Saudi Arabia

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Exiled Ex-PM Allowed to Return to Pakistan

Court ruling another blow to Musharraf

(Newser) - Former PM Nawaz Sharif may return to Pakistan from exile, the country’s Supreme Court ruled today, dealing another blow president Pervez Musharraf. Sharif had already declared his intentions to challenge the "dictatorship" of Musharraf, who deposed Sharif in a 1999 coup, in upcoming elections. But Sharif, the BBC...

Mystery Illness Kills Camels
Mystery Illness Kills Camels
Aug 19, 2007 11:10 AM CDT

Mystery Illness Kills Camels

Saudi government denies contagious disease is behind it

(Newser) - In Saudi Arabia, hundreds of camels have suddenly died for unknown reasons—232  were counted in the last four days in the Dawasir Valley, 250 miles south of Riyadh, Reuters reports. The Agriculture Ministry denies that an infectious disease is behind the deaths and blames problems with animal feed. Owners...

Rice Pushes Peace Talks With Olmert, Abbas

Takes mission to Jerusalem, West Bank

(Newser) - Condoleezza Rice took her diplomatic tour to Jerusalem and the West Bank today, hoping to rekindle peace negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian government of Mahmoud Abbas. Rice comes bearing a promise from Saudi Arabia to support the peace conference proposed by the White House for later this year, Reuters...

Russia Reportedly Strikes Fighter-Jet Deal With Iran

(Newser) - Israel is investigating reports that Russia will supply Iran with $1 billion in long-range fighter jets and aerial fuel tankers, the Jerusalem Post says. Israeli officials say the pact could be a partial response to a billion-dollar US arms deal with Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states.

White House Proposes $43B in Mideast Military Aid

Rice pitches strategy to help contain Iran

(Newser) - More than $43 billion in US military aid is earmarked for the Middle East, Reuters reports, part of a strategy to fight terrorism and counterbalance Iran. The outlays, which require congressional approval, include $13 billion to Egypt, $30 billion to Israel, and an unspecified amount to Saudi Arabia and other...

Triumphant Iraqis Celebrate Soccer Win

After Asian Cup victory, revelry and gunfire erupt in Baghdad

(Newser) - Iraqis celebrated their national soccer team's triumph in the Asian Cup today in an emotional bout of revelry marked by joyful gunfire in the streets of Baghdad. "We achieved the dream. Allahu Akbar!" a crying fan told Iraqiya state television after Iraq defeated Saudi Arabia 1 to 0...

Bush Plans Huge Arms Deal With Saudis

Saudi role in Iraq complicates $20B deal

(Newser) - The White House is proposing a $20 billion arms sale to Saudi Arabia and five Gulf neighbors, despite increasing dismay over the Saudis' undermining the US-backed Iraqi government, the New York Times reports. The deal, likely to generate resistance in Congress, makes no demands for Saudi cooperation on Iraq; its...

Saudi King Backs Iraq's Sunni Rebels

Ally undermining Bush strategy and fledgling government

(Newser) - Saudi Arabia is working at cross purposes with the Bush administration in Iraq by backing Sunni tribes engaged in sectarian violence there, the New York Times reports. King Abdullah has funded the Sunnis and is allowing insurgents to enter the country, US officials charge. Of up to 80 foreign fighters...

Saudi Arabia Sends the Most Fighters to Iraq

Forget Iran: 45% of foreign fighters are Saudis; half are suicide bombers

(Newser) - While the US has accused both Syria and Iran of abetting sectarian violence in Iraq, the largest source of foreign insurgents there is Saudi Arabia, the Los Angeles Times reports. Saudi fighters constitute 45% of all foreign militants in Iraq, a US official told the Times. Almost half of them...

Saudi Prince Pocketed $2B in Arms Deal

British arms giant BAE said to have paid 'fees' to Bandar for 10 years

(Newser) - Prince Bandar of Saudi Arabia, the former Saudi ambassador to the US and a close friend of President Bush, allegedly accepted nearly $2 billion from the British arms giant BAE  in connection with an $86-billion arms deal. The Guardian claims the payments, made in $60-million increments over 10 years, through...

Burgeoning Saudi Firm Snags GE Plastics

$11.6B deal is Gulf region's biggest ever

(Newser) - A Saudi chemical company will take over General Electric's plastics division in a deal worth $11.6 billion, the companies said today. Saudi Basic Industries Corp., or Sabic, beat out Dutch-owned Basell for GE Plastics, which was put up for sale in January. The purchase, the largest ever by a...

Iraqi PM Begs for Debt Forgiveness
Iraqi PM Begs
for Debt Forgiveness
May 3, 2007 7:52 AM CDT

Iraqi PM Begs for Debt Forgiveness

US, Iran, Syria to cross paths at Egypt summit

(Newser) - Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki is begging other nations to write off Iraq's debt, saying the country needs reconstruction funds. He spoke today at a regional summit that will feature the first high-level talks between the U.S. and Syria since 2005; prospects of Secretary of State Rice sitting down with...

Prince May No Longer Speak For His King

Bush's Saudi conduit, Prince Bandar, is out of step with Abdullah

(Newser) - Prince Bandar bin Sultan, the former Saudi ambassador and longtime Bush conduit to the Saudi leadersip, may no longer be speaking for his country. The New York Times  notes that Bandar's uncle, King Abdullah, has taken several stands recently that surprised  the White House by being in direct conflict with...

Saudis Sweep Terror Cell
Saudis Sweep Terror Cell
Apr 27, 2007 3:59 PM CDT

Saudis Sweep Terror Cell

(Newser) - Saudi police have arrested 172 militants involved in a plot to launch suicide air attacks on oil fields and military bases, officials said this morning. They also seized massive weapon stores and millions in cash. "Almost all the elements for terror attacks were complete except for setting the zero...

The Kingdom's Got a Big Closet
The Kingdom's Got a Big Closet
Apr 20, 2007 1:35 PM CDT

The Kingdom's Got a Big Closet

Why gay life flourishes in Saudi Arabia, even though it's a capital crime

(Newser) - Sodomy is a capital crime in Saudia Arabia, but that hasn't stopped a gay scene from flourishing there. Quite the contrary, writes Nadya Labi in the Atlantic. Men and women are so zealously separated that homosexual encounters are easier to pull off. One Syrian who moved to Riyadh seven years...

UN Report: Climate Change Will Hit Poor Hardest

Poorest will be hit hardest

(Newser) - Expect floods, droughts, fires—and resulting starvation, conflict, and mass migration—as climate change becomes more pronounced, says a U.N. report released today. And expect the poor to get hit the hardest, as deserts get drier, deltas flood more often, and small islands are overwhelmed.

Olmert Offers Talks With Arab Leaders

Cites Saudi peace plan as positive step

(Newser) - Ehud Olmert says he's keen for multilateral talks with Arab leaders, after a Saudi summit last week produced the outlines of a peace plan, Haaretz reports. "The readiness to accept Israel as a fact and to debate the terms of a future solution is a step that I...

Saudi King Calls Iraq War Illegal
Saudi King Calls Iraq War Illegal
Mar 29, 2007 8:53 AM CDT

Saudi King Calls Iraq War Illegal

Latest evidence of breach with ally

(Newser) - King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia fired a warning shot at the Bush administration yesterday, calling Iraq “an illegal foreign occupation” and urging Arab leaders to unite to prevent U.S. domination of the region.  The Saudis "are telling the U.S. they need to listen to their...

Does Saudi Arabia Have a Dubai Complex?

Building binge aims to diversify boom-or-bust oil economy

(Newser) - Saudi Arabia is on a building binge. King Abdullah City—a planned $26.7-billion development where multi-million-dollar yachts will dock in the ports that currently welcome 300,000 Mecca-bound pilgrims—is one of five major “economic cities” the government is building in an attempt to spur private-sector growth and...

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