If the Saudis ban the letter "X", there will be no
"X-Files" on Saudi TV, 
no "X-word puzzles", Scrabble will need a Saudi edition etc etc. Like a 
sketch from "Monty Python".

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Will Saudis Ban the Letter 'X'?

By YOUSSEF IBRAHIM

January 15, 2007

The letter "X" soon may be banned in Saudi Arabia because it
resembles the mother of all banned religious symbols in the oil kingdom:
the cross.

The new development came with the issuing of another mind-bending fatwa, or
religious edict, by the infamous Commission for the Promotion

of Virtue and Prevention of Vice u the group of senior Islamic clergy that
reigns supreme on all legal, civil, and governance matters in the kingdom
of Saudi Arabia.

The commission's damning of the letter "X" came in response to a
Ministry of Trade query about whether it should grant trademark protection
to a Saudi businessman for a new service carrying the English name
"Explorer."

"No! Nein! Nyet!" was the commission's categorical answer.

Why?

Well, never mind that none of the so-called scholars manning the upper ranks 
of the religious outfit can speak or read a word of English.

But their experts who examined the English word "explorer" were 
struck by how suspicious that "X" appeared. In a kingdom where Friday
preachers routinely refer to Christians as pigs and infidel crusaders, 
even a twisted cross ranks as an abomination.

[...]

Full article at " The Sun" New York - http://www.nysun.com/article/46707

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