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Saudi expulsions leave broken dreams in Africa and Asia

More than a million people from across the world – managers, maids, accountants and laborers – have left Saudi Arabia since March, after years or even decades working in the Gulf Arab state, which sustains its own citizens with oil revenues. Around 120,000 Ethiopians have been deported in the past month alone as part of a visa crackdown aimed at pushing more Saudis into employment to ensure future political and economic stability. "We were kicked out of our homes and our jobs," said Mohamed Ahmed, 27, waiting with thousands of other Ethiopians at a transit centre behind Addis Ababa’s Bole Airport after disembarking with a few bags from Saudi Arabian Airlines jets. Like many others, Ahmed, who spent five years in Saudi Arabia after crossing the Red Sea in a fishing boat and trekking through turbulent Yemen, had to leave at short notice. "We left […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Saudi Royal Blasts U.S.'s Mideast Policy

A leading Saudi prince demanded a place for his country at talks with Iran, assailing the Obama administration for working behind Riyadh’s back and panning other recent U.S. steps in the Middle East. Prince Turki al-Faisal, an Arab royal and a brother of Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal, said Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states were stunned by the secret American-Iranian diplomacy that led to the breakthrough deal between Iran and other world powers last month. His comments in an interview with The Wall Street Journal, rare in their bluntness, came on the sidelines of a security conference here at which he publicly blistered the U.S. for its role in Syria and in the region. The Arab royal said the failure by Washington and the United Nations to take decisive steps to end the violence in Syria—which has claimed over 130,000 lives—bordered on "criminal negligence." Last week, the State Department […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Saudi Royal Blasts U.S.’s Mideast Policy

A leading Saudi prince demanded a place for his country at talks with Iran, assailing the Obama administration for working behind Riyadh’s back and panning other recent U.S. steps in the Middle East. Prince Turki al-Faisal, an Arab royal and a brother of Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal, said Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states were stunned by the secret American-Iranian diplomacy that led to the breakthrough deal between Iran and other world powers last month. His comments in an interview with The Wall Street Journal, rare in their bluntness, came on the sidelines of a security conference here at which he publicly blistered the U.S. for its role in Syria and in the region. The Arab royal said the failure by Washington and the United Nations to take decisive steps to end the violence in Syria—which has claimed over 130,000 lives—bordered on "criminal negligence." Last week, the State Department […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Saudi Prince Criticizes Obama Administration, Citing Indecision in Mideast

An influential Saudi prince blasted the Obama administration on Sunday for what he called indecision and a loss of credibility with allies in the Middle East, saying that American efforts to secure a peace deal between Israelis and Palestinians would founder without a clear commitment from President Obama. “We’ve seen several red lines put forward by the president, which went along and became pinkish as time grew, and eventually ended up completely white,” said Prince Turki al-Faisal, the former intelligence chief of Saudi Arabia. “When that kind of assurance comes from a leader of a country like the United States, we expect him to stand by it.” He added, “There is an issue of confidence.” Mr. Obama has his problems, the prince said, but when a country has strong allies, “you should be able to give them the assurance that what you say is going to be […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Saudis Shy Away from Unilateral Oil Output Cut

Saudi Arabia won’t unilaterally cut oil production as it and fellow OPEC members discuss how to cope with a possible increase in global crude output, said people familiar with the matter. This month, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, a group of some of the world’s largest oil producers, said it would keep its output ceiling unchanged. But OPEC officials have been publicly and privately jostling over whether the group might have to throttle back—should global oil output rise significantly and threaten to weaken prices—and how to divvy up any cuts among members. For the past two years, Saudi Arabia has essentially promised to steady markets no matter what fractious OPEC delegates decide. Saudi ministers walked out of an OPEC meeting in 2011 after members failed to agree to raise the group’s collective output to help make up for lost global output owing to civil war in Libya. […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Saudi call for Gulf Arab union faces hurdles at summit

Saudi Arabia’s dream of binding the Gulf Arab states into a union will get a sceptical hearing at a summit this week, with differences over Iran, Egypt and Syria demonstrating that the Gulf’s absolute monarchs do not all speak with one voice. Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah proposed two years ago for a stronger union with Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, Oman and the United Arab Emeriates. The plan is expected to be one of the main topics on Tuesday when the leaders of the Gulf Cooperation Council hold their annual meeting in Kuwait. But just days before the leaders were due to arrive, Oman dismissed the proposal with unusual directness in a region […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Hezbollah chief: Saudis behind embassy bombings

The leader of Lebanon’s militant Hezbollah group has accused Saudi Arabia of being behind last month’s two suicide bombings that targeted the Iranian Embassy in Beirut. Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah’s comments mark the first time Hezbollah has openly accused the kingdom, and marks a sharp escalation in the Shiite Muslim group’s rhetoric. An al-Qaida linked group has claimed responsibility for the Nov. 19 attack that killed 23 people, saying it was in response to Hezbollah and Iran’s involvement in Syria. Nasrallah said the claim was credible but accused Saudi intelligence of providing backing and support. He also said Saudi intelligence was behind daily terrorist attacks in Iraq. Nasrallah spoke in an interview Tuesday with Lebanon’s private OTV network. © 2013 The Associated Press . All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Learn more about our Privacy Policy and Terms […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Analysis: Saudis have few options as they push tougher foreign policy

Saudi Arabia seems to have few viable options for pursuing a more independent and forthright foreign policy, despite its deep unease about the West’s tentative rapprochement with Iran. Upset with the United States, senior Saudis have hinted at a range of possibilities, from building strategic relations with other world powers to pushing a tougher line against Iranian allies in the Arab world and, if world powers fail to foil Tehran’s nuclear ambitions, even seeking its own atomic bomb. But alternative powers are hard even to contemplate for a nation that has been a staunch U.S. ally for decades. Russia is on the opposite side to Riyadh over the Syrian war and China’s military clout remains modest compared with the United States’. Robert Jordan, U.S. ambassador to Riyadh from 2001-03, said there would be limits to any Saudi alliances with other powers. "There is no country in […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Israel, Gulf states and many U.S. lawmakers share deep unease about Iran nuclear deal

The signing of a short-term nuclear accord between Iran and six world powers on Sunday left ardent critics of the Islamic republic — most vocally the Israeli government and many U.S. lawmakers — deeply worried that the Obama administration and its partners were making a historic mistake. “Today the world has become a much more dangerous place, because the most dangerous regime in the world has taken a significant step toward attaining the most dangerous weapon in the world,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said. He vowed to spend the six months covered by the interim agreement pushing the White House and other allies for a long-term deal that not only curbs Iran’s current nuclear program but also dismantles the infrastructure that could allow it to make a nuclear device. In Congress, many Republicans and some influential Democrats echoed Israeli concerns that the deal freezes Iran’s uranium […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Iran sanctions deal to unleash oil supply but Saudi wild card looms

Khaled al Otaiby, an official of the Saudi oil company Aramco watches progress at a rig at the al-Howta oil field near Howta, Saudi Arabia The bank said falling energy prices could mark the death of the commodity supercycle, already struggling as China shifts to a new phase of “smart urbanisation”. Alastair Newton from Nomura said the “geopolitical risk” premium in the oil price should fall but there will be no immediate softening of the oil embargo, adding that talks could still break down over Iran’s heavy water reactor at Arak. America’s rapprochement with Tehran is a dramatic upset in the region’s alliance system at a time when Shia Muslims led by Iran are locked in an epic struggle for Mid-East dominance with a Saudi-led bloc of Sunni regimes. Chris Skrebowski, editor of Petroleum Review, said the great unknown is how Saudi Arabia will react to a move deemed […]

Posted On : Published By : ASPO-USA