Category Archives: Saudi Arabia

Arab Politics, Egypt, GCC, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia

Sisi Tapes: Sisterly Talk, Brotherly Gibberish……..

Shuwaikh-school1 RattleSnakeRidge Sharqeya-Baneen-15

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“Egyptian President Abdul Fatah Al Sissi has reportedly launched a damage control operation to ensure that his country’s relations are not affected by the alleged audio recording suggesting that Egyptian officials close to him viewed Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries with disdain. The conversation between Al Sissi who was then minister of defence and two aides, released on Saturday, includes remarks that some Gulf countries were half states, that they had more money than they needed and that Egypt should adopt a strict policy of give-and-take with them. It also includes verbal personal abuse of the Emir of Qatar…………..”

“The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud received a telephone call today from Egyptian President Abdulfattah Al-Sisi. During the conversation, they reviewed bilateral relations between the two sisterly countries as well as the developments of situations at the regional and international arenas. The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques confirmed to the President the stand of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia by the side of the government and people of Egypt, and that the Kingdom’s position towards Egypt’s stability and security is firm and never changes, adding that the ties binding the two sisterly countries are an example to be followed in the strategic relations and common cause. He also indicated that the relation between the Kingdom and Egypt is beyond any attempt to disrupt the distinguished and firm relations between them……….”

These Sisi Tapes have gone viral on Arab social media, even as most controlled Gulf GCC and Egyptian media ignore them. Al-Jazeera, being a Qatari network, was quick to publicize and publish the tapes. Among what Generalissimo Al Sisi and his top aides said according to the tapes:

– “these are ‘half-states’, or half-countries”

– “Some of their (GCC) rulers have more money than their countries have”

– “billions to dollars that to them (to the rulers) are like grains of rice, they have so much”.

– “Egypt will ask for payments of $10 billion each from Saudi Arabia, UAE, Kuwait”. In addition to deposits at the Egyptian Central Bank.

– “The billions of demanded payments will be deposited in the accounts of the Egyptian army“.

– Sisi said they should be tougher with these countries after “we helped ‘liberate’ them from Iraq”. This is a misconception (actually a lie) that Egyptians keep repeating and now they may believe it. It is true what Sisi and aides mentioned about Syria: that the Syrians who also sent a symbolic brigade were more aggressive in asking for money in 1991. They certainly were. I will have more on this later.

Cheers

Mohammed Haider Ghuloum                          Follow ArabiaDeserta on Twitter

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Arab Politics, Saudi Arabia

Saudi Succession: Cardboard King, Paper People?…….

Shuwaikh-school1 RattleSnakeRidge Sharqeya-Baneen-15

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“Following the death of Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah, two videos have emerged showing Saudis pledging allegiance to their new ruler – by shaking hands with cardboard cutouts of King Salman and the two heirs to the throne. Actors standing behind the life-sized cutouts extend their arms to shake hands with visitors. Of course, it wouldn’t be possible for the kingdom’s new king to shake hands with everyone who wanted to pledge allegiance. So the cardboard cutouts are the next-best solution. The ritual is part of an Islamic custom known as the bay’ah – a traditional oath of allegiance given to a leader. In the video, they also “shake hands” with cardboard cutouts of Prince Muqrin bin Abdulaziz and Prince Mohammed bin Nayef.…………….”

So, who said there is no democracy and popular participation in the Kingdom Without Magic? A cardboard king and a paper people. Cartoon cardboard participation is better than none. This is progress under the new king, and so much cheaper and less disruptive than ballot boxes……….

On the other hand, some trouble-maker, some foreign agitators, might add that a truly cardboard royal family might be cheaper to maintain than………..
Cheers

Mohammed Haider Ghuloum                          Follow ArabiaDeserta on Twitter

Arab Media, Bahrain, GCC, Saudi Arabia

Prince Al-Waleed Suspended in Bahrain……….

Shuwaikh-school1 RattleSnakeRidge Sharqeya-Baneen-15

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“Alarab, the pan-Arab news channel, was suspended from broadcasting from its home in Bahrain on Monday, just hours after it went on air.
The station said on its official Twitter feed that coverage was halted for “technical and administrative reasons,” and that it hopes to be back on the air soon. It went live on Sunday afternoon……….”

It is located in Bahrain, although like other Saudi networks it is owned by a prince, Prince Al-Waleed. Bahrain is now a Saudi appendix, and the new King Salman may not be finished with his palace coup against his relatives. So you can reach your own conclusions……
This AlArab network is/was supposed to compete with Alarabiya (also Saudi semi-official network) and Al-Jazeera (Qatari official).
Stay tuned….
Cheers
Mohammed Haider Ghuloum                          Follow ArabiaDeserta on Twitter

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Arab Politics, Saudi Arabia

Of Saudi Palace Coup Reforms and LOL and MDR………

Shuwaikh-school1 RattleSnakeRidge Sharqeya-Baneen-15

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Remember the days a couple of years ago, way back then, when the late Saudi King Abdullah announced an Allegiance (Al-Bae’a) Commission to regulate succession to the throne? Remember the fanfare? How it was cheered as shifting the kingdom toward a ‘civil society’ where ‘institutions’ are supreme?

Remember when Saudi media trumpeted this as a great wise decision? Remember when Western media dutifully echoed all that? Remember when some American columnists, especially in the Washington Post, waxed enthusiastic about King Abdullah’s “reforms”? When a whole media cottage industry about “Saudi reforms” grew in Western punditry (and among some Arab columnists)? Remember when the king almost immediately ignored it completely and appointed whoever he wanted?
Now the new King Salman has also ignored it completely, and will continue to do so.

No doubt they will soon start talking about the new “reforms” of the new king. In Riyadh and Washington.
Vive la réforme et MDR! That means LOL……….
Cheers
Mohammed Haider Ghuloum                          Follow ArabiaDeserta on Twitter

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Arabian Peninsula, GCC, Saudi Arabia, Uncategorized

The New Ottomans: Thursday Night Massacre in Riyadh……..

Shuwaikh-school1 RattleSnakeRidge Sharqeya-Baneen-15

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“”Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdul Aziz al-Saud issued a royal order today, relieving Prince Khalid bin Bandar bin Abdul Aziz al-Saud, Chief of General Intelligence, of his post,” the official Saudi Press Agency said……. A separate decree said Prince Bandar bin Sultan, a nephew of Abdullah, was removed from his posts as Secretary General of the National Security Council and adviser to the king. Two sons of the late monarch were also fired: Prince Mishaal, the governor of Mecca region, and Prince Turki, who governed the capital Riyadh, according to the decrees broadcast on Saudi television………..”

Maybe Salman is not as demented as the Saudi Wahhabi opposition in exile (Mujtahidd, etc) have been claiming. He seems to be doing the right things that a normal wily Saudi king would do when he ascends the throne.
Gone are the days of obsequiousness to the reigning king (Abdullah). Here are the days of obsequiousness to the new reigning king Salman. He has been quick to execute his palace coup. He started early, possibly even before Abdullah was buried but probably after his death, with the chief of the Royal Court of Abdullah. Al-Tuwaijri was sacked as were some others. Today, Thursday, a whole bunch of other princes have been disposed of in one day, many of them the sons of King Abdullah. They had been promoted by Abdullah and quickly deposed by Salman. Prince Muqrin is still the crown prince, and he has appointed Prince Mohammed Bin nayef as crown prince to the crown prince, third in succession. But for how long? He does control the Interior Ministry: security, secret police, religious police, prisons, etc, etc.

All this ruthless plotting and counter-plotting would do justice to an Ottoman royal court. It shows you: there was little if any brotherly love in the Byzantine palaces of Riyadh. There is even less now.
Cheers
Mohammed Haider Ghuloum                          Follow ArabiaDeserta on Twitter

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Arabian Peninsula, GCC, Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia: Family Feuds and New Byzantine Arrangements………

Shuwaikh-school1 RattleSnakeRidge Sharqeya-Baneen-15

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Family feuds have been a hallmark of the Saudi royal family, just as they have been of other ruling dynasties of the Gulf countries. In the 1960s, King Saud was deposed by a palace coup engineered by his ambitious brother Faisal. In the 1970s, King Faisal was killed by one of his nephews, who blamed Faisal for the death of his father in the early 1960s. Lately, as the senior princes get older and older, the rivalries have intensified among the various branches, bellies and thighs, on who will be positioned to ascend the throne among the next generation.

In the past two years, Prince Met’eb, son of King Abdullah, and Prince Mohammed Bin Nayef came into focus as the two main rivals among the next generation. Both made several trips to Washington, although Arab comments have indicated that Washington might prefer the more experienced and more “security-minded” Mohammed Bin Nayef.
The recent death of Saudi king Abdullah was immediately followed by a coup, another palace coup. Or maybe the coup was started even before the king passed away.
As soon as Salman was sworn as king, he got rid of the top palace courtiers of Abdullah. He appointed Prince Mohammed Bin Nayef, the interior minister, as a second crown prince. A Crown Prince to the crown prince. He also appointed his own son as defense minister.

The Saudi royals, by nature easily amenable to Byzantine arrangements, may have started a new Byzantine tradition: a crown prince to the crown prince. If inter-family feuds escalate and rivalries intensify, they might start appointing another layer or two of “crown princes”. A crown prince to the crown prince of the crown prince? That is also possible. But will it work for long? Will it avoid an inevitable palace explosion?………..
Cheers
Mohammed Haider Ghuloum                          Follow ArabiaDeserta on Twitter

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Arab Revolutions, Saudi Arabia

Sorcerers Beware: New King Inaugurates his Reign with a Beheading……..

Shuwaikh-school1 RattleSnakeRidge Sharqeya-Baneen-15

KuwaitCox2

“An alleged rapist was executed Monday but many Saudis believe the case against him was shaky. A Saudi man accused of raping young girls was beheaded on Monday in the first execution under the administration of Saudi Arabia’s new King Salman. Teacher Moussa al-Zahrani, 45, was beheaded in the western city of Jeddah…………..”

So the new king continues in the progressive liberal reformist tradition of his predecessor, the late King Abdullah. European leaders are like most Arab journalists, hungry for Saudi money and contracts. They have flocked to Riyadh and firmly anointed the late Abdullah as a progressive liberal reformer. Those fine traits were evidenced by his military crushing of the Bahrain uprising, his financing of the restoration of the old Egyptian military regime, and the continued flogging of dissidents and the beheading of witches and sorcerers, among other feats.
The new monarch has big shoes to fill…..
Cheers
Mohammed Haider Ghuloum                          Follow ArabiaDeserta on Twitter

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Arab Politics, Egypt, Saudi Arabia

Hyperbole Arabica: Saudi-Egyptian Ties to Last Until the Dinosaurs Return…….

Shuwaikh-school1 RattleSnakeRidge Sharqeya-Baneen-15

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Egypt’s Shorouk News quotes the Saudi ambassador in Cairo making a strange statement. Supposedly a prescient statement. He is quoted as saying that Saudi Arabian policy towards Egypt will not change until the Judgement day (or End of Time).
He might have added: until the regime changes or until the dinosaurs return……….

After that, all bets are apparently of.
Cheers
Mohammed Haider Ghuloum                          Follow ArabiaDeserta on Twitter

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Arab Revolutions, Cuba, Human Right, Saudi Arabia, U.S. Foreign Policy

From Cuba to the Arab World: America and the Dissidents…….

Shuwaikh-school1 RattleSnakeRidge Sharqeya-Baneen-15

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Reports tell us that American diplomats in Cuba met with Cuban dissidents yesterday. They shared a meal together and talked. That is in Communist undemocratic repressive Cuba. The Cuba that restricts its people from coming to the USA even more than the USA restricts its people from going to Cuba.

Now to U.S. allies, non-communist anti-democratic allies:
A few months ago an American undersecretary of state was kicked out of Bahrain because he talked with some opposition leaders. Three years earlier another American diplomat was hounded out of Bahrain because he talked about human rights.
Can an American delegation meet and talk with local dissidents of whom there are many (in and out of prison) in Saudi Arabia? Or in the United Arab Emirates? Or even in Egypt? Would they dare?

Of course it is possible that because Cuba is in the Western Hemisphere, geographically and culturally, we should expect more of her. Which is like saying that Arabs (and Muslims) either do not deserve or don’t want democracy and freedom of expression. Which may not be as bigoted as it sounds. I know that, based on painful experience, most Arabs (outside Lebanon) are wary of the freedom of expression: mostly it gets you prison, torture, premature death, exile, or a combination of the above.

Cheers
Mohammed Haider Ghuloum                          Follow ArabiaDeserta on Twitter

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Caliphate, Justice, Saudi Arabia

A Tale of Justice in Two Islamic States: Walking the Walk………

Shuwaikh-school1 RattleSnakeRidge Sharqeya-Baneen-15

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“Victims are commonly crucified, sometimes after they have been killed, in ISIS public executions…….. The implementation of a strict form of sharia law is clearly central to IS’s governance,” he writes. “This includes imposing the hudud (fixed Islamic punishments for serious crimes); enforcing attendance of the five daily prayers; banning drugs, alcohol, and tobacco; controlling personal appearance, including clothing; forbidding gambling, non-Islamic music, and gender mixing; and ordering the destruction of religious shrines………….”

“She remains in prison. According to some reports, the accusations against al-Hathloul are focused on her social media activity rather than her driving. A prominent Shiite cleric calls for peaceful rallies against what he calls systemic discrimination against the Shiite minority in Saudi Arabia. The Gulf state sentences Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr to death in October for “breaking allegiance with the ruler,” “inciting sectarian strife,” and supporting violence, Saudi officials tell CNN. Nimr’s family accused the court of a politically motivated decision and continue to appeal the verdict. A blogger starts the “Free Saudi Liberals” forum in 2008 to encourage discussion about Islam and particularly the intrusion of the religious police in personal lives. A Jeddah court convicts Raif al-Badawi of “insulting Islam” and hands down a 10-year prison term and 1,000 lashes.……………”

“Gruesome footage circulating on social media shows Saudi authorities publicly beheading a woman in the holy city of Mecca earlier this week. The execution is the tenth to be carried out in country in the last two weeks; setting 2015 up to be even more bloody than last year, when 87 people were punitively killed by the state………….”

So, both systems behead and crucify and stone and chop hands (but only for small theft). Both believe elections and free speech are Western heathen things and are not needed in the land of Islam. Both believe women would lose their virginity as soon as they start driving cars.
This, of course, verges on a gross exaggeration on my part, just to stress some point. There are major differences that are obvious. 

Cheers
Mohammed Haider Ghuloum                          Follow ArabiaDeserta on Twitter

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