SAUDIS TURNING THEIR BACKS ON U.S. VARSITIES
"As a result of the difficulties Saudi students face in the United States after September 11 attacks... ...'The majority of them who used to study in the United States and the United Kingdom now go for Asian universities, especially Malaysia...'" Complete report… 

SAUDIS TEST LIMITS OF FREEDOM
"...the political climate in Saudi Arabia is changing, and  actual censorship is being replaced by self-censorship…"  Complete report…

SAUDI TEAM'S IRAQ VISIT DUBBED A GRAND SUCCESS
"A Saudi trade delegation's recent landmark visit to Iraq was described as a 'grand success'… …Iraq and Saudi Arabia, whose diplomatic relations have been cut since the 1991 Gulf war over Kuwait, initiated a rapprochement during an Arab summit in Beirut last March…"  [Expired Link]

CONSULTATIVE AGENCY FOR WATER TO BE ESTABLISHED
"Minister of Water Dr. Ghazi Al-Qusaibi has announced the establishment of a Consultative Agency for Water. The Agency, whose mandate is to assist the Ministry of Water in technical aspects of its mission, will be headed by the water minister, and have as members two representatives from each of the university research centers that focus on water affairs, plus one representative from the King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology (KACST)."  Source: Saudi Embassy online, Nov. 5, 2002 [Expired Link]

25% SAUDIS ARE DIABETIC, NEW STATISTICS REVEAL
"The number of diabetics in the Kingdom is growing alarmingly, with four million people — or 25 percent of the population — already suffering from the debilitating disease…"  [Expired Link] 

LABOR MINISTRY GIVEN SIX MONTHS TO TAKE CHARGE OF FOREIGN RECRUITMENT
"Crown Prince Abdullah, deputy premier and commander of the National Guard, has approved a grace period of six months for shifting the responsibility of foreign labor recruitment from the Interior Ministry to the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs…"  [Expired Link]

CONTINUATION OF NEGOTIATIONS ON NATURAL GAS DRILLING CONCESSIONS
Al-Watan newspaper quoted Oil Minister Ali a-Nu'aymi who said in late October 2002 that Saudi Arabia is negotiating with a Russian oil company for the rights to drill for natural gas in the event that negotiations fail with seven Western oil companies. Exxon-Mobil, Royal Dutch Shell, and British Petroleum (BP) have been negotiating with the Saudi government since early 2001 over the rights to natural gas exploration in three gas fields with estimated reserves of 20 trillion cubic meters. Source:  IPR Strategic Business Information Database, Nov 12, 2002 [Expired Link]

INAUGURATION OF MEDICAL CENTER FOR WOMEN IN RIYADH
Al-Watan newspaper reported on the inauguration of the first stage of the Prince Sultan bin Abdul Aziz Medical Center for Women in Riyadh. Participating in the ceremony held in late October 2002 were Crown Prince Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz; Secretary General of the Sultan bin Abdul Aziz Charity Prince Feisal bin Sultan bin Abdul Aziz, who is also Deputy Prime Minister of Saudi Arabia; and General Manager of the Charity Dr. Rashid Abu al-Khail. The new Medical Center is located in northern Riyadh, and the first stage includes 71 in-patient hospital beds and has 800 employees including medical staff. It is operated with the cooperation of an American medical organization.  Source:  IPR Strategic Business Information Database, Nov 12, 2002 [Expired Link]

WORLD 'MOVING CLOSER TO CLASH OF CIVILIZATIONS'
Participants in an international symposium here this week stressed that the world has moved closer towards radicalization and "clash of civilizations" after September 11, but at the same time witnessed serious calls for dialogue between nations.  Intellectuals and experts from Germany, France, Switzerland, Britain, Japan, Saudi Arabia and Yemen met in a three-day symposium to discuss how September 11 has led the Islamic opposition to the extreme in resisting the authoritarian regimes and the Western hegemony..."  [Expired Link]

NEW MEASURES IN THE OFFING TO TACKLE DEBTS: SULTAN
"Saudi Arabia will soon announce new measures including taxation to tackle its staggering public debt problem, according to Prince Sultan, second deputy premier and minister of defense and aviation.  In an open dialogue with Shoura Council members recently, the prince said the new measures aimed at increasing revenues and reducing expenditures will be presented to the Shoura Council for endorsement..."  [Expired Link]

INAUGURATION OF NEW INDUSTRIAL PLANTS IN INDUSTRIAL AREAS OF YANBU'AND JUBAYL
A-Sharq Al-Awsat newspaper gave details of the inauguration ceremonies of new industrial plants in the industrial areas of Yanbu' and Jubayl cities, in the eastern part of the country, held in October 2002. The paper noted that the participants in the ceremonies included the Crown Prince, Abdullah bin Abd al-Aziz. The paper added that the total investment in these plants reached SR 35 billion, $9.33 billion and the paper quoted the Chairman of the Industrial Areas Authority, Prince Saud bin Abd Abdullah bin Thanayan al-Saud, who told the paper that 60,000 workers are employed in these two industrial areas and its production represents nearly 60% of the industrial
output of the country.  Source:  IPR Strategic Business Information Database, Nov 12, 2002 [Expired Link]

SPIRITED EXCHANGE MARKS FORTUNE GLOBAL FORUM
"...Dialogue was lively, if not passionate: Responding to a comment about increased democratization in Saudi Arabia, Lubna Suliman Olayan, CEO of the Saudi-based Olayan Financing Company, acknowledged: 'Improvements need to be done. But democracy defined by the US is not necessarily what we need in Saudi Arabia. Our version of 'democracy' has to come from within...'"  [Expired Link]

$20 BILLION INVESTMENTS NEEDED ANNUALLY
According to Al-Hayat newspaper (November 6, 2002), Saudi economists said that their country needs $20 billion worth of annual investments over the next 20 years. Saudi Arabia needs these investments to finance infrastructure and basic service projects. The local population grows by 3.8 percent, which is one of the highest growth rates in the world. This requires more and more infrastructure and basic services projects.  Source:  IPR Strategic Business Information Database, Nov 11, 2002 [Expired Link]

AL-RAYA: SAUDI MEDIA WAR AGAINST AL-JAZEERA
"…the Qatari daily al-Raya accused Saudi Arabia of running a "hidden war" against the Qatari satellite al-Jazeera TV station…"  Complete report…

BUSINESSWOMEN INVEST IN PROJECTS
A-Sharq Al-Awsat newspaper gave details of the involvement of local businesswomen in the funding of projects in the country. The paper quoted data on this subject, data which was published in mid-October 2002 by the Government Investment Agency. According to these publications businesswomen invested SR 700 million, equal to $186 million, in forty-three projects in the sectors of: industry - 20 projects, services - twenty-three projects. The paper also noted that Arab and also foreign women stand behind these investments, SR 38 million of these investments came from American women and SR 7 million from Palestinian women. Other investments came from Germany, Lebanon, Syria, Pakistan, Spain, and Canada, the paper added.  Source:  IPR Strategic Business Information Database, Nov 10, 2002  [Expired Link]

INCREASE IN STATE INCOME AND REDUCTION OF BUDGET DEFICIT
A-Sharq Al-Awsat newspaper quoted the Minister of Finance, Dr. Ibrahim al-Assaf, who said that the financial condition of Saudi Arabia in 2002 is better that previously estimated by financial experts. He estimated in that the budget deficit will diminish due to the growth in state income. He also said that the indicators for the first three-quarters of 2002 verify the above statement. The paper noted that he spoke at the Conference of the Finance Ministers of the Gulf States held in Riyadh in mid-October 2002.  Source:  IPR Strategic Business Information Database, Nov 10, 2002  [Expired Link]

IRAQ: 89 SAUDI COMPANIES REGISTERED
According to Al-Watan newspaper (November 5, 2002), the Iraqi government accomplished registering 89 Saudi companies in Iraq, after excluding these companies from some of the conditions imposed on foreign companies, and which last 4-5 months. These Saudi companies, of which 45 trading companies and 44 are manufacturing companies, have an opportunity to bid for all tenders in Iraq. As a result, the number of the registered Saudi enterprises in Iraq grew to 130 companies.  Source:  IPR Strategic Business Information Database, Nov 7, 2002  [Expired Link]

PROHIBITION OF FOREIGN CITIZENS TO DRIVE TAXIS
Al-Watan newspaper printed a notice published in late October 2002 by a local news agency announcing that it was forbidden for foreign citizens to operate taxis in the country. Crown Prince Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz directed the Interior Ministry to implement these new guidelines on this matter; giving the Interior Ministry six months to implement the decision. The paper noted that, unofficially, there are 50,000 taxis operating in the country, most of whose drivers are foreign nationals from Asia. The population of Saudi Arabia is 22 million, with 6-7 million foreign nationals. The unemployment rate is 20% among men and 10% among women.  Source:  IPR Strategic Business Information Database, Nov 12, 2002  [Expired Link]

SAUDI ARABIA AND THE POLITICS OF PETROLEUM
CNN INTERNATIONAL - "Q&A WITH ZAIN VERJEE"
November 11, 2002 Monday

GUESTS: Abdullah Bin Faisal Bin Turki Al-Saud, Youssef Ibrahim, Edward Morse
BYLINE: Jim Clancy, Zain Verjee

BODY:
JIM CLANCY, CNN ANCHOR: Saudi Arabia awash in oil, the very lifeblood of its
(UNINTELLIGIBLE).

ZAIN VERJEE, CNN ANCHOR: As the world prepares for possible conflict with
Iraq, what's the outlook for Saudi Arabia?

CLANCY: It's been a dozen years since Saudi Arabia was an integral part of the Persian Gulf War. Now the House of Saud is vacillating, sending mixed signals on just how much cooperation Washington can expect if it comes to a fight.

VERJEE: What pressures are on the kingdom now? Where are its loyalties? And what economics are at play? CLANCY: On this edition of Q&A, Saudi Arabia and the politics of petroleum.

And welcome once again to Q&A.

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, pressured from outside to support a new buildup against Iraq, pressured from within to maintain its distance.

VERJEE: As the world waits to hear Iraq's response, some experts say that it's Saudi Arabia that has the most to win or lose in any conflict. That, they say, is because much of the politics in the conflict are the politics of oil.

CLANCY: Now, Iraq is an economic rival to Saudi Arabia. It too has vast oil reserves, and the outcome of any military action with Iraq could not only affect Saudi Arabia, but also the global economy.

Joining us to talk a little bit about all of this.

VERJEE: Is his highness, Prince Abdullah Bin Faisal Bin Turki Al- Saud; as governor of the Saudi Arabian General Investment Authority, he recommends economic policy.

Welcome to the show.

ABDULLAH BIN TURKI AL-SAUD, S. ARABIAN INVESTMENT AUTHORITY: Thank you.

CLANCY: All right. Very good to have you with us, sir. And let's just begin right here. Many people arguing that OPEC, that Saudi Arabia, in fact, is aiming too high with setting the price of a barrel of oil, that it wants to see around $25, that you're responsible for setting back the entire global recovery.

AL-SAUD: Well, this was an OPEC decision that took care of the interests of producers and consumers.

It is not good for oil prices to be high or low, and this is something that OPEC has worked with in the past and coordinated very well with the producers.

CLANCY: But Prince Abdullah -- Prince Abdullah, you are a man who looks at investment. You looked at the economic well being of the Saudi kingdom, and I'm just wondering -- you can understand how the rest of the world would like to see a lower oil price to help stimulate economies out of a recession, and that in turn could lead to more investment in alternative industries inside Saudi Arabia, couldn't it?

AL-SAUD: There is no doubt that all of us should work towards improving economic situations around the world. But oil is not the only determining factor for a recession, or a recovery. I think there are so many reasons.

As for the Saudis, I think they will continue to play a part in whatever role needed and to work with the consumers as well, and this has been the Saudi record in past crises.

VERJEE: Are you saying then, if there is war against Iraq, and Iraqi oil exports are to fall, would Saudi Arabia then make up the difference, as it has in the past?

AL-SAUD: I think this has been the Saudi line, and that is to have the ability to stabilize oil prices and supplies.

Saudi Arabia is the only country that has invested heavily in excess capacity just to make sure there is stability.

VERJEE: So you would?

AL-SAUD: Well, I can't speak for another department, but I'm sure this has been the previous policy of Saudi Arabia, and Saudis always, I think, are sensitive to a nation's stability, because they look at things long term.

VERJEE: Could you just explain to us, though, under what circumstances would Saudi Arabia make up the difference? And under what circumstances wouldn't Saudi Arabia make up the difference?

AL-SAUD: Well, I'm not an oil expert or a spokesman for the oil sector in Saudi Arabia, but I go by the record of the government policy, and that should be a comforting one for the whole world.

CLANCY: Sheikh Abdullah, as we look at the Saudi economy and you look at investment in Saudi Arabia, much of the debt that is held by the country is held internally, but there are also rumors that some of the banks are trying to limit the credit, if you will, of Saudi Arabia right now, fearing the uncertainty of a conflict in the Gulf. Do you see that reflected?

AL-SAUD: Well, any uncertainty and worry, even bad weather in the region, effects business, commercial and economic issues. And we've had too many problems in the Middle East for so long.

But a lot of things, a lot of good things, are done, particularly on the economic development and business side. So I am confident that people will handle a lot of these issues.

As for the Saudis, the deficit is manageable. There is no problem at all with lending to the Saudi market, and the local banks are very solid and very well-regulated. The currency has been stable, well-managed and well-covered for 30 years, and the Saudi market is very well-known to all international companies and our trading partners.

So I think the problem is more regional, if all the stress, at a very high level, continues for a long time.

CLANCY: Sheikh Abdullah, Prince Abdullah, I want to come back and ask you a
question. You know, there's a lot of rumors going around about how oil may be influencing a United States decision to intervene militarily in Iraq, and it is said by some that officials with links to Vice President Dick Cheney have been heard going around making comments to the effect that we'll turn Iraq into an oil pumping station, and tell the Saudis they can take their oil and go home. Have you heard that?

AL-SAUD: There's been a lot of things in the media. It's due to the excitement of the post-crisis period. The travesty that took place in New York shook a lot of people. It also gave people the opportunity to make domestic policies at the expense of foreign policy, and that's very unfortunate.

There's been a lot of things that I don't think these things are that important. We have to respect the international consensus that has been worked out in the United Nations, and we will do whatever we can to avoid war, because we have had too many conflicts in our area.

CLANCY: Prince Abdullah, what poses the greater threat? Is it Saddam Hussein, with his weapons of mass destruction, if he has them, in the Saudi view, is it that, or is it the threat of United States military intervention in the Gulf? What do you think?

AL-SAUD: Well, I cannot compare two different kinds of threats.

We don't like threats. We don't like a bad word said, as I said. We have to try to protect human life, the peace of mind of those lives, and economic well-being, not just of the region, but the whole world.

There'll be threats in life. There are threats coming up all the time. And if people start from the right premise, and that is justice, a balanced treatment of all of these things, I think in the long run any threat can be easily neutralized.

The other thing is, after the Kuwait crisis, there is a commitment to the security of the Gulf because of the importance of oil. There is also a good response from the local government, and with this sort of cooperation, I think we can handle any threat in the future.

VERJEE: I just want to pick up on something Jim said a little earlier about the threat to Saudi Arabia, if Iraqi oil becomes more pumped out. Once Iraq is rid of weapons of mass destruction, if it comes to that, whether Saddam Hussein is there or not, Iraq is going to be able to export significant quantities of oil, and what I want to know is, what kind of economic or political challenges does Saudi Arabia face, or is considering, as a result of that? I mean, surely, lower oil prices, and difficulty of finding more consumers, is going to be on top of your agenda.

AL-SAUD: Look, the Saudi market and particularly its future potential is much bigger than the issue of oil income. So it would not really be damaging.

We believe that now everybody has to think to the market, by the market, for the market. And the Saudi oil is plentiful, it's easy to find, it is a well known.

VERJEE: So you're not worried?

AL-SAUD: We worry about everything that destabilizes any situation, destabilizes a positive situation, and I think our oil people will handle it like they've handled previous crises.

CLANCY: Prince Abdullah, I want to ask you one of our closing questions, really. Right now, the Iraqi parliament, if you want to call it that, the National Assembly, meeting to vote on whether or not Iraq will accept the U.N. resolution that was passed by the Security Council on Friday. How do you think that they should move on that? And what would be the difference, here? I think many people suspect they are going to accept it, but then no one knows what happens next.

AL-SAUD: I'm sorry to disappoint you, but I'm not an expert on these political issues.

I think there have been enough positive signals after the Arab foreign minister's meeting with the Iraqi foreign minister in Cairo a couple of days ago, and one is hopeful that the international consensus that has been unanimously voted on by the United Nations will be the path, and I hope that all sides will be satisfied after the inspections. And I'm sure all of us, and particularly Iraqis, will realize that this is the best way to a solution.

CLANCY: Your highness, Prince Abdullah Bin Faisal Bin Turki Al-Saud, governor of Saudi Arabia's General Investment Authority, our thanks to you for being with us here on Q&A.

AL-SAUD: Thank you.

VERJEE: After the break, another opinion on what a conflict with Iraq could lead to and where Saudi Arabia will stand.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CLANCY: Welcome back to our look at the conflict with Iraq, Saudi Arabia and
the politics of oil.

Listening to our interview with Prince Abdullah has been Youssef Ibrahim.  He's a senior fellow with the Council on Foreign Relations. Thanks so much for joining us here.

YOUSSEF IBRAHIM, COUNCIL ON FOREIGN RELATIONS: Hi, Jim.

CLANCY: You know, now a whole lot forthcoming on where Saudi Arabia is going to go. You know, people talk about the mixed signals that come out of Riyadh. At the same time, what does any one expect? I mean, that's almost par for the course, isn't it?

IBRAHIM: We've had so many mixed signals coming out of Riyadh, in the past week alone, it's been dizzying.

First, Prince Saud said they will not allow the use of their territory. Then he said if there is a United Nations resolution, they might, and then he said even if there is a United Nations resolution, they will not. And then he said, we'll see how it goes.

But also, as you remember, we've had so many mixed signals coming out of the Pentagon and the White House, I think they're leaking a new plan at the rate of twice a week.

So, disinformation, misinformation, is rampant.

CLANCY: All right, all of that, and we heard it again and again from Prince Abdullah, saying that what we're really concerned about here is stability. And Saudi Arabia by no means is the only Gulf country that feels that way.

IBRAHIM: Jim, Prince Abdullah was being very careful. At the end of the day, in this particular conflict that's coming up, which is profoundly upsetting the Saudis and every Arab country in the neighborhood, what the Saudis are saying on oil is not going to be an economic decision. It's going to be a political decision.

And a political decision will have to take into account what we are saying. Now, we are saying, we have said, we have issued studies, and we have leaked studies that say we are going to occupy Iraq, we're going to turn it into a pumping station, and our objective is precisely to undermine the Saudi position as the king of oil.

This is an adversarial position that we have presented the Saudis with. Now we denied it, we've flip-flopped, but in effect, this is the position of the five people running the policy of the United States, who are in the Defense Dept.

We have not heard the voice of Colin Powell, so we don't know what our foreign establishment thinks, but I think the Saudis will react to defend their interests.

May I also say something else about Iraq? I think we are assuming that Iraq, any government in Iraq, will simply go along with what we say. We'll tell them jump, and they'll say jump how high.

Now, the question is, any government in Iraq, at the end of the day, no matter how much of a puppet it is, will see that it is not in its interest to sell oil at $5 a barrel, and it will gravitate sooner or later towards OPEC. So many of our assumptions about this war are highly questionable.

VERJEE: Well, let's bring in Edward Morse to weigh in on this a little. He's with the Hess Energy Trading Company and a former U.S. State Dept. official. He also joins us from New York.

Edward, if there is a war against Iraq, how would it affect the price of oil and what are some of the Saudi considerations that are being made now?

EDWARD MORSE, HESS ENERGY TRADING CO.: My assumption has been all along that the existence of a war will almost certainly not result in oil prices going higher, but rather their stabilizing and perhaps going lower.

And my assumption is that the Saudi position on being a reliable supply to the marketplace is the position that they will take, and they will make sure that Iraq's customers, if they are cut off by a war, will be supplied by themselves and other OPEC countries with their capacity.

So I think their while oil decisions are political decisions, I don't see them taking decision that are likely to raise prices. Rather, I see them being constructive in the marketplace.

VERJEE: Doesn't it also, Edward, depend on how long or short a possible war, if it comes to that, is?

MORSE: Well, we're at a particular time and place that is unlike 1990, '91, when the first Gulf War started. We are really, for oil market purposes, toward the end of winter, because most of the oil that needed to be pumped to reach the markets for the winter has been pumped, and it's either already arrived, or it's on the high seas.

So we're moving from a season of high winter demand in the marketplace to much lower demand in the spring and the summertime, but the swing between winter demand and spring demand is some 5 million barrels a day.

Iraq is only producing a little over 2 million barrels a day. They're exporting over 1 million barrels a day. That is not a very large amount of oil in a marketplace where demand is going, seasonally, going down rather than up.

Well, this is a contingency that would impact the market if Iraq were bigger in the market, and if an attack were taking place when the market were going from a period of lower demand to a period of high demand. But that's not the case now.

VERJEE: Youssef, do you see it that way?

IBRAHIM: Not quite. I think once we start this war, there are so many imponderables, so many things we cannot predict.

First of all, we don't know what the Iranians are going to do. Second, we don't know what the Iraqis are going to do. I mean, the last time around, he burned the Kuwaiti oilfields. This time, it is likely he will burn Iraqi oilfields. Would he try -- I mean.

CLANCY: Youssef, do you think he's even got enough missiles to do that, to try to do that.

IBRAHIM: I do not know that, Jim. And I'm actually skeptical that he can do that. But I know that there's a big difference between 1990, when we had 3/4 of the Arab world with us, and 2002, when we have a lot of agents of al Qaeda running all over the place who can do that.

Oil facilities are very vulnerable. Even oil facilities in the United States are vulnerable. I mean, what makes you think the Alaska pipeline is safe? This is -- once you start this war, everything is possible, and anybody who says it's going to be smooth, it's going to be predictable, is fooling the president of the United States.

CLANCY: Edward Morse, I want to ask a couple of questions here, but I'm going to start off with you. One for question for both of you: is it all about oil? You know, that's what people have heard, from various quarters in the Arab and the Muslim world, that the United States action against Iraq is all about oil. Mr. Morse, you first -- is it?

MORSE: Well, I certainly think the first Gulf War was all about oil, and it was not talked about in those terms. But I don't see it this way.

I think Youssef is absolutely right in saying that there are people within the government, particularly in the Defense Dept. who see oil as a critical stake. I happen not to agree with them, and I don't see it as a critical stake.

It's a critical stake for France. It's a critical stake for Russia. Both governments have companies that hav great stakes in the future of Iraqi oil, but I don't see it as a great stake for the United States.

VERJEE: Youssef, is it all about oil?

IBRAHIM: All about oil? No. But a lot of it, indeed, is about oil. It's also a lot about preserving an American hegemony over oil in the Middle East that has lasted for 60 years, and the last thing on earth we want is to have the French come in there and the Russians come in there and have a stake in oil.

So, yes, part of it is about oil, but the biggest part of it is about this superpower hegemony and the war on terror. And my question here is, is the war on Iraq a continuation of the war on terror? And I would say the answer is we have not made that case. And therefore, until we have a proper national debate that makes this case, we should stay out of this war.

CLANCY: Well, Edward, do you think you need to take that point of view, that you need to stay out of it, you know, if you don't have that? Or is Iraq standing on its own -- Saddam standing on his own. As the president has said repeatedly, there's certainly enough on the record already to label this man for what he is.

MORSE: I actually think that the issue has been muddled by 9-11, and the United States government has been on record all along on the same policy line that the president is now pursuing.

President Clinton happened to be weakened by personal problems and other political problems and didn't pursue the policy as assiduously as President Bush is. But I see it as a continuation of a policy that pre- exists 9-11 and pre-exists all this talk about what America wants, in terms of access to cheap Middle East oil.

I think it has less to do with 9-11 and less to do with oil than it does with a view of the world that a government that flaunts the will of the international community is a government in a globalized society that's a danger to the world as a whole and U.S. leadership that's taking action to do something about it.

CLANCY: Whether or not the Iraqis, gentlemen, decide to go along with this latest U.N. resolution, do you think it's going to make any difference? Do you think the boots will be on the ground by March, as some of the people that are observing all of this say they must be -- Youssef?

IBRAHIM: I don't know. I think, I'm beginning to see signs that the United States is hesitating. I'm beginning to see enough voices in America saying you haven't made the case, and I'm beginning to hear a lot of voices saying we are sending our boys and girls into a trap in Iraq.

VERJEE: OK. All right. Thanks so much Youssef Ibrahim.

IBRAHIM: Thank you.

VERJEE: . Edward Morse. Good to have both of you on Q&A. Thanks.

CLANCY: Yes, we ran out of time there.

Those are our views on this edition, our questions, on this edition of Q&A.  We'll be right back with yours.

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WASHINGTON, 13 November 2002 — Prince Abdullah ibn Faisal, governor of Saudi Arabian General Investment Authority, has expressed hope that a US military
strike on Iraq will not take place.

“We are afraid of war. The image of the area has already suffered (since Sept. 11), although we feel the perception is much worse than the reality. We do not know what will happen after (a war with Iraq) and how people in the area will relate to it. True peace is a lot more than geopolitical security,” he said.

“We have lost two major deals with US companies who have postponed doing business here because of the tension over Iraq. The talk of war for domestic consumption has had a major impact on the region,” Prince Abdullah told the annual business meeting organized in coordination with Arab Thought Foundation.

Pressed on the question of democracy in the Kingdom, Prince Abdullah said: “We, in Saudi Arabia, respect the ideas of Western-style democracy, but don’t know that our country would like to copy it. There’s been a lot of talk by the US of democracy in developing countries, but some cultures cannot be like yours.”

Asked about the impact of a political conflict in the region upon the economy, Prince Abdullah said it would not be good. “(A war on Iraq) is not going to be like the Gulf War, where the ultimate objective was to liberate Kuwait. There is a lot of uncertainty about such an action; and we really don’t want conflict in the region.”

Prince Abdullah said it would be impossible to speculate on the scenario of a post-Iraq war, again expressing hope it will not happen. “But if there’s an international consensus we will have to go along with it. I don’t know how other nations will react to this. If you want credibility in the Middle East, you have to have a balanced view in the area. If you must show the stick, then you must also show a big commitment in the region.”

In a radio interview, Prince Abdullah underscored the strong Saudi-US relations. He said there was a big difference between the rejection of US policies in the Middle East and rejection of American culture.

“The Saudi society, since time immemorial, has been interacting with other cultures with confidence and in a positive manner,” the prince said, adding that the Kingdom receives millions of pilgrims from various parts of the world every year.

Tens of thousands of Saudis have studied at US universities. They interacted with their colleagues from various parts of the world with confidence and openness, he said, adding that Saudi Arabia hosts more than seven million expatriate workers from various countries.

During a meeting at the journalism center at Harvard, Prince Abdullah spoke on the role of media in presenting facts truthfully and objectively. He expressed shock at the way American editorial writers and columnists dealt with Saudi society without any knowledge of its social issues and history.

During a dialogue that lasted more than two hours, the prince answered questions related to Saudi-American relations. He emphasized the importance of Saudi-US ties to achieve stability in the Middle East. “The Saudi leadership will not hesitate to express its opinion on Arab-Israeli conflict frankly to American leaders,” he said.

Prince Abdullah said a just solution to the Palestinian problem would put an end to many crises in the Middle East region.

“The intelligent people in the Islamic world and America should not allow terrorists to hijack our brain, our tolerance and our future,” he said. At the Boston Globe newspaper, Prince Abdullah met with editorial writers and editors. He underlined the Kingdom’s ongoing efforts to fight international terrorism. “The Saudi society grieves at the suffering of other societies as a result of calamities and reach out to help them,” he
said.

Robert Jordan, US ambassador to Saudi Arabia, also flew in to attend yesterday’s meeting of the Global Forum. “This is one of the most important conferences I have attended. The high level of presentation was matched only by the high level of discussion in the audience,” he said. “The Arab Thought Foundation and its partner, Fortune Magazine, are to be commended,” he said. “It is clear that we are not facing a clash of civilizations, but instead a series of clashes within our civilizations with which we must deal. The only way to deal with them is in partnership together.”

GULF BETWEEN FRIENDS FOR 60 YEARS

The US and Saudi Arabia had a lucrative business and political alliance. Now the relationship is under threat, says Robin Allen

[Financial Times - Nov. 9, 2002]
By ROBIN ALLEN

In the gathering twilight of a winter's afternoon, a shiny black Mercedes, carrying the bare flagpole of its official owner, drew silently into the curb and stopped opposite the Al-Akariya shopping center in the smart Olaya district of Riyadh, the Saudi capital. From the rear door emerged an elegant woman dressed in the mandatory black abaya cloak.

She pulled her scarf more tightly round her head and headed quickly for the main entrance of the shopping-center before it closed for evening prayers. Her chauffeur was right behind her.

In their haste they failed to spot the danger. Three youths watched their progress from the shadows near the entrance, where they had been waiting, canes ready, to enforce the prayer-time curfew. They were members of the mutawa, the Saudi religious police, run by the Society for the Propagation of Good and the Abolition of Evil, which achieved lasting fame in 1969 for its declaration that the earth was flat and the US landing on the moon a lie propagated by international Zionism. 

Its "soldiers," many Saudis say, are often high-school drop-outs and bully-boys, who join the religious police because they are bored or unqualified to do any other job. One now shouted, waving his cane, and all three surged towards the woman. She screamed as they beat her around the arms and legs. They beat the chauffeur too. Both were manhandled back into the car and ordered to wait. The youths ignored the woman's sobs of pain and protest.

The police were not long in coming. Fierce altercations followed, details were taken. The youths were pacified and dismissed; the Mercedes given a police escort home. The incident nourished the incestuous rumor-mill of the Saudi capital, particularly when it transpired the woman was the wife of the Syrian ambassador. Her diplomatic immunity had saved her and the chauffeur from instant jail. Her husband demanded an apology from the foreign affairs ministry. None was forthcoming. 

For their part, the mutaween demanded an apology for the woman's "violation of public morals." Her arms had been bare below the elbows and her ankles had been visible to public gaze. Furthermore, she had broken the law by having an escort who was not her husband or close family relative.

This incident, say western residents, is just one of hundreds that occur each year; part of what many refer to caustically as the rich tapestry of life in the kingdom, stronghold and promoter of the austere Wahhabi brand of Islam and, since 1924, by virtue of its conquest of Mecca and Medina, the center of the world's Muslim community, comprising one-fifth of the world's population. For the past 10 years, its head of state and prime minister, King Fahd Bin Abdul-Aziz al-Saud, has also been the self-proclaimed "Guardian of the Two Holy Sharifains" (the holy shrines.)

These historical and political attributes, Saudis acknowledge, combined with the fact that Saudi Arabia, alone among modern Middle Eastern states, never succumbed to direct foreign colonial domination, have done much to inflate national pride. "These attributes we earned through God's grace," said a senior minister and former diplomat known for his poetry and plain-speaking. "You people, westerners," he added, " Will never understand us, because you were never here to see the depth of poverty that existed before we found the oil God gave us." 

Oil indeed. It is that single commodity that puts Saudi Arabia above its peers. Saudi Arabia is sole owner of one-quarter of proven global oil reserves, "and probably well over 30 per cent", according to US analyst Anthony Cordesman, head of the Center for Strategic and International Studies at Washington's Georgetown university and adviser to the Pentagon and State department.

And lest US politicians imagine they can liberate themselves from Saudi and Gulf oil, Cordesman quotes the US government's Energy Information Agency. US dependence on imported oil, he writes in a study published recently, will rise sharply between now and 2020 far in excess of what alternative sources, from Russia or the Caspian, for example, can ever supply.

"If Saudi Arabia produced peanuts instead of oil," said a weary British foreign office official last month, "neither we nor the US would be tearing our hair at their outrageous behavior towards foreigners in general and westerners in particular, nor over their atrocious human rights record. Girls, foreign and national alike, are forcibly segregated to protect them as much from their own "moral lapses" as from sexually repressed local and foreign males. Women are not allowed to drive cars or to go out on their own. 

Nor will they ever be, interior minister Prince Nayef reaffirmed last April. "This is absolutely ruled out," he told the daily Al Eqtisadiah. The death penalty has always applied to anyone proved guilty of "corruption on earth," a phrase that can include "magic, charlatanism and sorcery." Much is left to the discretion of the judge, who can invoke the death penalty on the grounds of the severity of the act or the character of the offender, even if no fatalities resulted. 

Capital punishment still applies for what the west regards as minor sins, such as adultery, and although Saudi law requires there to have been at least four reliable first-hand witnesses to the act, long-time western residents claim that on many occasions the death penalty has been passed without the required witnesses.

More than 100 people were executed last year, bringing the total since 1991, according to Amnesty International, to almost 1,000; in a country with a total population of about 20m. Up to last week, according to official figures, 81 people have this year been beheaded or otherwise executed for crimes ranging from theft to murder and adultery.

The Saudis are at odds with the United Nations Human Rights committee over whether torture, flogging, and the amputation of limbs violate the UN's 1987 convention, which Saudi Arabia ratified in 1997. "Sharia (the Islamic legal code) is derived from the Koran," 

Turki al-Madi, a Geneva-based Saudi diplomat, told The New York Times. "This law has existed for 1,400 years. And the committee wants to change it. I am sorry, you cannot." Abdul-Wahab Attar, the Saudi ambassador to the UN Human Rights commission, reportedly refused to take part in last May's debate. "It is a question we cannot discuss."

Arbitrary detention and trials in camera have traditionally been the lot of anyone without the right connections. Wasta fogul kanoon, or "influence is stronger than the law." If you are one of 5,000 Saudi princes, you and your western sponsoree could always grow rich by importing liquor. If caught, he goes to jail, 10 years automatic. You, the prince, do not. Today 16 westerners are in jail for their involvement in recent car-bomb attacks, caused, according to the intelligence chief Prince Nawaf, by turf wars between owners of rival liquor outlets.

Today these issues grate with the west. But for more than 50 years, and in particular since the oil-fed development boom started in 1974, western governments had no desire to jeopardize a lucrative political and business relationship by intruding into the country's social traditions, however medieval they might have seemed.

Today, according to US analysts, the kingdom's human rights record is high on the agenda of the US Congress, and likely to remain so. It would not matter, say Saudis, if human rights were the obsession of the British House of Commons or the French National Assembly. These countries, say Saudis, have no more clout than Syria. But the US is the hyper-power. What it says and does matters. For 57 years, its relations with Saudi Arabia were based on mutual tolerance, respect and discretion for each other's traditions and political priorities. These qualities, US and Saudi analysts say, have vanished.

"The basic bargain," according to a former US ambassador to Riyadh, "struck between president Franklin Roosevelt and King Abdul-Aziz Ibn Saud in February 1945, was simple. In return for preferred access to Saudi oil, the US undertook to protect the kingdom against foreign threats." It was also implicitly agreed that the US would turn a blind eye to the autocratic nature of Al-Saud rule. Saudi Arabia was "too useful" as "a buttress against godless communist ideology" - a part of the deal that has long passed its sell-by date.

In 1974 the Saudis asked for a third leg to be added to the relationship. "Since the time of Nixon," said foreign minister Prince Saud al-Faisal in a meeting last month with John Duke Anthony, head of the National Council on US-Arab Relations, "we have been assured by the US that it will use its relationship with Israel to work towards securing peace in the Middle East.

But if the relationship is used by the US to make the Likud party (of prime minister Ariel Sharon) a pax-Israeliana, there is no way that can be viewed as other than hostile to us." This third leg, say US and Saudi observers, has also collapsed. If the relationship started to erode with the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1989, it took a nosedive with the 1990-91 Gulf war, which brought more than 600,000 US and UN coalition soldiers into the kingdom. The Gulf war had a double impact; creating widespread Saudi public resentment over the US military presence, combined with the bleak awareness among US and allied forces of the hollowness of former Saudi pretensions to military effectiveness. 

In the last decade, say analysts on both sides, the relationship had further unraveled, even before September 11. The subsequent revelation that 15 of the 19 terrorists involved were Saudi has brought out the worst on both sides of the US-Saudi divide. "The Saudi response," says a former US ambassador, "was halting and confused, revealing the embarrassing extent to which the kingdom, unlike its detractors, lacked a long-term strategy directed at building public understanding and sympathy among Americans."

Saudi Arabia, says a senior US diplomat, was "in denial," while September 11 "provided an opportunity for a sustained onslaught of criticism of Saudi Arabia in the US media, often by commentators whose imagination far outran their knowledge of the kingdom. Their attacks featured the elements of Saudi culture and society most objectionable to liberal democratic ideology to paint a portrait of the country as an enemy, rather than as a friend."

"Take the gas and kick their ass," reads a street sign in New York; a reflection, say Saudis, of an atavistic coarseness that runs through senior civilian members of the Bush administration. Saudi nationals claim they are harassed and humiliated by US immigration authorities. Many have stopped visiting. Hundreds of Saudi and Arab students have lost their places at US universities. 

Then last August, US attacks on the kingdom reached new heights of bizarre surrealism. Six hundred relatives of the September 11 victims filed a civil suit for $120 trillion against defense minister Prince Sultan, 59 other individuals and 37 Saudi institutions to "force the financial sponsors of terror into the light and subject them to the rule of law," according to the stated aim of the plaintiffs. Osama bin Laden, wrote a US analyst this week, "succeeded magnificently". The 60-year friendship between Saudi Arabia and the US was now "in tatters."

US and Saudi analysts, concerned both about the direction of US policy and pessimistic about the kingdom's capacity to move with the times, are hard-pressed to disagree.