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RIYADH, Saudi Arabia - Saudi Arabian leaders made clear Friday they see no reason to increase oil production until their customers demand it, apparently rebuffing President Bush amid soaring U.S. gasoline prices.

The FINANCIAL -- The U.S. Chamber of Commerce raised alarm over legislation introduced by Senator Harry Reid to repeal tax incentives for oil exploration, impose a 25% windfall tax on oil companies, and allow consumers to sue nations that supply oil to the U.S. "Higher taxes and more lawsuits won't lower the price of gas at the pump or make America more energy secure. If this legislation is enacted, Americans must be prepared for potential oil supply disruptions and higher prices for gasoline, home heating oil and natural gas," said Bill Kovacs, vice president of Environment, Technology and Regulatory Affairs...

Riyadh: Prominent Saudi Islamic scholar and member of the Senior Scholars' Commission Shaikh Saleh Bin Fauzan Al Fauzan has warned Saudi youths against going to Iraq to fight in the war-torn country. While labelling those who go to fight in Iraq as "preachers of evil," he urged everyone to tell the authorities about such people. Shaikh Al Fauzan was speaking to members of the teaching faculty at Imam Mohammad Bin Saudi Islamic University here on Tuesday. According to the scholar it is obligatory on the part of all to admonish those youths who are eager to go to Iraq to...

A controversial British deal to supply Eurofighter jets to Saudi Arabia may have hit an obstacle. It appears that the Eurofighter - long touted as proof that the UK and its continental partners can make serious combat kit without American help - actually contains significant amounts of US technology, and that Washington may not permit the Saudi sale. The revelations come in an article in today's Financial Times. It appears that the British government's application to export American tech on 72 Eurofighters to the desert princes is the subject of some debate both among Capitol Hill politicos and at the...

Next year, if all goes well, Saudi Arabia will turn the spigots on the largest oil field to come online anywhere in the world since the late 1970s. The Khurais complex, sprawling across a swath of red dunes and rocky plains half the size of Connecticut, is expected to add 1.2 million barrels a day to an oil market caught between growing demand and a paucity of significant new discoveries. The twin forces have led to historically high prices for crude oil, which settled at a record $117.48 on Monday.

It's amazing what $5 US per gallon of gas can buy... This palace is owned by the family of Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, the former president of the United Arab Emirates and rule of Abu-Dhabi. My Mom said to always look at the bright side of things -good things these people are doing so 'well'!

Kingdom Come [Kathryn Jean Lopez] From the Arab News: Al-JOUF, 10 April 2008 — US Ambassador Ford Fraker said in Sakaka that his country aims to double the number of student visas issued to Saudis. “Currently there are 15,000 Saudi students in the US,” he said during an event on Sunday with local business leaders to an audience at the Al-Jouf Chamber of Commerce and Industry. “We aim to increase their numbers to 30,000 over the next five years.” Fraker said Saudi Arabia should bolster its English-language programs because it is generally required for Saudis seeking to pursue higher studies...

US Ambassador Ford Fraker said in Sakaka that his country aims to double the number of student visas issued to Saudis. “Currently there are 15,000 Saudi students in the US,” he said during an event on Sunday with local business leaders to an audience at the Al-Jouf Chamber of Commerce and Industry. “We aim to increase their numbers to 30,000 over the next five years.” Fraker said Saudi Arabia should bolster its English-language programs because it is generally required for Saudis seeking to pursue higher studies in the US. Fraker also stressed the need for popularizing English teaching programs because...

Cambridge University has been given £8 million by a Saudi Arabian prince to establish an Islamic studies centre. Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal, ranked in the top 20 richest men in the world, with a fortune of about £10 billion, has donated the cash to the university to fund a centre in his name for the study of the role of Islam in the Middle East and globally. The gift has been recommended by the university's general board and is expected to be announced in June. advertisement The grandson of King Ibn Saud and nephew of King Abudllah, the prince counts...

On a clear day, the view from the top will take in the Middle East, North Africa and the Indian Ocean - providing you've a head for heights. ...

RIYADH, 28 March 2008 — Shoura Council Chairman Dr. Saleh Bin-Humaid has urged US authorities to review the case of Homaidan Al-Turki, a 37-year-old Saudi student who was found guilty in a Colorado state court of 12 counts of sexually assaulting his Indonesian maid. “The Saudi people sympathize with Homaidan Al-Turki and they closely follow up his case,” the Shoura chief said and hoped for a speedy end to the issue. He also emphasized the Kingdom’s respect for American justice. Al-Turki, a former Ph.D. student at the University of Colorado, maintains that he did not sexually assault the woman, whose...

Riyadh, Mar. 25, 2008 (CWNews.com) - The president of the Middle East Center for Strategic Studies, Anwatr al Oshqi, has reported that Saudi Arabia’s royal family has decided against building a Catholic church in the kingdom. Earlier this month Vatican Radio reported that the Saudi government was weighing a proposal for the construction of a Catholic church. That report came as a surprise, since the Saudi regime does not allow public worship by any faith other than Islam. In November 2007, when King Abdullah became the first reigning Saudi king ever to visit the Vatican, Pope Benedict XVI urged...

King Abdul Aziz Ibn Saud announces that he will organize interfaith conference involving Christians, Muslims, Jews. Morality, breakdown of traditional values will be among topics up for discussion Roee Nahmias Published: 03.25.08, 13:08 / Israel News Saudi King Abdul Aziz Ibn Saud announced Tuesday that he will organize a series of meetings involving representatives of the Jewish, Christian and Muslim faiths in an attempt to foster dialogue between adherents of the three main monotheistic faiths. The king announced that his goal in generating this interfaith dialogue is to attempt to prevent the rapid decline in morals and traditional family values...

Recently I re-examined the September 1967 decision of the Arab League summit in Khartoum - the famous three no's - no recognition, no negotiations and no peace with Israel. Here we are 40 years later and instead of speaking about the Arab-Israeli conflict, we speak about Arab-Israeli relationships - complex and diverse. Peace, albeit cold, with Jordan and Egypt. The Saudis continue to speak about the Arab Peace Initiative (API) and even Hamas wants a cease-fire agreement with Israel. Syria is calling for direct negotiations with Israel. The Palestinians claim that Israelis are holding back on making progress toward peace...

WASHINGTON (AFP) — President George W. Bush authorized Wednesday supplying Kosovo with weapons, signaling the establishment of government-to-government relations after recognizing its independence, the White House said. In a memo to the State Department made public by the White House, Bush said: "I hereby find that the furnishing of defense articles and defense services to Kosovo will strengthen the security of the United States and promote world peace." A senior official said the authorization followed US recognition of Kosovo's independence and was part of the normal process of establishing relations with a new government. In a comment apparently meant to...

No churches should be permitted in Saudi Arabia, unless Pope Benedict XVI recognised the prophet Mohammed... "It would be possible to launch official negotiations to construct a church in Saudi Arabia only after the Pope and all the Christian churches recognise the prophet Mohammed." "If they don't recognise him as a prophet, how can we have a church in the Saudi kingdom?" Ashiqi's comments came after a declaration launched by the papal nuncio of the Persian Gulf, the archbishop Mounged El-Hachem, at the opening of the first Catholic church in Qatar last week. El-Hachem estimated three to four million Christians...

Saudi Arabia is to retrain its 40,000 prayer leaders - also known as imams - in an effort to counter militant Islam. Details of the plan were revealed in the influential Saudi newspaper Al-Sharq al-Awsat. The plan is part of a wider programme launched by the Saudi monarch a few years ago to encourage moderation and tolerance in Saudi society. The ministry of religious affairs and new centre for national dialogue will carry out the training, the paper said. The centre was created five years ago to disseminate a moderate interpretation of Islamic tradition. There is growing awareness in Saudi...

Riyadh, 20 March (AKI) - No churches should be permitted in Saudi Arabia, unless Pope Benedict XVI recognised the prophet Mohammed, according to a Middle East expert. While Saudi mediators are working with the Vatican on negotiations to allow places of religious worship, some experts believe it will not occur without this recognition. Anwar Ashiqi, president of the Saudi centre for Middle East strategic studies, endorsed this view in an interview on the site of Arab satellite TV network, al-Arabiya on Thursday. "I haven taken part in several meetings related to Islamic-Christian dialogue and there have been negotiations on this...

Billionaire leverages harsher libel rules to suppress unflattering book NEW YORK - Rachel Ehrenfeld writes about terrorism for a living. But now she is the one who feels targeted. Her modest midtown Manhattan apartment is filled to the ceiling with books, most having to do with global terror networks and Mideast conflict. Sitting at her desk, she gazes out at the Hudson River. She says she has a hard time placing her work. She says she has been blacklisted. If she travels to England, she fears she will be arrested. "I feel like a leper," she said. Ehrenfeld faces a...

WASHINGTON, March 16, 2008 – Information gleaned from 48 foreign fighters detained in Iraq offers insight into al Qaeda’s methods, a Multinational Force Iraq spokesman told reporters during a briefing today in Baghdad. “The foreign detainees told similar stories about what happened to them once they were smuggled into Iraq,” said Navy Rear Adm. Greg Smith, director of Multinational Force Iraq’s communication division. “These 48 men told us they were lured here with the promise they would be killing Americans … but they were disappointed that most of the violence they saw was directed at the Iraqi people … fellow...

RIYADH, March 15 (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia's most revered cleric said in a rare fatwa this week that two writers should be tried for apostasy for their "heretical articles" and put to death if they do not repent. Sheikh Abdul-Rahman al-Barrak was responding to recent articles in al-Riyadh newspaper that questioned the Sunni Muslim view in Saudi Arabia that adherents of other faiths should be considered unbelievers. "Anyone who claims this has refuted Islam and should be tried in order to take it back. If not, he should be killed as an apostate from the religion of Islam," said the...

Following are excerpts from a speech delivered by Dr. Walid Al-Rashudi, head of the Department of Islamic Studies at King Saud University, Saudi Arabia, which aired on Al-Aqsa TV on February 29, 2008. Walid Al-Rashudi: One of the important things that we must tell people is that what is going on in Palestine today is a real holocaust. This is the real holocaust. A holocaust is not the burning of 50-60 Jews in Germany or Switzerland, but the Jews continue to call it the Holocaust. In case you don't know, let me tell you that more than 90% of the...

Found this site similar to YouTube. Saudis complain about human rights. This guy tell it like it is.

GULF Arab states, flush with proceeds from record high oil prices, are racing to build the world's tallest tower. Saudi Arabia has joined the fray with a plan to build a 1 mile (1600m) tower in the Red Sea city of Jeddah, according to the London-based Middle East Economic Digest (MEED). The project, which would overtake super-tall skyscrapers in neighbouring Kuwait and Dubai, the city state associated with mega ventures, places the competition to build the world's tallest tower firmly in the Gulf region. Of all the other high-profile buildings under construction around the globe, such as New York's Freedom...

King Abdullah University of Science and Technology and The University of Texas at Austin Form Academic PartnershipMarch 5, 2008 E-mail this article AUSTIN, Texas — King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) and The University of Texas at Austin today announced a research and educational partnership in computational earth sciences and engineering. Under the Academic Excellence Alliance (AEA), the universities will identify and nominate the founding KAUST faculty, establish joint research, and collaborate in the design of the academic curriculum. The value of the agreement to The University of Texas at Austin is about $27 million. That includes $10...

An informant who provided German authorities with data from a Liechtenstein bank that sparked a massive tax fraud probe has said his life is threatened, two news magazines are to report Monday. "You are putting my life in danger," Heinrich Kieber wrote to German intelligence services, according to German weekly Focus in an article released in advance of publication over the weekend. The informant has blamed the intelligence services for not keeping his identity secret and asked them to provide him with a new identity so that he can relocate to South America. His request has been refused, Focus reported....

 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...

US military kills al-Qaida leader By PATRICK QUINN, Associate Press Writer BAGHDAD - A U.S. military helicopter fired a guided missile to kill a wanted al-Qaida in Iraq leader from Saudi Arabia who was responsible for the bombing deaths of five American soldiers, a spokesman said Sunday. U.S. Navy Rear Adm. Gregory Smith said Jar Allah, also known as Abu Yasir al-Saudi, and another Saudi known only as Hamdan, were both killed Wednesday in Mosul. According to the military, al-Saudi conducted numerous attacks against Iraqi and U.S. forces, including a Jan. 28 bomb attack that killed the five U.S. soldiers....

Professor Faces 180 Lashes for Having Coffee With Student Thursday , February 28, 2008 A university professor allegedly caught in a Saudi-style honey trap has been sentenced to 180 lashes and eight months in jail — for having coffee with a girl. The man, a prominent and well-respected Saudi teacher of psychology at Umm al-Qra University in the holy city of Mecca, was framed by the religious police after he angered some of their members at a training course, his lawyer said. The academic has not been named by the local media, which have given his case wide coverage, but...

A married university professor has been sentenced to 180 lashes and eight months in prison for having coffee with a female student. The professor of psychology at Umm al-Qra University in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, was caught in a "honey trap" operation after angering members of the religious police during a training course, his lawyer said. The academic is said to have received a call from a supposed student, who asked to discuss a problem in person; he agreed, provided she brought along a brother as a chaperone. When the man arrived at the meeting place, the girl was alone, and...

“Energy independence from foreign sources.” A mantra repeated over and over again by Al Gore, by the Hollywood elite and by candidates running for the 2008 Presidential nomination. But rarely is it ever pointed out how this phrase is but an oxymoron with respect to United States energy policy, which becomes ever more vulnerable, not just as the result of its failing infrastructure, but from misguided public policy decisions. And never is the topic broached publicly in how much of the US energy infrastructure and lines of transmission have been consumed by a constant stream of foreign direct investors and...

February 24, 2008 Sun shines on some as storm clouds gather over US economy American Account Irwin Stelzer JUST when it seemed things couldn’t get any worse, they did. The Federal Reserve Board’s economists revised their growth estimate down, and their inflation forecast up. The dreaded word “stagflation” has begun to make its appearance, reminding those Wall Street analysts old enough to remember that in the 1970s the economy experienced 15% inflation, 9% unemployment and three recessions. Those who want to update their financial vocabularies further should also take note of the new buzz word, “contagion”, used to describe the...

By Ali H. Alyami, Ph. D., Executive Director, The Center for Democracy and Human Rights in Saudi Arabia Why isn’t the International community up in arms about “Kosovo” becoming independent and declaring its Independence when Kurdistan has legal precedence and it seems no one gives a damn for its Independence but the Kurds? Simple, because the House of Saud and other feudal rich Sheikhs are behind the move for the independence of Kosovo. It’s a Sunni Wahhabi enclave now. Millions of southern Sudani Christians fought for independence from the Thugs in Khartoum for 20 years and lost. Why? Because the...

Published: 02/21/08, 12:11 PM Expert: Saudi Arabian Bankers Fueling Global Islamic Jihad by Talia Zarbiv (IsraelNN.com) Rachel Ehrenfeld, Director of the American Center for Democracy, said at the Jerusalem Conference Tuesday that Saudi Arabian bankers are the main financiers of global terrorism. “Sharia financing” corrupt banking practices legal under Islamic law, are a fairly new phenomenon, Ehrenfeld saod, and were first developed by the Muslim brotherhood in the 70s, following the financial power gained by Saudis during the oil boom. ”Saudis are using money in order to corrupt the West, to fund terrorism, and eventually to take over the West,”...

Muslim school 'that taught pupils from race hate textbooks made photocopies after order to shred them'Last updated at 21:50pm on 20th February 2008A prestigious Islamic school in London was forced to shred 2,000 textbooks used to poison pupils' minds with lessons of hate, a former teacher claimed yesterday.  Colin Cook, who taught English at the King Fahad Academy for 18 years, told a tribunal how "incompetent" Ofsted inspectors reported that the school's teaching of Islamic studies was "mostly good".  But their report was wildly inaccurate, he said, because pupils as young as five were being taught by rote from...

At least two Gulf-based banks have prepared contingency plans to raise extra capital of about $300m each to help cover writedowns of their US subprime exposure, according to Moody’s, the rating agency. The agency has been monitoring the possible impact of subprime-related writedowns on the balance sheets of up to 10 Gulf-based banks over the past five months, said Mardig Haladjian, general manager of the financial institutions group at Moody’s in Cyprus. While the writedowns by these two banks, which he declined to name, may not be enough to warrant extra fundraising, the banks may choose to raise more capital...

BRUSSELS, KOSOVSKA MITROVICA -- Beta says an analysis shows Kosovo's unilateral declaration will first be recognized by some Islamic countries. The news agency has had insight into the document, put together "by some EU countries", that says the province's independence declaration, rejected by Serbia, will be recognized in "three waves". Albania, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, and some other Muslim countries will lead the way, the report says. This will be followed by Austria, Denmark, Finland, Luxembourg, Belgium, and, the document speculates, France, Great Britain, Germany and Italy. The United States is also likely to recognize Kosovo very soon. The "second wave"...

Saudi Arabia's rulers threatened to make it easier for terrorists to attack London unless corruption investigations into their arms deals were halted, according to court documents revealed yesterday. Previously secret files describe how investigators were told they faced "another 7/7" and the loss of "British lives on British streets" if they pressed on with their inquiries and the Saudis carried out their threats to cut off intelligence. Prince Bandar, the head of the Saudi national security council, and son of the crown prince, was alleged in court to be the man behind the threats to hold back information about suicide...

February 15, 2008 Bribes inquiry was warned of ‘another 7/7’, court told Christine Buckley, Industrial Correspondent, and Fiona Hamilton Fraud investigators were told they faced the possibility of “another 7/7” and the likely loss of “British lives on British streets” if they pressed on with inquiries into Saudi Arabia’s arms deals, it was revealed yesterday. High Court documents showed that the Saudis threatened to cut off intelligence, potentially making it easier for terrorists to attack London, if the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) did not drop its investigation into alleged corruption in deals with BAE systems. After threats by the Saudis...

Saudi Daily Arab News: The Saudi Woman Is Always To Blame for Her Problems In December 2007, the Saudi English-language daily Arab News published an op-ed by Dania Al-Ghalib titled "The Saudi Woman is Always Guilty." In it, the author describes the condition of the Saudi woman, depicting her as born unwanted and held accountable for everything that happens to her in life - even though she is always the chattel of a man and has no control over anything. The following is the article as it appeared in the Arab News. [1] "The Saudi Woman is Born Unwanted""The Saudi...

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...

RIYADH: Saudi Arabia's finance minister and central bank governor will appear before a council to discuss the riyal's peg to the US dollar and a surge in inflation, a council member said yesterday. Inflation in Saudi, which pegs its riyal to the dollar, rose to a 16-year high of 6.5 per cent in December, partly driven by a rise in global commodity prices and the declining US currency. The Shura Council, whose members are appointed by King Abdullah, will meet Finance Minister Ibrahim Al Assaf and Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency governor Hamad Saud Al Sayyari on February 10, Mohammad Al...

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia — Two years ago, a knock on Fatima and Mansour al-Timani's door shattered the life they had built together. It was the police, delivering news that a judge had annulled their marriage in absentia after some of Fatima's relatives sought the divorce on grounds she had married beneath her. That was just the beginning of an ordeal for a couple who — under Saudi Arabia's strict segregation rules — can no longer live together. They sued to reverse the ruling, publicized their story and sought help from a Saudi human rights group. But the two remain apart...

Saudi Arabia to lift ban on women drivers By Damien McElroy in Riyadh Last Updated: 9:18pm GMT 20/01/2008 Saudi Arabia is to lift its ban on women drivers in an attempt to stem a rising suffragette-style movement in the deeply conservative state. Government officials have confirmed the landmark decision and plan to issue a decree by the end of the year. The move is designed to forestall campaigns for greater freedom by women, which have recently included protesters driving cars through the Islamic state in defiance of a threat of detention and loss of livelihoods. The royal family has previously...

Prince Turki al-Faisal, adviser to King Abdullah, says if Israel accepts Arab League plan and signs comprehensive peace, 'one can imagine the integration of Israel into the Arab geographical entity' Reuters Published: 01.20.08, 15:15 / Israel News A senior Saudi royal has offered Israel a vision of broad cooperation with the Arab world and people-to-people contacts if it signs a peace treaty and withdraws from all occupied Arab territories. In an interview with Reuters, Prince Turki al-Faisal, a former ambassador to the United States and Britain and adviser to King Abdullah, said Israel and the Arabs could cooperate in many...

DENVER (CBS4) ― President Bush heard a request to release a man in a Colorado prison during his visit to Saudi Arabia. Homaidan Al-Turki is behind bars awaiting the outcome of an appeal. A court convicted him in 2006 of sexually assaulting and enslaving his Indonesian maid in his Aurora home.

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia - President Bush warned Tuesday that surging oil prices threaten the U.S. economy and urged OPEC nations to boost their output. His plea drew little sympathy from oil-rich Saudi Arabia, which said production levels appear normal. (snip) As economic anxiety grows in the U.S. and dominates the presidential campaign, Bush is under increasing pressure. (snip) He promised to tell Saudi King Abdullah that American families are being hurt by oil prices that have topped $100 a barrel, more than three times what they were when he took office. "These are times of economic uncertainty but I have...

Guantanamo clouds George Bush's Saudi visit By Damien McElroy in Riyadh Last Updated: 1:41am GMT 15/01/2008 President George W Bush will face a frosty reception today during a visit to Saudi Arabia amid anger at America's continued detention of the kingdom's citizens at Guantanamo Bay. The US president arrived in Riyadh last night on the latest stage of his tour of the Middle East and was treated to the lavish personal hospitality of King Abdullah. But talks today will be soured by the demand that the prison camp's remaining 13 Saudi detainees should be sent home at once - a...

The Democratic-led Congress is unlikely to block U.S. plans to sell $123 million worth of sophisticated precision-guided bomb technology to Saudi Arabia, despite concerns from some members that the systems could be used against Israel. The Bush administration on Monday notified Congress of its intent to sell the bomb-delivery systems as part of a multibillion-dollar arms package to bolster the defense of U.S. allies in the Gulf. Rep. Tom Lantos, chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, does not intend to consider a resolution of disapproval, said spokeswoman Lynne Weil. Otherwise, Lantos declined to comment. The arms deal creates a...

To be the American wife of a Saudi is to forsake familiar freedoms — or enjoy them secretly — in exchange for a secure, family-centered life. By Jeffrey Fleishman, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer January 14, 2008 RIYADH, Saudi Arabia -- Teresa Malof knew she wasn't in Kentucky anymore when a cleric issued a fatwa against her secret Santa gift exchange. Malof proposed the idea at the King Fahad National Guard Hospital, where she has worked for more than a decade. It was supposed to be discreet, but rumors were whispered amid veils and hijabs that the lithe, blond nurse,...