<p>"Behind the facade of Wahabi conservatism in the streets, the underground nightlife for Jeddah's elite youth is thriving and throbbing," said the November 2009 cable, released by the WikiLeaks website.<br /><br />"The full range of worldly temptations and vices are available -- alcohol, drugs, sex -- but strictly behind closed doors," it said.<br /><br />"This freedom to indulge carnal pursuits is possible merely because the religious police keep their distance when parties include the presence or patronage of a Saudi royal and his circle of loyal attendants."<br /><br />The cable, from the US consulate in the Red Sea city, described a Halloween party attended by 150 people mostly in their 20s and 30s, including consulate personnel.<br /><br />"The scene resembled a nightclub anywhere outside the kingdom: plentiful alcohol, young couples dancing, a DJ at the turntables, and everyone in costume."<br /><br />Big Jeddah parties -- also often attended by prostitutes -- are a recent phenomenon, according to the consulate.</p>.<p>One Saudi told the consulate that wealthy locals try to throw parties at princes' homes or with princes in attendance so that the religious police can be kept away.</p>.<p>It also said that the high price of smuggled alcohol -- a bottle of Smirnoff vodka can cost 1,500 riyals, or 400 dollars -- sometimes forces party hosts to refill original bottles with the harsh, locally bootlegged spirit sadiqi.</p>.<p>Producing and selling alcohol inside the kingdom can earn a person an extremely stiff jail sentence, and drug trafficking is punishable by death under the kingdom's strict interpretation of Islamic sharia law. </p>
<p>"Behind the facade of Wahabi conservatism in the streets, the underground nightlife for Jeddah's elite youth is thriving and throbbing," said the November 2009 cable, released by the WikiLeaks website.<br /><br />"The full range of worldly temptations and vices are available -- alcohol, drugs, sex -- but strictly behind closed doors," it said.<br /><br />"This freedom to indulge carnal pursuits is possible merely because the religious police keep their distance when parties include the presence or patronage of a Saudi royal and his circle of loyal attendants."<br /><br />The cable, from the US consulate in the Red Sea city, described a Halloween party attended by 150 people mostly in their 20s and 30s, including consulate personnel.<br /><br />"The scene resembled a nightclub anywhere outside the kingdom: plentiful alcohol, young couples dancing, a DJ at the turntables, and everyone in costume."<br /><br />Big Jeddah parties -- also often attended by prostitutes -- are a recent phenomenon, according to the consulate.</p>.<p>One Saudi told the consulate that wealthy locals try to throw parties at princes' homes or with princes in attendance so that the religious police can be kept away.</p>.<p>It also said that the high price of smuggled alcohol -- a bottle of Smirnoff vodka can cost 1,500 riyals, or 400 dollars -- sometimes forces party hosts to refill original bottles with the harsh, locally bootlegged spirit sadiqi.</p>.<p>Producing and selling alcohol inside the kingdom can earn a person an extremely stiff jail sentence, and drug trafficking is punishable by death under the kingdom's strict interpretation of Islamic sharia law. </p>