Category: Saudi Arabia

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia — Prince Mohammed bin Nayef, the interior minister of Saudi Arabia , arrived at a meeting of security chiefs from across the Arab world in Marrakesh, Morocco, last March to deliver a call to arms: It was time, he declared, for a concerted effort to eradicate the Muslim Brotherhood, according to two Arab officials briefed on the meeting. Several were stunned at his audacity. Brotherhood-style Islamists are an accepted part of politics in much of the Arab world, including Tunisia, Libya, Jordan, Kuwait, Bahrain and Morocco itself, to say nothing of their warm welcome in Qatar, said the officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity so as not to anger the powerful Saudi prince. But this toughness toward perceived enemies to his family’s dynasty is characteristic of Mr. Bin Nayef, a central player in the often opaque leadership of the kingdom who was named last […]

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New Saudi King Salman is taking the throne amid an unprecedented period of instability and terrorist threats. (Reuters) ARAR, Saudi Arabia — At 3 a.m. on a cold desert night earlier this month, four Islamic State militants carrying guns, grenades and cash slipped into Saudi Arabia here through a hole in the new heavy fencing that separates this country from Iraq. They were immediately spotted by Saudi border guards in a state-of-the-art control room 35 miles away, appearing first as blips on radar, then as ghostly white figures on night-vision cameras scanning the desolate desert landscape. Heavily armed troops were dispatched to confront them. When the battle ended, the four intruders — all Saudi citizens — and three Saudi soldiers were dead, including the local base commander, who was killed when a militant pretending to surrender detonated a suicide vest. “Thanks to God and our new systems, we are ready […]

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Saudi Arabia won’t balance global crude markets on its own even as prices fall to levels that are “too low for everybody” and threaten investment needed to meet long-term demand, the head of Saudi Arabian Oil Co. said. Saudi Arabia, the world’s biggest oil exporter, has the most spare capacity in OPEC and has historically played the role of swing producer, cutting its output to raise prices and pumping more to lower them. Oil prices have dropped 55 percent in the past year as rising production from the U.S. and Russia helped global output exceed demand. “Supply and demand and the rules of economics will govern. It will take time for the current glut to be removed,” Chief Executive Officer Khalid Al-Falih said at a conference in Riyadh. “Saudi Arabia will not singlehandedly balance the market in a downturn,” he said, reiterating government policy. The Organization of Petroleum Exporting […]

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A flame from a Saudi Aramco oil installation known as “Pump 3” burns in the desert near the oil-rich area of Khouris not far from the capital, Riyadh. (Marwan Naamani/AFP/Getty Images) As the ruler of a country that sits atop 300 billion barrels of oil, Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah was no fan of proposals to limit the burning of fossil fuels. During most of his reign, the king’s chief envoy to climate talks was a ­global-warming skeptic who boasted of his success at scuttling climate treaties . But it was in the monarch’s final months that Saudi officials hit upon a more effective way to knock the clean-energy movement off its tracks: cheap gas. Since Abdullah’s death last week, Saudi officials have recommitted themselves to recent policies that have helped drive oil prices to their lowest levels in a decade. The kingdom’s efforts to manipulate oil markets are wreaking havoc […]

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As the world’s oil producers wring their hands over a global glut that’s pushing down prices, evidence is mounting that Saudi Arabia is more concerned about shrinking demand. The world’s largest exporter has chosen not to cut production, counting instead on lower prices to stimulate consumption, said Mohammad Al Sabban, an adviser to Saudi Arabia’s petroleum minister from 1988 to 2013. The Saudis are keeping an eye on investments in fuel efficiency and renewable energy, according to Francisco Blanch, Bank of America Corp.’s head of global commodity research. “Nobody should imagine the world will continue to demand oil as long as you have it in your fields,” Al Sabban said in an interview. “We need to prepare ourselves for that stage.” The U.S. shale revolution showed that forecasts of dwindling world oil supply were premature. It also gave credence to the old adage, attributed to a Saudi oil minister […]

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CAIRO — The rulers of Saudi Arabia trembled when the Arab Spring revolts broke out four years ago. But far from undermining the Saudi dynasty, the ensuing chaos across the region appears instead to have lifted the monarchy to unrivaled power and influence. As a new king assumes the throne in Riyadh, the stability-first authoritarianism that the Saudis have long favored is resurgent from Tunis to Cairo to Manama. The election-minded Islamists that the Saudis once feared are on the run. Prince Mohammed bin Nayef, the interior minister who spearheaded the push against them, was rewarded last week with his elevation to deputy crown prince, the first in his generation in the line of succession. The catch, analysts and diplomats say, is that the ascendance of the Saudis is largely a byproduct of the feebleness or near-collapse of so many of the states around them, including Iraq, Egypt, Syria, […]

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Saudi Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi is likely to stay in his position until current oil-market turbulence subsides, according to Saudi and Persian Gulf oil officials familiar with the matter—with Riyadh eager to signal stability and consistency in its oil policy following the death of King Abdullah. After Abdullah’s death early Friday, oil prices shot higher before settling back down, as traders weighed whether the newly installed King Salman might alter oil policy for the world’s largest crude exporter. King Salman early Friday issued a royal decree retaining all of the kingdom’s current ministers, according to the official Saudi Press Agency. Appearing on Saudi national television, the new king said he would maintain the policies of his predecessor. That, Saudi and Gulf officials said, includes oil policy and retaining Mr. Naimi. King Salman “realizes how important Naimi is, and how the oil market respects him,” according to one Saudi official. […]

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WASHINGTON — Almost a decade ago, an Arab diplomat famously likened the relationship between the United States and Saudi Arabia to a Catholic marriage “where you can have no divorce.” But there can be estrangement. As the Obama administration begins the arduous task of assessing the newly reconstituted House of Saud after the death of King Abdullah on Friday, the relationship between the United States and its most important Arab ally, one fostered with great care and attention to detail over the years, is at a critical and tumultuous point. Saudi Arabia’s new king, Salman , 79, inherits both the policies put in place by the more assertive brother he is succeeding and the conflicts that in recent years have characterized relations with Washington. On issues from Iran to the Arab Spring, from Syria to domestic issues within Saudi Arabia like the recent flogging of a journalist , there […]

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Saudi Arabia’s then-Deputy Interior Minister Prince Mohammed bin Nayef listens to the national anthem at a military parade in this Oct. 20, 2012, file photo. Saudi Arabia’s new King Salman appointed Mohammed as deputy crown prince. (Amr Abdallah Dalsh/Reuters) RIYADH, Saudi Arabia — In August 2009, a young Saudi militant with ties to al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula sent word to Prince Mohammed bin Nayef, then Saudi Arabia’s counterterrorism chief, that he wanted to turn himself in. Mohammed sent his private plane to pick the man up, and he was taken to the prince’s home in the port city of Jiddah. But once the militant got within a few feet of Mohammed, he detonated a bomb that he was carrying in a body cavity. The explosion blew the attacker apart and lightly injured Mohammed, who has survived at least three other assassination attempts. “It was a mistake,” Mohammed acknowledged […]

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RIYADH (Reuters) – Saudi Arabia will bury King Abdullah in an unmarked grave on Friday, hours after it moved to ensure a smooth transition by appointing a new king and crown prince to quell fears of dynastic instability at a time of regional turmoil. Abdullah’s successor, King Salman, now takes over as the ultimate authority in a country that faces unprecedented tumult in the region and difficult long-term domestic challenges compounded by the plunging price of oil. Salman must navigate a white-hot rivalry with Shi’ite Muslim power Iran playing out in Iraq, Syria, Yemen, Lebanon and Bahrain, open conflict in two neighboring states, a threat from Islamist militants and bumpy relations with the United States. Reputedly pragmatic and adept at managing the delicate balance of clerical, tribal, royal and Western interests that factor into Saudi policy making, Salman appears unlikely to change the kingdom’s approach to foreign affairs or […]

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