20000102

Bahrain's emir to

fund 2,000 weddings

MANAMA: Baharaini Emir, Sheikh Hamad bin Issa al-Khalifa is to fund the weddings of 2,000 nationals to mark the millennium changeover, the Bahrain Tribune reported on Saturday.

A committee comprising educational and charitable organisations has been set up to prepare group weddings and screen applications.

Similar funds exist elsewhere in the Gulf, to encourage nationals not to marry foreigners and help meet the cost of soaring dowries, the money paid by bridegrooms to their brides under Islamic law.ÑAFP