Riyadh - "At last, a Sharia-compliant phone App that tells me when the coast is clear!" is how one twenty-something young Saudi male put it today as the government announced its latest electronic tagging system for wives.
The new device alerts Saudi husbands by phone text or email when wives attempt to leave the country by triggering a tracking chip built into women's burqas.
A simple 'Yes' reply means the Missus is allowed on the plane to wherever she is flying, no questions asked.
And a 'No' guarantees that the airport's religious police pounce on the hapless female and give her the once over before shoving her in the slammer for a 'period of quiet contemplation' which can last anything up to 28 days.
Downloading the App from the Ministry of Religious Works' website costs a bargain 200 riyals [about $50] and gives the phone owner automatic entry in the Saudi Religious Police Force's New Year's Lucky Dip competition to win a brand new $100,000 Merc convertible.
Of course under the Kingdom's fanatic fear-of-females legislation women are not allowed to drive so it would be 'pointless' for a woman to attempt tricking the Ministry by posing as a mad to attempt winning one of those fab limos by deception.
A barrel of sweet light Saudi crude retails at around $95.
