Monday, Jul. 23, 1990

Death And Taxes

By PAUL GRAY/

Each year Saudi Arabian border guards monitor transports carrying Muslim pilgrims back from Mecca. The purpose is to discourage any of the 2 million or so visitors from staying on illegally; a fine of 1,604 riyal (about $430) is levied for each person recorded as entering the country who does not appear on a checklist of those leaving. This year companies bearing the Turkish faithful home have so far been forced to pay some 200,000 riyal ($54,000) for no-shows. The trouble is, almost all of them were probably among the 1,426 killed in the July 2 tunnel disaster. The Turkish government is complaining that Saudi officials hastily interred many of the victims in mass graves without identifying them; since no death certificates were issued, it was impossible to prove to authorities that people were not going out of the country because they had been buried in it.

With reporting by DAVID ELLIS