First visit by Arab head of state big boost for Iraqi government
BBC Aug 12, 08 2:10 AM CDT
(Newser)
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In a key sign of returning stability in Iraq, King Abdullah of Jordan paid a surprise visit to Baghdad yesterday, becoming the first Arab head of state to travel to the nation since the overthrow of Saddam Hussein by the US military. The trip, postponed from last month after a security leak, holds tremendous symbolic significance in the Arab world, reports the BBC.
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Baghdad wins boost from key Arab states
BBC Jul 7, 08 4:31 AM CDT
(Newser)
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Iraq's diplomatic isolation among its Arab neighbors is easing , reports the BBC. The United Arab Emirates canceled Iraq's entire debt of close to $7 billion and appointed a new ambassador, while Jordan's King Abdullah will become the first Arab head of state to visit Iraq since 2003, boosting the Baghdad government's standing in the region.
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Kingdom aims to stabilize prices to protect oil market
New York Times Jun 14, 08 6:14 AM CDT
(Newser)
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Saudi Arabia aims to put the brakes on oil prices by raising output to its highest ever, the New York Times reports. The kingdom resisted calls from President Bush earlier this year to boost production, but is now concerned that record oil prices could lead to lower demand in the long term by cutting economic growth and making alternative fuels more viable.
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OPINION
Don't publicly ask for oil favors you won't get, WSJ writes
Wall Street Journal May 17, 08 1:23 PM CDT
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Whichever adviser sent President Bush to plead with the Saudi king to help bring down oil prices should be canned, the Wall Street Journal opines. Bush had the same request turned down during a visit in January, and the rebuff is even more humiliating the second time around. If Bush wants to go begging, he'd be better off turning to Fed chief Ben Bernanke, "creator of our current commodity-price spike."
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Islam's holy ground could be ready to open up
Time Mar 20, 08 10:37 AM CDT
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Pope Benedict XVI is lobbying Saudi Arabia to let a Catholic church on its soil, Time reports. The Vatican confirms that it's discussing forging diplomatic relations with the Saudis, but a house of worship would be a major coup in a country where all religions besides Sunni Islam are banned.
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YouTube clip shows woman driver
calling for change in law
BBC Mar 11, 08 7:15 PM CDT
(Newser)
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Activists have posted a video online to protest the Saudi ban on women drivers, the BBC reports. Made to honor International Women’s Day, the 3-minute clip on YouTube follows protester Wajeha Huwaider as she turns onto a forbidden highway and discusses the legality of the ban. “Many women in this society are able to drive cars,” Huwaider says as she drives.
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American schools to help develop science and technology graduate school
San Jose Mercury News Mar 5, 08 2:45 AM CST
(Newser)
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Berkeley and Stanford University will help choose faculty and develop curricula for a new university in Saudi Arabia, reports the San Jose Mercury News . The graduate-level King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, funded by a $10 billion gift from the king, will focus on fields like petrochemicals and nano-technology when it opens in September 2009. University of California administrators said they agreed to the deal only with assurances that women would be treated equally.
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Driving ban lifted to pre-empt growing protest movement
Daily Telegraph (UK) Jan 22, 08 6:49 AM CST
(Newser)
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Saudi Arabia’s Royal Court has decided to allow women to drive. The move is calculated to stem growing activism, including protest convoys of women drivers, reports the Daily Telegraph . "If girls have been in schools since the 1960s, they have a capability to function behind the wheel when they grow up," said a government official.
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Public plea rejected, Bush entreats Abdullah personally
ABC News Jan 16, 08 2:31 PM CST
(Newser)
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After his public request for increased oil production and the resulting price drop was rejected yesterday, President Bush made a personal appeal to Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah to be more generous with his wells, ABC News reports. Only an hour after Bush’s public plea, the Saudi oil minister announced the country would increase production “when the market justifies it.”—a polite refusal.
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Warns even rogue Iranian attack would have 'serious consequences'
Associated Press Jan 15, 08 9:32 AM CST
(Newser)
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OPEC should start producing more oil, President Bush told Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah today, or it risks damaging “consuming economies,” like the US. Bush said high oil prices were reducing consumer purchasing power, and said more supply “would be helpful.” He also warned Iran to avoid another Strait of Hormuz incident, saying any attack on US ships would have serious consequences.
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Prez and Abdullah discuss weather, plan to talk oil and Mideast peace
Associated Press Jan 14, 08 6:18 PM CST
(Newser)
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President Bush announced a $123 million arms deal with the Saudis as he visited the oil kingdom for the first time today. Part of $20 billion in military sales to shore up Gulf states against Iran, the Saudi deal will offer advanced "smart bomb" technology that some US lawmakers worry could be used to strike Israel. But Saudi Arabia's war on terror efforts and anti-Iran stance appear to override such fears, the AP reports.
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Male friend of raped woman also subjected to 'enough torture'
CNN Dec 19, 07 1:06 PM CST
(Newser)
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The companion to the Saudi rape victim who was convicted of a crime for being alone with him, and then pardoned after an international uproar, has himself been pardoned, CNN reports. Saudi Arabia's minister of justice confirmed this—and by implication revealed that the man, kidnapped along with the woman by the seven men who raped her, also suffered at the men's hands, and also faced charges—in a call to Saudi TV.
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Acts out of compassion, but still believes jail time, lashes were 'fair'
Al Jazeera Dec 17, 07 3:10 AM CST
(Newser)
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A young Saudi gang rape victim whose case sparked worldwide condemnation when she was sentenced to a lashing and jail time for violating Islamic law has been pardoned, Al Jazeera reports. King Abdullah pardoned the woman in the "interests of the people" and out of compassion for the victim, though he is still "convinced and sure that the verdicts were fair," an official said.
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Dollar a 'worthless piece of paper,' Iran's president says
Associated Press Nov 18, 07 9:52 PM CST
(Newser)
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Calling it a "small and worthless piece of paper,” Iran’s president today urged OPEC's members to drop the depreciating US dollar as its official currency. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad blamed President Bush for the dollar’s decline and its adverse effects. The comments highlight mounting tension among OPEC members, the AP reports.
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