About Saudi Arabia

[Rasputin]

The son of the last ruler of part of present-day Saudi Arabia has said he was setting up an opposition party in Paris to seek democratic rule in the oil-rich kingdom.


Prince Talal Mohammad al-Rashid is son of the last ruler of the independent Rashidi emirate, which reigned in the northwestern region of Hail from 1835 to 1921.

He said on Tuesday: "We announce the birth of the Saudi Democratic Opposition Front, which will struggle by peaceful means for the establishment of democracy in the country."

"The Al-Saud (family ruling Saudi Arabia) must either respect liberties and introduce democracy or give up the power they usurped," Prince Talal, who has been living in exile in France since 1980, told AFP.

Talal, son of Mohammad II bin Talal al-Rashid, said his opposition group would launch a satellite television channel within three months which will broadcast from a European country to "call on Saudis to rise up against the tyrants and usurpers plundering public funds".

The Rashidi emirs, who were ousted by the Al-Saud family during its struggle to unite Saudi Arabia, are a branch of the Shammar tribal confederation.

Prince Talal, who has retained his title, said that the confederation was backing his new movement.

He said his group, with "some 2,000 active members, mostly in Saudi Arabia", would co-ordinate its activities with other opponents of the Saudi government at home and abroad, chiefly the London-based Movement for Islamic Reform in Arabia (MIRA), which calls for a regime change in the kingdom.

Members of the Shammar confederation are believed to number "hundreds of thousands living mainly in Saudi Arabia, Iraq and Syria but also in Kuwait, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates", said Talal's daughter, Madhawi al-Rashid, a London-based academic.

[donsaeid]

baba dameshon garm aval be zanashon ejazeye ranandegi bedan bad bian harfe democracy bezanan

[Rasputin]

Gulf Arab countries will not be used as a launch pad for any military attack on Iran, Saudi Interior Minister Prince Nayef bin Abdulaziz was quoted as saying yesterday.
Nayef said Iran had no interest in striking its oil-producing Arab neighbours if it comes under attack from the US.
“I think the brothers in Iran are totally aware that ... Iran will not be a source of harm for their neighbours and brothers ... These countries (Arab neighbours) will not be a source of harm for Iran,” he said in remarks late on Saturday carried by state news agency SPA.
“Respect and consideration are mutual. I speak for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (relations) with Iran and for the Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC),” he added, referring to Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates and Oman.
Nayef urged Iran to hand over militants suspected of plotting against the kingdom.
Iran extradited a number of Saudi suspects to the kingdom in the past. Some of the suspects have been released after being cleared.
He also called on Tehran not to meddle in Iraqi affairs. Saudi Arabia had accused Iran of backing Shia death squads killing Sunnis in Iraq, and of backing an opposition front led by Hezbollah in efforts to bring down the Sunni-backed government in Lebanon.
“Creed does not justify intervention in Iraqi affairs,” he said.
* Saudi King Abdullah arrives in Spain today to begin a week-long visit to Europe which will also take in talks with French and Polish leaders.
The monarch will then head to Poland on June 24.
King Abdullah, who makes his first official visit to Spain a year after receiving King Juan Carlos, will also hold talks with Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero.
As well as discussing the tense situation in the Middle East, both counties are due to ink bilateral agreements on tax, fighting crime and terrorism.

[Rasputin]

[Rasputin]

Saudi King Abdullah Bin-Abd-al-Aziz Al Saud on Tuesday began his first full day of an official visit to Spain - the first by a Saudi monarch in a quarter century. He will meet Madrid's mayor Alberto Ruiz Gallardon and attend the inauguration of a Spanish-Saudi investment fund, along with King Juan Carlos, before an evening meeting with the prime minister Jose Luis Zapatero and a banquet at the Moncloa presidential palace.

King Abdullah's intense Spanish trip began with a gala dinner at the royal palace with King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia as well as other members of the Spanish government. In his speech Juan Carlos recalled that the two countries have been forced to deal with the scourge of terrorism and both firmly condemn it. He went on to reject any attempt to distort religion and culture by those who want to sow hate and division.

Spanish history bears witness to the Arab and Muslim presence on the Iberian peninsula, the King said. He emphasised that Spain wants to increase and consolidate its relations with the Arab and Muslim world and the recent inauguration of the Arab House, a state-financed body, gives proof of that.

In his remarks Abdullah Bin Abdullaziz Al Saud asked the internatiuonal community to intervene quickly for the Middle East, before it is too late. In this framework, Spain could play a "leading role" in supporting the peace process, the Saudi monarch said.

King Abdullah and Zapatero will also review progress on the UN-backed Alliance of Civilisations initiative to strengthen dialogue between the Muslim world and the West.

The initiative was launched by Zapatero in 2004 at the UN General Assembly in September 2004 after the deadly Madrid train bombings in March that year which killed 191 people and injured 1,800. Riyadh is a strong supporter of the Alliance, which is co-chaired by Zapatero and Turkey's prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

[mike435]

baba dameshon garm aval be zanashon ejazeye ranandegi bedan bad bian harfe democracy bezanan

hahahah

thats like telling bush hey provide social services for your own citizens before you set out to make the life of iraqis better
hypocrocy

[Rasputin]

دستگيری ايرانی ها، بيانيه مالکيت سه جزيره، شکار شيعه ها
و سنگر بندی طلاب جنگجو در يک مسجد در پاکستان
شتاب عربستان سعودی
برای محاصره مذهبی ايران




پليس عربستان با حمله به هتل ماموران سازمان حج جمهوری اسلامی 21 سرپرست و عوامل خدماتی ايرانی را دستگير و پس از دو روز زندان با دستبند و به فرودگاه مکه منتقل و به ايران بازگرداند.

مقامات حج و زيارت جمهوری اسلامی اين اقدام پليس و ماموران امنيتی عربستان سعودی را ناشی از اشکالات اقامتی و ويزائی اعلام کرده اند. اما از آنجا که در روزهای گذشته سلسله اخباری دائر بر فاصله گيری هرچه بيشتر اعراب منطقه با ايران روی تلکس خبرگزاری ها رفته، اين احتمال که عربستان برای کور کردن منابع اطلاعاتی و ارتباطی جمهوری اسلامی دست به اين اقدام زده باشد زياد است. پليس عربستان بهانه اين اقدام خود را پايان مهلت اقامت افراد دستگير شده در عربستان اعلام کرده است، اما به گفته مقامات ايرانی، اين نوع اقامت های فراتر از اجازه اقامت سابقه طولانی داشته است. دستگير شدگان ايرانی عمدتا اصفهانی بوده اند و گفته می شود بازرسی از هتل های ايرانی ها در مکه آغاز شده است.

همزمان با اين اقدام، شيوخ خليج فارس، بدنبال نشستی که در رياض پايتخت عربستان ترتيب يافته بود بيانيه ای را با ادعای مالکيت بر سه جزيره تنب بزرگ و کوچک و ابوموسی امضاء کردند. اين اقدامات نمی تواند با رايزنی های هفته گذشته سران منطقه خليج فارس به شمول عربستان سعودی با رهبران مصر و ابراز نگرانی از تلاش های ايران برای گسترش نفوذ در ميان شيعيان اين کشورها بی ارتباط باشد.

و باز در گزارش ديگری که بصورت تحريک آميز و احتمالا غلو آميز از سوی "رجانيوز" سايت وابسته به دم و دستگاه مصباح يزدی منتشر شد، پليس عربستان در خيابان ها به شيعه شناسی- ايرانی- و دستگيری آنها دست زده است.

اگر رابطه مستحکم ارتش پاکستان با دستگاه سلطنتی عربستان سعودی را به خاطر آوريم و اينکه دهها هزار گارد سلطنتی عربستان سعودی زير نظر ارتش پاکستان است، آنگاه ماجرای سنگر گيری مرتجع ترين طلاب سنی- عمدتا وهابيون وابسته به عربستان سعودی- در يک مسجد و حتی کشف نقشه ترور پرويز مشرف رئيس جمهور نظامی پاکستان نيز معنای خود را می يابد:

عربستان در پی فشار به دولت پاکستان برای اسلامی تر شدن اين کشور و تقويت نقش سنی های تندرو در پاکستان است و با ماجرای اخير چنگ و دندان خود را به ژنرال مشرف نشان داد. اين گردش به سمت سنی های تندرو و مرتجع در پيوند با تقويت دوباره طالبان در افغانستان که سر نخ هر دو آنها در عربستان سعودی است، نوک آن کوه يخی را به نمايش می گذارد که نام آن جنگ مذهبی در منطقه و عليه ايران است!

[Rasputin]

The dangers to Iran posed by the Israeli lobby have come to light on this web site and in the blogger community. Juxtaposed to this lobby, is another dangerous force to Iranians, It is subtle, religiously driven and indirect. It is important to be aware of, considering the increase in tension and possibility of military action. It is mainly religiously driven.

DC is home to a diverse neighborhood of “think-tanks”. The scholarly names and titles for these provide neat covers for the ugly work they are often responsible for. Overall it’s a pretty incestuous political machine and entry to it offers steady jobs and celebrity status (the dusty, McLaughlin Group kind) as panelists and analysts in media debates. Not to mention invitations to lavish dinners at the homes of foreign dignitaries residing in Washington.

One such organization is the Middle East Institute. While they hardly speak for the Israeli cause, they work against Iranian interests in a number of ways. MEI acts as the mouthpiece for the Saudi royal family.

MEI does an excellent job of deflecting attention from the US-Saudi alliance’s influence on Iran policy. They are helpful in deflecting criticism of Saudi society as it appears to the State Department: full of anti-American sentiment and egregiously neglectful of human rights situation within Saudi society. This is important in light of the Bush administration’s unfair Iran sanctioning and lack of engagement.

What makes all this even more important is the Saudi hate for Shia in terms of Iranian political motivations.


Here is a classic example of how this works: On June 14, 2007, the House Subcommittee on International Organizations, Human Rights and Oversight held a hearing titled “Is There a Human Rights Double Standard? U.S. Policy Toward Saudi Arabia, Iran and Uzbekistan.”

The opening witness, and man of interest here is Mr. Thomas W. Lippman, Adjunct Scholar from the Middle East Institute. A bit more background on Lippman included in the link explains that “he is also the author of the essay on Saudi Arabia's defense strategy and nuclear weapons policy published in 2004 by the Brookings Institution Press in The Nuclear Tipping Point, a book on global nuclear proliferation.” The man is also big in the Saudi US Relations Information Service.

In his testimony on June 14, he states that in the case of Saudi Arabia, there is a double standard. He explains that the historical respect for Saudi culture is the main reason for this of the policy.

The founding King told the United States in the 1930’s: “We will use your iron, but leave our faith alone.” If only Iran’s kings had been as astute.

The testimony is full of reasons for the double standard, and why it is good. Keep in mind the significance of having a white male speaking about the economic value of the US-Saudi alliance in spite of “negative” human rights reports, as opposed to a Saudi in traditional kit/headdress.

Lippman basically makes the case that Saudi’s are happy, the Iranians are not. Focus regime change on the Iranians. Here’s what he tells the panel as proof. Keep in mind, this is coming from a “scholar”.

He stresses the US cannot assume that Saudis want change or “desire a society according to our standards of individual liberty and personal freedom” (p 5). “The Saudis were always very proud of the fact that when the Iranian students were so unhappy with their country, when they came here, they stayed.” (p 40) Whereas, Saudi students return home after completing their education. He cites no evidence for this.

He labels Saudi society as “evolving” (p 5), because after Kissinger came to Saudi, the taboo of Jews in the kingdom was broken. Ridiculous. He tells the panel that the Saudi risk themselves by advocating peace with Israel, while “Iran’s leaders call for Israel’s extinction” (p 14).

In a joint statement in 2005 from Crawford Ranch, President Bush and King Abdul Aziz said “The United States considers that nations will create institutions that reflect the history, culture and traditions of their own societies.”

This isn’t true for Iran though. Part of democracy is giving people the tools to make build a strong civil society. Sanctions will harm that. Worst of all, Iran has invested a large amount of money in its nuclear program, and the US is threatening to damage it. Meanwhile, the Saudis are allowed to use America to strengthen their economy and commercial interests.

According to the Congressional Report on Saudi Arabia, the Saudi cabinet released a statement “if the Israeli military savagery continues to kill and destroy, no one can predict what will happen” and “should the option of peace fail as a result of the Israeli arrogance, only the option of war will remain.” (p 16) The double standard is painful.

Lippman and the Saudi PR strategy machine have worked to such an extent that the Saudis are being permitted to work on gaining nuclear power.

The Saudi Prince told reporters “nuclear technology is an important technology to have for generating power, and the gulf states need it equally” (p 21) No one has said a word about that statement at the last Gulf Cooperation Council summit in Riyadh. Iran stands to lose a great deal of her interests. Meanwhile, the double standard helps the Saudis gain more regional power as the US supports an economic alliance and nuclear power for a country that is full of hatred, but fortunate enough to have the right influence on Capitol Hill.