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KUWAIT CITY (Agencies): Scores of Kuwaitis, including an Islamic culture instructor at the Saad Al-Abdullah Academy for Security Sciences, were recently rounded up by Saudi authorities in the wake of the Riyadh blasts on May 12, a newspaper reported Sunday. Al-Watan quoted Kuwaiti security sources as saying the Saudi authorities are questioning a number of Kuwaitis on their alleged involvement with al-Qaeda organisation. They said tens of Kuwaitis being interrogated include a Kuwaiti instructor, identified only as M.S., who went missing late last month, and entered Saudi Arabia without an exit record at any Kuwaiti border post. Saudi authorities suspecting...

The United States consul general in Jeddah recently said in this newspaper that now was the time to apply for a US visa for new or renewing Saudi students as it “may take a couple of months.” She made it look like a matter of simple routine, and as though Saudi students were welcome in the US and it was only a matter of time before they received their visa. She must be joking. What Saudi in his right mind would think about studying in the United States these days? The obstacles start with the application process. The wait is...

<p>February 10, 2003 -- For a government that claims it is providing "full cooperation" with America's war on terrorism, Saudi Arabia is providing a considerable number of diplomatic landmines in the path of U.S. efforts to bring terrorists to justice. Examples abound. Here's just one: The Saudi wife of a man with suspected links to al Qaeda was quietly whisked out of the United States soon after her husband's arrest - and at a time when she herself was under subpoena to testify before a New York grand jury.</p>

In the past year, even as news of Al Qaeda's maneuvers and of Iraq's possible harboring weapons of mass destruction have dominated headlines, the Saudi royals have played a shadowy supporting role. Al Qaeda considers them its enemies, but are they unwittingly (or not so unwittingly) supporting it? Are they for toppling Saddam or not? Who are the Saudis, exactly? In truth, they are many and varied. The country's king is decrepit, his younger brother Prince Abdullah serves in his place and many of the three dozen sons of the nation's founder, King Abdul Aziz, are jostling for power and...

WASHINGTON, Dec. 16 (UPI) -- To address the root causes of anti-U.S. terrorism, to improve America's hostile image in the Middle East, and to promote democracy and increase economic opportunities, Secretary of State Colin Powell unveiled a bold new initiative, presumably crafted by Tom Thumb. The United States, said Powell, was prepared to spend $29 million for the first year of this Elzevir Edition of the post-World War II Marshall Plan. For a superpower that spends more than $1 billion a day on defense, $20 billion-plus on wiping out Taliban and planting the seeds of democracy in Afghanistan, and is...

OTTAWA - There's growing frustration among supporters of William Sampson, the man who is facing the death penalty in Saudi Arabia, over the way Canada is handling his case. William Sampson Sampson was arrested nearly two years ago in Riyadh and accused of being involved in a bootlegging operation that mounted a series of attacks against Westerners. He confessed on Saudi television. He was sentenced to beheading. But there have been allegations Saudi officials tortured Sampson into that confession. Sampson's father says the Canadian government hasn't been any help. "He's completely innocent," said James Sampson speaking from his home in...

A group of Americans, from among the hundreds of thousands who lived and worked in Saudi Arabia, have joined to launch an information service where they can discuss the challenges to the Saudi-US relationship and work to dispel the distortions and misperceptions about the Kingdom rampant since “Sept. 11.” The effort, launched last month by a group of concerned “old-hands” — mostly retired expatriates now living in the United States, resulted in creation of the “Saudi-American Forum” consisting of a website and e-mail newsletter service. The purpose of the forum, stated on the website, is to serve as “a resource...

BURAIDA, Saudi Arabia — In the Saudi Arabia of Saleh al-Rashodi's Islamist dreams, there would be no music besides the muezzin's melancholy call to prayer, no photographs of people except those required for identification and no non-Muslims except those needed temporarily for specific jobs. If that sounds like Afghanistan under the Taliban, Mr. Rashodi would not disagree. The Taliban, he said, came close to establishing an Islamic utopia in the modern world. "The Taliban were pure Muslims," he added, as he lounged on the ochre carpet of his office here in the Islamic equivalent of America's Bible Belt. While Saudi...

WASHINGTON (UPI) -- In a truly free election in Saudi Arabia with the royal family on the sidelines bereft of the divine right of kings, and Osama Bin Laden as a candidate for prime minister, the world's most wanted terrorist would win hands down. So spoke, albeit privately, one of the most important non-royals who manages a big chunk of the royal family's portfolio of financial assets. Bin Laden, a member of a powerful and rich as Croesus non-royal family, is seen by countless millions of fundamentalist Muslims as the successor of several famous Islamic theologians going back all the...

WASHINGTON [MENL] -- The United States has acknowledged that Saudi Arabia has acquired intermediate-range missile capability. But U.S. officials said the Defense Department does not regard the Saudi missile capability as a threat to American interests in the Gulf region. Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz was believed to have been the first U.S. senior official to publicly address the Saudi intermediate-range missile capability. In an address to a Washington audience on Oct. 24. Wolfowitz said Riyad acquired the missiles from China in a development that stunned Washington. "I believe in the 1980s when Saudi Arabia acquired long-range ballistic missiles from...

Islamists belong to many different sects and groups. They subscribe to different schools of thought. And as such are often observed competing with each other in a race for winning as many adherents as possible for their particular causes. But on one issue they are united - the destruction of democratic values as represented by the United States of America, The agreement on a common enemy has given Al-Qaeda the much dreaded strength and penetrating ability. All the feuding factions of Islamists are united under the umbrella of Al-Qaeda. Saudi Arabian Wahabbis under Osama bin Laden, Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood under...

The US-Saudi relationship, while still strong at the official end, is nevertheless in grave danger. Just how grave was brought home last week by the near hysterical press reaction to what was, in fact, a non-story. The non-story involved Princess Haifa Al-Faisal, wife of Saudi Ambassador Prince Bandar bin Sultan and, daughter of the late King Faisal. It appears that contributions made by the princess, through an indirect routing, went to an individual who also, at one time, provided some settlement assistance to two of the Saudis who were involved in the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks. The connection was, at...

Washington, DC - The Saudi Institute and the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies (FDD) have initiated a joint project to track and study the spread of hate speech in the U.S. and abroad by Saudi Arabian officials and institutions. “Astonishingly, even as the Saudi government spends millions to convince Americans that they are friends and allies, they are waging a campaign based on slanders, falsehoods, intolerance and defamation,” said Saudi Institute Director Ali al-Ahmed. “It is vital that the American people and their elected leaders know what the Saudi government is doing – and respond appropriately.” “The Saudi disinformation...

RAMAH, Saudi Arabia -- Prince Alwaleed bin Talal sat on the floor of a cavernous fiberglass tent pitched in the desert some 40 miles north of the Saudi capital, Riyadh. Next to him were three telephones. Before him a procession of some two dozen poets declaimed verses composed of florid praise and pointed requests. They wanted help to pay off debts, buy a new car or secure a job on the royal payroll. "Your generosity is so enormous, it is bigger than a mountain that shields us from the burning sun," intoned one supplicant. Another compared the prince's benevolence to...

New Delhi, November 6 After the lid has been blown off from the Pakistan-North Korea nexus on nuclear weapons cooperation, a similar clandestine cooperation is understood to be on between Pakistan and Saudi Arabia with China playing a key role in the murky behind-the-scene international power games. According to reports received here through diplomatic channels, Saudi Arabia has been secretly involved for years in funding Pakistan’s missile and nuclear programme purchases from China. In the past few years, China, which has a declared ambition of becoming a world superpower by the year 2025, has cleverly dovetailed its foreign policy, energy...

ABU DHABI [MENL] -- Saudi Arabia is quietly examining the prospect of raising the level of its strategic relations with Pakistan. Saudi Arabia has accelerated talks with Islamabad for the purchase of Pakistani weapons as well as joint military and strategic projects. Riyad also seeks to exploit Pakistani's expertise in missiles and weapons of mass destruction. Pakistan and Saudi Arabia have already developed an array of defense and military relations. But Gulf defense sources said the discussions in Riyad to expand strategic ties reflect the kingdom's concerns over its deteriorating relations with the United States. The sources said Saudi Arabia...

WASHINGTON – You should be outraged that your government has to sneak around to protect you. U.S. intelligence has known for a year that Saudi Arabia was a state accomplice to Sept. 11, yet it took this administration that long to agree to just keep tabs on Saudis entering the U.S. on visas. It is begrudgingly acknowledging, albeit secretly, a security threat from Saudi Arabia by adding it to the Justice Department's immigration blacklist. Starting Oct. 1, young Saudi men will be fingerprinted, photographed and monitored when they step off planes or cross land borders. Just like Iraqis, Iranians and...

It has been painfully clear, since it came to office, that the Bush Administration does not listen to Arab views. It does not matter what the subject is, be it the Israel-Palestine issue, a possible strike against Iraq to depose Saddam Hussein or, indeed, anything else. In the past few days alone, there has been a fresh roar of Arab warnings to the US not to attack Iraq — from the Kingdom, Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan, Yemen, the UAE, and other friends of the US in the region. It is not because they have any affection for Saddam Hussein; on the...

JAFFA , 14 July — In 1923, a Russian poet, Carney Chukovsky wrote a delightful short tale for children, Tarakan the Giant Beetle, an all-time favorite nursery rhyme for Russian kids. It is a story of the animal kingdom intimidated by Tarakan. The Beetle threatened to devour the disobedient animals, and the awed lions and tigers have holed up in their lairs. True, a beetle has no fangs or horns, but the menacing Tarakan would brandish his great long mustachio, and no beast would dare to challenge the little monster, until a small sparrow flew in and ate up the...

Even as you read these words, a time bomb is ticking away in the holy city of Makkah. The question is not "if" it will explode but "when". The bomb I am speaking of, for those who want to know, is the large number of Africans in the city; they are there illegally and as they encroach on the city and its facilities, they have become a public menace. They show no respect for the law whatsoever. They make it plain that all they care about is making money — and by whatever means is available to them. They multiply...

I am writing on my return from an eight-day visit to the Arab world. It was a difficult time to be in the region. President George W. Bush's strange and disturbing speech of June 24 had been received like a blow to the system. As a result, every political conversation was punctuated with frustration and, in many cases, fury. Arab moderates, in particular, feel betrayed, and with good reason. For more than a decade now, especially since the end of the Gulf War, they have ceded to the United States the role of exclusive Middle East peacemaker. Wanting desperately to...

blunt new report by Arab intellectuals commissioned by the United Nations warns that Arab societies are being crippled by a lack of political freedom, the repression of women and an isolation from the world of ideas that stifles creativity. The survey, the Arab Human Development Report 2002, will be released today in Cairo The report notes that while oil income has transformed the landscapes of some Arab countries, the region remains "richer than it is developed." Per capita income growth has shrunk in the last 20 years to a level just above that of sub-Saharan Africa. Productivity is declining. Research...

It has been one week now since President George W. Bush delivered the long awaited speech outlining his vision of a future Middle East peace. The speech was troublesome and the world's reaction to it has been troubled. It was a strange speech. One we have been told went through 28 revisions. The final product appeared to reflect two distinct and contradictory approaches. It was, one might say, a "compassionate [neo-]conservative" speech. There were, for example, parts of the speech that spoke passionately about Palestinian suffering and Palestinian needs to be free of occupation and to have a state of...

JEDDAH, 24 June — Prince Abdullah, the regent, held crucial talks here yesterday with top executives of ExxonMobil and Royal Dutch Shell to iron out differences over three multibillion-dollar gas projects. The meetings with ExxonMobil’s Lee Raymond and Shell’s Phil Watts were attended by Prince Saud Al-Faisal, chairman of the ministerial committee for negotiations with oil giants. “The talks focused on issues related to petroleum industry,” the official Saudi Press Agency said without elaborating. But high-level sources told Arab News that the meetings were positive. “The talks focused on the points of differences,” the sources said, adding that the negotiations...

JEDDAH, 18 June — An Australian employee of British Aerospace (BAE) in Tabuk was shot at by a sniper in camouflage as he drove out of the Najrani Compound on June 5. The incident was confirmed to Arab News by both BAE and officials at the British and Australian embassies last night. The man, reportedly dressed in military camouflage, was lying in wait when the Australian drove out of the BAE-owned compound in the early afternoon. The sniper then opened fire on the vehicle five times but the Australian escaped unhurt, and his assailant fled. Tabuk is the Kingdom’s northern-most...

- What has he found in her? - jealously gossip the shrills. - Why does he shower her with gifts? What's she got that we haven't? She costs him a lot of money and good will, she alienated him from his old buddies, and for a good reason: the little murderous bitch, hers is a brand name for every mean trick, but he, usually tight-fisted and penny-pinching, generously cares and stonewalls for her, lays low her enemies and silences her critics. What is the secret behind the peculiar love affair between Daughter of Zion from Middle East and the superpower...

ERUSALEM — Thirty-five years ago, on June 5, 1967, the start of the Six Day War, Israel faced a threat to its very existence as a coalition of Arab armies massed their troops along the fragile armistice lines that had separated Arab and Israeli forces since 1949. Along the hills of the West Bank, which had been occupied by the Jordanians, armored and infantry units were deployed, ready to cut Israel's narrow coastal plain, which was only eight miles wide at Netanya. A third of the Iraqi army was crossing Jordanian territory, ready to join the coalition against Israel. The...