国际英语新闻：Saudi to block Blackberry services as of Friday

RIYADH, Aug. 4 (Xinhua) -- Saudi telecom regulator announced late Tuesday that it would block Blackberry services as for next Friday until the smartphones' maker Research In Motion (RIM) complies with the kingdom's regulations, local Arab News reported Wednesday.

The Communications and Information Technology Commission (CITC) said in a statement cited by the paper that it had given a three- month grace period for the service providers to comply with its requirements, which will expire on Aug. 6.

"The grace period is about to end and the company has not yet fulfilled the necessary organizational requirements," the statement said.

"We had informed the three service providers -- STC, Mobily and Zain -- that they should work with the manufacturing company of Blackberry to comply with the kingdom's regulations," it added, noting that it has already notified the service providers to inform subscribers of the move before Aug. 6.

The move came few days after the United Arab Emirates took a similar move over security concerns.

The paper noted that the decision could affect about 750,000 Blackberry Messenger users in Saudi Arabia and 500,000 in the United Arab Emirates.