On December 1, a campaign was promoted to raise the...

On December 1, a campaign was promoted to raise the sum of R 5 million ($1.5 million) which the victim's family asked for "blood money," or compensation as laid down by Islamic law, to spare the life of Abdel Aziz, a Saudi man, 28, who was to be executed in one week for killing a friend during a traditional dance. The campaign, started by the Arabic-language al-Madinah daily, has so far raised R 3 million, donated by "children, men, women, students and the elderly." Arab News published a telephone number in the kingdom that people could call to donate money in a rare instance of such a reported campaign to save people on death row in Saudi Arabia. According to his mother, Aziz was 17 at the time of the crime.