at a cost of almost three billion dollars.
The hospital is the main health facility in oil-rich Saudi Arabia for the treatment of cancer and other major diseases and provides its services free of charge to Saudi citizens and emergency cases of foreigners. Tuwaijri, a member of the Saudi Consultative Council, said he believes the Saudi court will rule in the hospital's favor, and tobacco firms will be obliged to comply with the verdict.
The hospital decided to file the case after negotiations with tobacco firms held in Geneva last July collapsed. Saudi Arabia, with a population of 22 million including 16.5 million Saudi nationals, has one of the highest smoking rates in the world despite having hiked customs duty on cigarettes to 100 percent. According to the hospital, six million Saudis smoke, including women and teenagers. More than 40 percent of men, 10 percent of women and 20 percent of teenagers in the kingdom are smokers.
Saudi Arabia ranks fourth in the world in tobacco imports, with annual imports exceeding $400 million. The government is considering doubling the duty on tobacco products to 200 percent. — (AFP, Riyadh)
© Agence France Presse 2001
© 2001 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
