Unrest in Saudi Arabia

iVillage Member
Registered: 07-25-2003
Unrest in Saudi Arabia
1
Mon, 01-26-2004 - 7:56pm
Does anyone think it will lead anywhere?

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Leaders of the democratic movement in Saudi Arabia have warned that the kingdom is rapidly deteriorating.

In an open letter to the Saudi people, the Saudi democrats warn of division within the leadership and plans for a crackdown on reformists. The Jan. 3 letter blamed Saudi Interior Minister Prince Nayef Bin Abdul Aziz with blocking efforts for reform.

Nayef has blocked the implementation of reforms pledged by Crown Prince Abdullah Bin Abdul Aziz, the letter said. The Saudi democrats portrayed a divided ruling family uncertain of how to quell rising unrest and Al Qaida attacks in the kingdom.

http://www.menewsline.com/stories/2004/january/01_26_3.html

An extraordinary level of political violence in the tiny city of Sakaka, the capital of a remote province bordering Iraq, has the makings of the beginning of a popular revolution against the ruling al-Saud family.

Residents of al-Jouf province say recent months have seen the assassination of the deputy governor and the execution-style killing of Sakaka's police chief by a group of men who forced their way into his home.

Earlier, the region's top Shariah, or religious law, court judge was shot at point-blank range as he drove to work.

http://www.washingtontimes.com/world/20040126-120109-7675r.htm

Renee

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-18-2000
Wed, 01-28-2004 - 10:57am

Something has to give there but I wouldn't even hazard a guess. There's so many elements as play.


>""Saudi Arabia is a country founded on religion. It is a tool for anyone who is controlling Saudi Arabia, without it it would be fragmented into tribal society," said Islamist lawyer Mohsen Awaji, jailed for four years in 1994 for demanding reforms.

Analysts say the House of Saud has for years turned a blind eye to Wahhabi teachings which are now blamed for breeding militancy, but cannot repudiate them without harming its own legitimacy.

"The men of religion and politics traded many benefits over the years. The rulers gave the clergy influence to implement its ideology and the clergy protected them with edicts (supporting their rule)," said Saudi analyst Khaled al-Fadely."<


Quote from...........


http://www.reuters.com/locales/newsArticle.jsp?type=worldNews&locale=en_IN&storyID=4212773


>"The Saudi royal family is alarmed by the prospect of its next-door neighbor having a nuclear bomb, U.S. intelligence analysts say. The Saudis were spooked enough by Iraq's nuclear program. But Iran is a Shiite state and has long fomented the large Shia minority in the eastern part of the Saudi kingdom. In addition, most of Saudi Arabia's oil and natural gas reserves are in its Shiite-populated Eastern Province.


Saudi Arabia has been secretly obtaining help from Pakistan for its missile and nuclear program, the analysts report. Riyadh helped finance Pakistan's nuclear program precisely to ensure that the royal family will have a bomb in case of an emergency.

The Saudis have already obtained the perfect delivery system for nuclear warheads – the CSS-2 missile from China. Pakistan helped arrange the purchase of up to 60 CSS-2 missiles during the late 1980s. The missiles have a range of more than 1,500 kilometers – with some reports asserting that they can reach 3,000 kilometers."<


Quote from..........


http://worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=33164

cl-Libraone





 


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