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 The Saudis: Which Side Are They On? by Robert Spencer Saudi officials announced Monday that they had arrested 56 members of Al-Qaeda, who were at an “advanced stage” of planning jihad terror attacks within the Kingdom. This would seem to support President Bush’s statement from last October, when in order to free up aid from the Saudis he declared: “I hereby certify that Saudi Arabia is cooperating with efforts to combat international terrorism and that the proposed assistance will help facilitate that effort.” As jarring as it may be to contemplate the notion that the United States is providing aid...

February 10, 2008 Saudi royal Prince Bandar Bin Sultan's assets frozen Grant Ringshaw PRINCE Bandar Bin Sultan, the former Saudi Arabian ambassador to America, has been hit by a court order in effect freezing some of his US assets, as part of a class-action lawsuit over bribery allegations at British defence giant BAE Systems. A Michigan pension scheme ? the City of Harper Woods Employees’ Retirement System ? has been granted a restraining order, according to documents filed in the US district of Columbia and seen by The Sunday Times. The order, granted last Tuesday, blocks Bandar from transferring out...

<p>1. Russians Suspected in Shooting of Kremlin Critic Near D.C.</p> <p>One year ago, Kremlin critic Paul Joyal was gunned down in the driveway of his suburban Maryland home. The case remains unsolved — but some see the hand of Russia in the shooting.</p>

MUST READ - James Baker Works to Establish Direct Diplomatic USA - Iran Ties Former US Secretary of State Baker Attempts to Bypass Bush White House on Iran Defense & Foreign Affairs Analysis. By Gregory R. Copley, Editor, GIS. Former US Secretary of State James Baker, who co-chaired the recent US Iraq Study Group — the main recommendations of which were rejected by the George W. Bush Administration — is working indirectly and behind the scenes to bring about direct diplomatic ties between the US and Iran. This is in defiance of Bush White House policy which essentially has said...

WASHINGTON, DC, United States (UPI) -- When King Abd al-Aziz -- also known as Ibn Saud -- died in 1953, he left 44 sons and uncounted daughters by 17 wives. He used to break up the monotony of daylong cabinet meetings with intimate interludes selected from a catalogue that contained pictures of over 600 concubines. Founded by Abd al-Aziz in 1932, modern Saudi Arabia is an oligarchy of 7,000 male princes. The royals number an estimated 21,000 (including up to 4 wives allowed by the Koran). King Abdullah, who succeeded the late King Fahd in August 2005, is the fifth...

Saudi Arabia has given Britain 10 days to halt a fraud investigation into the country's arms trade - or lose a £10 billion Eurofighter contract. The contract supports up to 50,000 British jobs and there are now fears that the deal may go to France. The Saudi government is on the verge of cancelling the contract - an extension of one brokered by Margaret Thatcher 20 year ago - because of a Serious Fraud Office investigation into allegations of a slush fund for members of the Saudi royal family, according to authoritative sources. Tony Blair has been told that the...

BYE-BYE, BANDAR By STEPHEN SCHWARTZ WITH the departure, announced this week, of the dean of Washington's diplomatic corps, Prince Bandar bin Sultan, from his post as Saudi Arabia's ambassador to the United States, an epoch has ended. Unfortunately, regardless of praise heaped upon him by the cadre of professional American apologists for the desert kingdom, the 22-year tenure of Ambassador Bandar has seen little more than deceit, corruption and horror in U.S.-Saudi relations.

Good Riddance . . . But Not Much Improvement Prince Bandar, Saudi Arabia's ambassador to the United States, is out. Prince Turki is in. by Stephen Schwartz 07/20/2005 3:45:00 PM AS ANNOUNCED ON Wednesday, July 20, Saudi Arabia's long-serving ambassador to the United States, Prince Bandar bin Sultan bin Abdul-Aziz, is leaving town. Allegedly, he resigned. The dean of the foreign diplomatic corps in Washington will be replaced by Prince Turki al Faisal, the former intelligence chief of the kingdom. Seeing the last of the unctuous Bandar will be viscerally pleasing to many Americans and to Saudi liberal dissidents. The...

Senior U.S. and Saudi officials as well as a senior member of the diplomatic community in Riyadh told NBC News that Prince Bandar bin Sultan tendered his resignation as ambassador to the U.S. to Crown Prince Abdullah in recent days. The resignation appears to be the result of continuing health problems for the 56-year-old envoy. “You can feel comfortable reporting that,” said the western diplomat confirming what several Saudi and U.S. officials had told NBC News about the Prince's resignation. Bandar is the dean of the Washington diplomatic community. He has been a powerful figure in the U.S. since being...

Wesley Clark the other day blamed the Bush administration for the intelligence failures leading to the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States. And Hillary Clinton said, darkly, that the administration's refusal to hand over documents to a 9/11 commission "unnecessarily raises suspicions that it has something to hide." Meanwhile, Condi Rice in a speech last week pointed to the failure to take terrorism seriously during the 1990s — in other words, she pointed to Clinton administration failures. The war over the war on terror has just begun. In this battle, it's useful to stick to specifics. Let's take,...

WASHINGTON - The federal indictment of a graduate of a Saudi-backed Islamic school in suburban Virginia for plotting to kill President Bush is the latest example of the school's links to troubling activity, Sen. Charles E. Schumer, D-N.Y., charged on Wednesday. Schumer said he is asking Saudi Arabia's ambassador to the United States, Prince Bandar bin Sultan, to explain where the school receives all of its funding, and whether the school may be "a breeding ground for anti-American sentiment - and, possibly even terrorist activities." It has been widely reported the school receives substantial funding from the Saudi kingdom. Schumer...

Sean says, he will comment on Woodwar's book.

In reaction to recent rises in oil prices, Saudi Arabia has once again committed to increasing oil production. Specifically, Saudi Arabia has assured world oil markets that it is willing to increase production -- and is capable of doing so -- by an extra 1.3 million barrels a day to meet real oil demand. This is a capability that no other oil-producing country can match. Unfortunately, some politicians and media commentators have attempted to score political points by misrepresenting both the specifics of Saudi Arabia's proposal and the nature of its intent. Some have even cynically attempted to revive the...

KHOBAR, Saudi Arabia — Saudi Arabia's ambassador to the United States said late Saturday that seven of the American hostages taken by suspected Islamic militants in Khobar have been released. Prince Bandar bin Sultan told U.S. authorities that five of the former hostages were unharmed, while two had suffered injuries. Earlier Saturday, terrorists wearing military-style uniforms stormed two office compounds in the heart of the Saudi oil production region, killing 16 people, including an American. The attackers then took dozens of people hostage at a luxury expatriate resort. Saudi security forces rushed into the walled Oasis Residential Resorts (search) complex...

WASHINGTON -- Did President Bush really brief Prince Bandar on his Iraq war plans before he informed Colin Powell? Did the Saudi ambassador really cut a deal with the Bush administration to increase oil production in time for the presidential election? The answer to both questions is no, but those allegations entered the election-year bloodstream thanks to distortion of Bob Woodward's "Plan of Attack."  The crack investigative reporter's latest blockbuster does not make those allegations, but still became instant Democratic talking points, employed by presidential candidate John Kerry himself. In contrast, Woodward's revelation of Saudi Arabia's support for the Iraq...

John Kerry has been ranting and raving about Saudi Prince Bandar’s clout with the Bush administration, complaining of an alleged "secret" deal between the U.S. and the Saudis that would keep oil prices low before the 2004 election. "If it is true that gas supplies and prices in America are tied to the American election, tied to a secret White House deal, that is outrageous and unacceptable to the American people,'' Kerry said. Some secret! Bandar publicly announced the deal on the front steps of the White House. It was to the Saudis advantage to keep prices low before presidential...

The Talk Shows Sunday, April 25th, 2004 Guests to be interviewed today on major television talk shows: FOX NEWS SUNDAY (Fox Network): Ahmad Chalabi, Iraq Governing Council member; Rep. Chris Shays, (R-CT); Bush-Cheney campaign chairman Marc Racicot and Kerry campaign chairwoman Jeanne Shaheen. MEET THE PRESS (NBC): Saudi Ambassador Prince Bandar bin Sultan, Washington Post reporter and author Bob Woodward. FACE THE NATION (CBS): Sens. John McCain, (R-AZ), and Carl Levin, (D-MI). THIS WEEK (ABC): Lakhdar Brahimi, U.N. envoy to Iraq; Sens. Joseph Biden, (D-DE), and Jon Kyl, (R-AZ). LATE EDITION (CNN) : Saudi Ambassador Prince Bandar bin Sultan, Sen....

Reprinted from NewsMax.com Thursday, Apr. 22, 2004 10:26 PM EDTWoodward: Kerry Distorting My Book Washington Post reporter Bob Woodward is complaining that Sen. John Kerry is distorting a brief passage in his book "Plan of Attack" to claim that President Bush struck a "secret deal" with the Saudis to lower oil prices before the election. "Senator Kerry took what was in the book and called it a secret deal," Woodward told Fox News Channel's "Hannity & Colmes" on Wednesday. "And that, I think that was not in my book and not in the facts as we know them now." "There...

<p>April 7 - Within weeks of the September 11 terror attacks, security officers at the Fleet National Bank in Boston had identified “suspicious” wire transfers from the Saudi Embassy in Washington that eventually led to the discovery of an active Al Qaeda “sleeper cell” that may have been planning follow-up attacks inside the United States, according to documents obtained by NEWSWEEK.</p>

<p>Law-enforcement officials follow the money trail among suspected terrorists straight to the doors of the Saudi Embassy.</p> <p>April 7 - Within weeks of the September 11 terror attacks, security officers at the Fleet National Bank in Boston had identified “suspicious” wire transfers from the Saudi Embassy in Washington that eventually led to the discovery of an active Al Qaeda “sleeper cell” that may have been planning follow-up attacks inside the United States, according to documents obtained by NEWSWEEK.</p>

HOUSTON (Dow Jones)--Countries that oppose the U.S.-led war on Iraq have no right to criticize the Bush administration for restricting Iraq reconstruction contracts to companies from companies that supported the war, the Saudi ambassador to the U.S. said Friday. Prince Bandar Bin Sultan said, "It's amazing how people who were doing everything possible to derail the success" of the Iraq war now "feel they have the right" to reconstruction contracts. "It just takes so much chutzpah." The ambassador's comments on the diplomatic controversy came during a strong defense of President George W. Bush's foreign policy in the Mideast. Bandar went...

The American effort to stabilize and rebuild Iraq seems plagued with bombings, shootings of soldiers and other mishaps, but Saudi Arabia's ambassador to the U.S. says those episodes are only part of an otherwise positive story. "I believe you are way ahead today than you were in the same period of time in (post World War II) Germany and Japan," Prince Bandar bin Sultan said in a Friday interview. "I believe that although it's always sad to lose any life, the casualty rate you're taking ... it will be way lower (than expected) compared to the size of the force...

The Associated Press RIYADH, Saudi Arabia May 26 — Seated on a cushion in a large, carpeted tent on the grounds of his Riyadh residence, Prince Bandar bin Sultan puffed on a cigar and insisted the recent terror attacks will not drive his Al Saud family from the power it has held for nearly three centuries."Mark Twain could have been talking about Saudi Arabia or the Saudi royal family when he said: 'Reports of my demise are slightly exaggerated,'" the prince, his kingdom's longtime ambassador to Washington, said in an interview with journalists. While the prince may have slightly...

<p>Responding to last week's terrorist attacks in Riyadh, President Bush declared that "the United States will find the killers, and they will learn the meaning of American justice." This is a president who is serious about fighting and winning the war on terrorism. The liberation of Iraq and the continued effort to bring al Qaeda to justice are all the proof anyone should need.</p>

Saudi ambassador warns of new terror attacks Saudi Arabia's ambassador to America has predicted possible terror attacks in his country or the United States. Prince Bandar bin Sultan said "there is chatter, a high level of chatter regionally and in other international spots" that something could happen in Saudi Arabia or the US. Prince Bandar said Saudi authorities had obtained information during recent months that Osama bin Laden's al-Qaida network, blamed for the May 12 attacks in Riyadh that killed 34 people, had been wracked by divisions. He said officials believed that al-Qaida leaders did not want to risk carrying...

May 18— WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A top Saudi diplomat, Prince Bandar bin Sultan, was dispatched on a last-minute, secret mission related to the war on terrorism, a Saudi adviser said on Sunday. Adel Al-Jubeir, foreign policy adviser to the de-facto Saudi ruler, Crown Prince Abdullah, told "Fox News Sunday" Bandar was sent to an undisclosed location just before he was to appear on several U.S. television talk shows, explaining the last-minute cancellations."He was sent on a mission by the government and it happened at the last moment, literally hours before the show," he said, making it impossible for Bandar to...

Acid test for Riyadh war on terror (Filed: 14/05/2003) America is frustrated with Saudi ambivalence, writes Toby Harnden in Washington Welcoming Crown Prince Abdullah to his Texas ranch last year, President Bush praised the de facto ruler of Saudi Arabia for his "vision for a peaceful and integrated Middle East" and stance against terrorism. "The Crown Prince has been very strong in condemning the murder of US citizens. He's been very strong about condemning those who committed those murders. And I appreciate that a lot." Privately, however, White House officials often express frustration with what they characterise as Saudi Arabia's...

WASHINGTON, Feb. 8 — Saudi Arabia's leaders have made far-reaching decisions to prepare for an era of military disengagement from the United States, to enact what Saudi officials call the first significant democratic reforms at home, and to rein in the conservative clergy that has shared power in the kingdom. Senior members of the royal family say the decisions, reached in the past month, are the result of a continuing debate over Saudi Arabia's future and have not yet been publicly announced. But these princes say Crown Prince Abdullah will ask President Bush to withdraw all American armed forces from...

Bush and the Saudi princessMark Steyn New Hampshire I always like the bit in the Bond movie where 007 and the supervillain meet face to face — usually at the supervillain’s marine research facility or golf course or, in this latest picture, his Icelandic diamond mine. Bond knows the alleged marine biologist is, in fact, an evil mastermind bent on world domination. The evil mastermind knows Bond is a British agent. But both men go along with the pretence that the other fellow is what he’s claiming to be, and the exquisitely polite encounter invariably ends with the mastermind purring...

From the December 9, 2002 issue: The real Saudi scandal. by Stephen Schwartz 12/09/2002, Volume 008, Issue 13 THERE IS NO MYSTERY, and there is no need for complicated theorizing, about the scandal that has struck the family of Prince Bandar bin Sultan bin Abd al-Aziz, the ambassador of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in Washington. U.S. authorities are investigating a financial link between Prince Bandar's wife, Princess Haifa, and two of the September 11 hijackers, Khalid al-Midhar and Nawaf Alhazmi. Money the princess gave, ostensibly for an operation needed by a Saudi woman in San Diego, was passed through...

WASHINGTON, Aug. 28 — The Saudi government has spent millions of dollars on well-connected lobbyists and national television advertisements since Sept. 11 in a drive to improve its image among Americans and is poised to spend more as the anniversary of the events approaches. Saudi officials said the publicity was intended to counter intensified anger or skepticism among Americans toward their country, which was home to 15 of the 19 hijackers and which has clashed publicly with the Bush administration over a possible attack against Iraq. A striking sign of the Saudis' eagerness to reach out to the United States...

A formidable adversary. President Bush in his speech last week urged Arab governments to end their support — financial, operational, and moral — for Palestinian terrorism. "All states must keep their promise," Bush said, "made in a vote in the United Nations to actively oppose terror in all its forms. No nation can pick and choose its terrorist friends. I call on the Palestinian Authority and all governments in the region to do everything in their power to stop terrorist activities, to disrupt terrorist financing, and to stop inciting violence by glorifying terror in state-owned media, or telling suicide bombers...