Dubai Detention....

26 men arrested at mass gay marriage in Dubai
Last Updated Sat, 26 Nov 2005 21:01:10 EST
CBC News
More than two dozen gay Arab men face
strict punishment after being arrested at what police in the
United Arab Emirates described as a mass homosexual wedding.


They could be lashed, forced to undergo hormone treatments and
jailed for five years, an Interior Ministry official said as he
announced the arrests on Saturday.

Interior Ministry spokesman Issam Azouri said police detained 26
men during a raid earlier in the month as the wedding ceremony was
about to begin in a hotel chalet in Dubai.

The country, which lies along the Persian Gulf between Saudi Arabia
and Oman, has banned openly homosexual behaviour.

Azouri said the men would probably be tried under Muslim law on charges
related to prostitution and adultery, the Associated Press reported.

There have been a series of similar group arrests of homosexuals over
the past few years in the United Arab Emirates.

The Interior Ministry said the latest detentions stemmed from a tip-off
to police.

The arrested men were mostly from the Emirates but one came from India
and three others were from neighbouring Arab countries, Azouri said.