Category Archives: Saudi Arabia

Arab Counterrevoltion, Arab Elections, Egypt, GCC, Saudi Arabia

The Pope and Synods of GCC: Punking Al Sisi, Excommunicating Qatar……..

      

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“Saudi Arabia had long seen Morsi’s Muslim Brotherhood as a threat. After his ouster, it quickly pledged $5 billion (3.7 billion euros) in aid to Cairo, with Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates offering a combined $7 billion. King Abdullah also urged “brothers and friends to avoid meddling in Egypt’s internal affairs,” warning that harming Egypt would amount to “harming Islam, Arabism and Saudi Arabia.” The king appeared to be referring to Qatar, the only Gulf country to back Morsi, and whose relations with Saudi Arabia and most of its other neighbours in the region have been strained………….”

Saudi palace bureaucrats, with the help of the vastest and most expensive media oil money can buy, are trying to recreate the image of their king Abdullah. Even as the king is basking in the diversions of Morocco. (FYI: senior Saudi princes like to spend R&R in Morocco, it is a beautiful and relaxed country in which they often die).
The palace minions and the vast controlled media have been trying to show their king as some kind of Wahhabi Pope, but nobody outside the Persian Gulf states is buying it. Actually very few outside Saudi Arabia are buying it, with the exception of Bahrain’s ruling family and some tribal Wahhabi liberals in one other Gulf GCC state (Hint: it is not Oman or Qatar or the UAE). As for the wider Arab world, nobody is buying it except for the Salafis whom I correctly consider to be a fifth column for the princes.

This week, the Saudi king, or maybe rather his palace minions, surprised General Al Sisi after his election victory (he got 97% of those who bothered to vote) by sending him a public congratulatory message that is also a combination road map and twenty-five year plan for Egypt. Basically telling him to keep  good thing going. It was a backhanded congratulatory message: basically the old king, or his minions, told Al Sisi and the Egyptians what to do. In other words, the oil potentate effectively punked Generalissimo Field Marshal President Al Sisi. Talk about interference in the internal affairs of another sovereign country.
The princes are also trying to pressure the
Qatari potentates into surrendering by abandoning their support for the
Muslim Brotherhood. Failing that, the King’s message also threatens to ‘excommunicate’ and expel Qatar from the GCC synods.


On the brighter side, the king called for a conference of all donor states to Egypt, presumably to drown the country with oil money, provided it continues to toe the Saudi line. As a down payment, 20 thousands heads of cattle arrived in Alexandria, with 80 thousand more to follow, gifts from the UAE rulers. The sheep and cows did not originate in the United Arab Emirates, but like almost everyone else in that country they were imported from elsewhere.
Cheers
mhg

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Human Right, Religion, Saudi Arabia, United Nations International Organizations

Human Rights Humor: Saudi Arabia, Russia, Norway, and the UN………

      

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“At a session of the United Nations’ Universal Periodic Review — where a selection of member states have their performance on human rights assessed — Norway’s record came under the microscope. The conspicuous critics at this Geneva meeting? Russia and Saudi Arabia, members of the United Nations’ 47-nation Human Rights Council and well-known paragons of global norms and freedoms, of course.
Representatives from Saudi Arabia accused Norway of endangering the religious rights of Muslims in the country. …………… Saudi Arabia, of course, is notorious for its draconian laws that, among other harsh measures, ban women from driving, curb the religious expression of non-Muslim non-Wahhabi minorities…..…….”

I must have been away to
another planet. Now, coming back to Earth, I find that Saudi
Arabia is angry at Norway for lack of religious tolerance and freedom. During
my absence on that other faraway planet the Wahhabi kingdom must have allowed
the establishment of churches and temples and synagogues. The religious police
must have stopped raiding private homes and arresting people for decorating
their own private Christmas trees. They must have stopped crucifying and
beheading people for apostasy. Freedom of speech and religion must have become
enshrined in constitutional amendments within a Saudi Wahhabi Bill of Rights.
Wait a minute, there is no Saudi constitution………. 

It is the Universal Law of Petroleum that drives all this Saudi drivel. As for Mr. Putin, that former
KGB man could not give a fig about religion…….

Cheers
mhg

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Arab Revolutions, Egypt, Finance, GCC, Saudi Arabia

Wahhabi Republic? Saudi Aid Postponed Until After Sisi Victory is Assured…….

      

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An Egyptian daily newspaper quotes a high government official that Saudi Arabia has postponed delivery of any new aid to Egypt until after the results of the coming presidential elections are ‘known’. The official is quoted that a ‘huge’ financial aid package will be announced after the victory of Generalisimo Field Marshal Al Sisi is assured (just in case there is any doubt about the kind of election they are staging in Egypt). This new aid is promised to surpass all previous aid packages to Egypt………



The Saudis are sending a clear message: the princes will put money into Egypt as long as the Egyptian people are obedient and elect the ‘Saudi’ choice for president. This is quite a bold shift: it is a public downgrading of Egypt’s status and a new Wahhabi chain around the Egyptian neck. Gamal Abdel Nasser is probably having another heart attack wherever he is now. Even Anwar Sadat and King Farouk are shaking in the grave. Even under Mr. Mubarak the Saudis did not so openly and boldly interfere in the fake elections he held every few years.

The official did not explain what guarantees Egyptian voters will have that the Saudi aid will be forthcoming if when Sisi wins. When asked if the Egyptians can dump Sisi if the Saudi money is not up to what was promised the official may have smirked and said: “They can try, but we can’t guarantee anything”.

Sisi, for his part, has been trying on his coming role as president. He is going around wearing a civilian suite and talking to himself in the mirror, repeating “yes we can, yes I can”. Yet what would he do in the improbable and impossible case that he loses and pigs start flying? Will he continue wearing the suit? Will he show up at the barracks wearing military garb and order a new military coup? Will they obey him? The answer is: yes, yes, yes. Which in Spanish would be Si Si Si.

Cheers
mhg

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Culture, Egypt, France, Saudi Arabia, UAE

French Connections: Egyptian Bureaucrat is Excited about King Abdullah Winning Shaikh Zayed Prize …………

      

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Egyptian media report that Shaikh Doctor Mohammed Mukhtar Gom’a, Egyptian minister of Islamic Awqaf seems excited about the new prize won by the Saudi King Abdullah. He has congratulated his Majesty King Abdullah Bin Abdulaziz, Servant of the Two Holy Shrines, for winning the Shaikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahayan Prize and being picked as the Cultural Personality of our Universe, via Abu Dhabi.

 

The minister, was fresh from a visit to an event in Paris about Mecca. He is quoted that he has personally told French president Francois Hollande, in Paris, that Egypt shall continue on the road to cultural exchange and that Egypt fully supports the Saudi war on the triple threats of terrorism, democracy, and free speech. No doubt M. Hollande was ecstatic to hear that, perhaps he was inspired, and who knows what he did after that: after all, he is in Paris which is neither Cairo nor Riyadh. If you get my drift.
The Shaikh Doctor said his position is reciprocation for the strong Saudi support for Egypt in all international forums and fora and wherever else the wise king deems appropriate. (He did not, however, add that his position would be different otherwise).
 
Shaikh Doctor Gom’a did not mention if he ever met and exchanged views on culture, terrorism, and weapons deals with the top French first ladies of recent times: Segolyne Royal, Valerie Trierweiler, or Julie Gayet.
I almost forgot to mention the real biggie (politically speaking): Marine Le Pen…….

Cheers
mhg

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Saudi Arabia

A New Saudi Foreign Minister? Forty More Years, Forty More Years………

      

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“Opposition sources in Saudi Arabia say that the country’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Saud Al-Faisal will be removed from his post, following the removal of the Saudi spy chief Prince Bandar bin Sultan. The sources said that the ouster of Faisal would constitute the second step of changes at the ruling family’s key positions. A possible scenario could be that Faisal submits his resignation in the coming days, the sources also said. Having held the position since 1975, Faisal is regarded as the world’s longest serving foreign minister. The decision to remove Faisal has reportedly been delayed due to a lack of suitable candidate for the post. One of Saudi King Abdullah’s sons is said to be among the major candidates for the position……………..”

This report is from Iran’s Press TV, so it pays to take it with a grain of salt. Yet there is at least a grain of truth in it. Other media have also reported the prince ailing in recent years, and he looks it. It is not clear how much of his recent sour disposition is a result of failures in Syria, Iraq, and Lebanon.

In the United States when an incumbent president runs for reelection, his supporters often chant: “Four more years, four more years”. This does not wash with Saudi princes who last in office for decades. The job is their turf; part of their inheritance. Prince Saudi Al Faisal has been at the job for about forty years, and he is reported to be ailing. Anyone who wants him to continue might have to chant: “forty more years, forty more years”. Which sounds absurd for a man in his seventies. The king has already appointed one of his sons as a deputy foreign minister. 

Arab Counterrevoltion, Arab Politics, Egypt, Qatar, Saudi Arabia

Watermelon Countries: Al Sisi and Al Saud in a Partnership Made in Heaven……

      

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“The Bahraini Arabic language newspaper al-Wasat reported on Wednesday Apr. 9 that a Cairo court began to consider a case brought by an Egyptian lawyer against Qatar accusing it of being soft on terrorism. The “terrorism” charge is of course a euphemism for supporting the Muslim Brotherhood, which Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have designated a “terrorist” organisation and are vowed to dismantle. The two new partners and the UAE also loathe Qatar for hosting and funding Al-Jazeera satellite TV. The continued incarceration of the Al-Jazeera journalists and dozens of other journalists on trumped up charges is no coincidence. The court case is symptomatic of the current Saudi-Egyptian relationship in their counter-revolution against the 2011 pro-democracy upheavals………….The pro-autocracy partnership between the Egyptian military junta and the Saudi ruling family goes beyond their opposition to the Muslim Brotherhood and the perceived threat of terrorism. It emanates from the autocrats’ visceral opposition to democracy and human rights, including minority and women’s rights.…………… According to media and Human Rights Watch reports, at least 15,000 secular and Islamist activists are currently being held in Egyptian prisons, without having been charged or convicted…………….”

Egypt is rapidly going back to pre-2011. Soon it will be more Mubarakist than it was even under Mubarak: at least they could joke about Mubarak in private. Generalisimo Al Sisi is not president yet, he is not even a minister anymore, he is allegedly just a private citizen candidate. But mocking him can land you in prison. Now they are going back to the absurd court cases brought by lawyers with political leanings against citizens and against foreign countries they disagree with. Even the country’s institutions are back to the old habit of bending backward, or maybe bending forward, to accommodate the Arab potentates across the Red Sea. Will anybody dare bring a lawsuit against the military for overthrowing an elected government and for killing unarmed civilians? Will anybody sue the foreign princes for arresting Egyptian citizens on trumped-up charges and not bringing them to trial? Will any of the feloul courts hear such cases? Maybe on a day when pigs start flying over Egypt.

Counter-Revolutionary Egypt is now well on its way to becoming a certified Watermelon Country (ديرة بطيخ), as we say back home on the Gulf. As a (ديرة بطيخ), certified by the Secretary General of the Gulf GCC, himself a certified watermelon bureaucrat, it is qualified to apply for membership. But that can wait until Generalisimo Field Marshal Al Sisi starts his thirty years in power.
Cheers
mhg

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Saudi Arabia

Saudi King Sacks Prince Bandar Again: Yousef Who?………

      

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“Saudi Arabia has replaced intelligence chief Prince Bandar bin Sultan, the kingdom’s pointman on the Syrian conflict, “at his own request”, official news agency SPA announced Tuesday. In a royal decree, the powerful official was “exempted… from his position at his own request” and replaced by his deputy, Yousef al-Idrissi………………..”

So much for Bandar’s much publicized return and what anonymous high officials claimed that he will resume work on his “Syria” portfolio. The anonymous officials almost certainly were Bandar partisans and allies. The old king and his palace minions had to act quickly, and sack him publicly so there will be no doubt this time. This time there will be no more returns, the Jack in the Box, will not pop out again. This chapter of Al Saud family intrigue is apparently closed. 

Yousef al-Idrissi? Never heard of him. Can this be him? Or maybe this one here? Take your pick, he gotta be one of these dudes here. He is almost certainly a bench-warmer, keeping the seat until the right prince is appointed.
Cheers
mhg

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Arabian Peninsula, GCC, Morocco, Saudi Arabia

Is Prince Bandar Really Back? The Road from Morocco to Riyadh……..

      

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“Saudi Prince Bandar bin Sultan will return to the kingdom within days after spending around two months abroad for surgery and retake his position as intelligence chief, including control of the Syrian dossier, said Saudi security officials late Sunday. The Saudi officials said that during Prince Bandar’s absence, Saudi Interior Minister Mohammed bin Nayef was put in charge of the Syrian file and of the intelligence agency. The three security officials said the 65 year-old prince was seeking medical attention in the U.S. and resting in Morocco after surgery on his shoulder. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media……… The officials said that Bandar held a number of official meetings while in Morocco, including with Saudi deputy defense minister Salman bin Sultan. The deputy defense minister briefed Bandar on his official visits to Washington and Paris last month, they added, also saying that Bandar met Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan while in Marrakech……………..”

Bandar is back in from the cold! Is Bandar back yet once again? That would make a good title for a Saudi film, except that there are no theaters to show it over there; verboten. This is another chapter in the saga of Bandar Bin Sultan Bin Abdulaziz Al Saud. He has become like a Saudi Jack in the Box, in and out, and back in. But all this is also part of the continuing Saudi turf war and jockeying for position among the various competing princes.
Something about Morocco and Saudi princes (or is it all Gulf potentates now)? Older Saudi princes usually go there after serious surgery in the West, they go to Morocco to recuperate or die or both. Sometimes they recuperate before returning home and dying quickly. Younger ones go there to enjoy the kind of relaxed life they deny their own peoples at home. Now apparently other princes and shaikhs from the among the Persian Gulf’s ruling families, and even many of their oligarchy allies among the merchant classes, have discovered the joy or R&R in Morocco. No wonder the Saudi King tried to add that kingdom to the Gulf GCC: he associates it with good times, sort of.
Oddly, or maybe not so oddly, it is all a stag party in Old Maroc. Apparently all princes, but no princesses. The royal chicks still prefer the perfumed feminine shopping galleries of Europe to blow their oil revenues.

Here is a list of just a few of many posts on this topic:

Saudi Prince Bandar Joins Waldo: But Where Are They?

Bandar Goes to Washington, May Seek Syrian Presidency

Syria’s Opposition Fractures More: General Idriss Refuses to be Fired, About Prince Bandar

Bribe, Baby, Bribe: the United Kingdom of Arabia and BAE Systems

Lockerbie in Perspective: Retaliations and “Bribe, Britannia, and Rule the Trade”

Saudis to Bandar: Baby Come Back, Baggage and All

Cheers
mhg

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Arab Politics, Saudi Arabia

Turki of Arabia: A ‘Prince About Town’ Comfortable in his Family Skin………

      

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“Having been head of Saudi Arabia’s General Intelligence Directorate (GID) for 24 years – stepping down in 2001 just 10 days before the 9/11 attacks – Turki is probably the most experienced spy on the planet. Since then he has been Saudi Arabia’s ambassador to the UK and Ireland and then to the United States. Now he runs a think-tank in Riyadh, the King Faisal Centre for Research and Islamic Studies, and travels the world giving lectures and meeting friends. It sounds like a nice life, I say. “For me it’s heaven on earth,” he replies. High quality global journalism requires investment. A scion of Saudi Arabia’s royal family, the House of Saud, Turki is the youngest son of King Faisal, who was assassinated in 1975. Turki’s brother, Saud al-Faisal, is foreign minister, and cousins and brothers dominate the upper echelons of the government………………”

It says: “cousins and brothers dominate the upper echelons of the government”. I got news for this writer: they own the upper echelons of the government. They also own the middle echelons and the lower echelons. They own every echelon. They own the whole fucking government. They own the whole blighted country and everything on it. Why else did you think the whole country is named after the family?
 
P.S.: I have always thought Turki was a witty prince, witty for a Saudi prince. The rest are quite ‘witless’. I mean even Al-Waleed Bin Talal who keeps insisting his wealth is bigger than we think is not so witty. Actually Al Waleed is quite witless, he shows such a lack of a sense of humor that he makes some of the mullahs look like stand-up comedians in comparison.

Cheers
mhg

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Arab Politics, Iraq, Islam, Media, Muslims, Saudi Arabia

Canned Media and Self-Appointed Leaders of World Muslims, Rome in Najaf……..

      

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“The visit was initially designed to mend fences with the Saudis, who claim leadership of the Sunni Arab world and, like other Gulf states, are upset about the thaw between Washington and Shiite Iran. The president hopes to smooth relations with one of America’s oldest allies in the Middle East and to better explain his Iran diplomacy to Riyadh and its neighbors. But now there are many new and – surprisingly, for the ultraconservative region – even young power players in the Gulf. And enmities between the kingdoms, emirates and sheikdoms are bubbling to the surface while their once fairly cohesive regional alliance, the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), is unraveling………… ut, as a Western diplomat who often visits Riyadh and other Gulf capitals told me, the Saudis, like the Qataris, consider Assad an Iranian puppet and Iran remains their chief enemy…………….”

Interesting how Western media, especially U.S. media, have bought into this Saudi propaganda bit about them being leaders of the Sunni world. Often they claim they are the leaders of the whole world Sunnis, not just Arab Sunnis. And like the mindless zombies the ‘canned’ media often tend to be, they insist on repeating it. They get this legend from the vast Saudi media and from some other Gulf media that cater to them. Ask any Sunni Arab from Amman through Cairo and Tunisia to Morocco if they consider the Al Saud princes their leaders. You would get a big laugh, at best; maybe something worse. What they are is the absolute unchallenged ruling family of the world’s Wahhabis (and Salafis).

FYI: Similarly, Saudi media often also hints (occasionally openly claims) that Shi’as give allegiance to Ayatollah Khamenei of Iran. Which is a deliberate untruth: he
is not the leader of world Shi’as, in either a religious or especially in a political sense. Not that he claims to be (well, not openly anyway). Almost certainly the religious authority is someone in Najaf, Iraq rather than in Iran. Rome is in Najaf not in Tehran or Qom.



As for Mr. Obama’s coming visit to Riyadh, I have already posted on it once before when I mentioned the 1912 Olympics, King of Sweden, and American Gold Medal winner Jim Thorpe. Thorpe was born in Prague (Oklahoma not Czech), and became a versatile athlete. He famously told the King of Sweden who hung the gold medals around his neck and praised him as the greatest athlete in the world: “Thanks, King“. Very likely what he said was: “Gee, thanks King“.