Saudi king is said to be angered by Maliki

[jmc247]

Source: IHT

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, asked Sunday about a newspaper report that King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia had refused to receive Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki of Iraq before a regional meeting, acknowledged that Abdullah had "some concerns about the process of reconciliation in Iraq."

The king and other Saudi officials also had "concerns about the Iraqi government's willingness to use force in an evenhanded fashion," Rice said on CNN, four days before a meeting on Iraq at Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, which Rice will attend.

Saudi Arabia, a leading Sunni Muslim power in the region, has expressed doubts that Maliki's Shiite-dominated government is treating Iraqi Sunnis fairly and has said that Maliki has not reached out to Sunnis as he had promised.

Read more: http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/04/29/news/royal.php

[jmc247]

1. Abdullah

[jmc247]

3. Saudis aren't the most pretty bunch

[Trajan]

4. Hmmmm ....

I am sure the King has more significant faults in character than his 'beauty' ....

SURELY you can find them, if you tried .....

[cliss]

5. Aren't they Beeeeauuuutiful?

I'm looking specifically at the gold trim on these fellows' outfits. I'm willing to bet you that trim is solid 24 K Gold.

I just see pure silk, pure gold, pure linen, leather chairs, everywhere I look. Just - sumptuous rich rich rich.

This is probably the Saudi royal family, which numbers about 5,000 right now, is it the Aziz family? I bet they all drink Dom Perignon, eat Beluga Caviar & have Swedish Hookers to keep them company.

[onager]

6. Some fun facts...

The super-elites in the Saudi royal family are the Sudairi Seven...or Sudairi Six, since King Fahd croaked in 2005. They were the seven sons of King Abdul-Aziz by his favorite wife, who came from the Sudairi tribe. He also married several other women from that tribe.

IOW, the clan is sort of like a polygamous Bu$h family in thobes (that gold-trimmed robe that caught your eye) and ghuttras (the male head-dress, with the braided trim that us Grumpy Infidels invariably referred to as "the fan belts.")

I came across most of this usless information because I spent 2 years living/working in Saudi Arabia, and I've spent almost that long in Egypt. I'm writing this from Alexandria. Egypt, that is, not Virginia. :-)

The current Saudi King, Abdullah, is NOT one of the Sudairi Seven, having the misfortune to be born of a different mother. Allegedly this has always caused some strife in the royal family.

There was some talk about bypassing Abdullah and making Prince Sultan the king. (Sultan is one of the Sudairi Seven.) However, Sultan is happy running the Ministry Of Defense and didn't want the job. One of Sultan's sons is the famous "Bandar Bush," former Saudi Ambassador to the U.S.

For many years, Abdullah was known as one of the most conservative and anti-Western members of the royal family. The kingdom apparently started rehabilitating his image and turning him into a moderate when it became obvious that he would take over as king.

Probably the most...interesting member of the Sudairi Seven was Prince Turki, former head of the Saudi Intelligence Services:

On 15 August 2002, he was one of three Saudi princes sued for allegedly helping to finance the terrorist attacks of 11th September 2001, the other two being Prince Sultan bin Abdul Aziz and Prince Mohammed bin Faisal.

The lawsuit sought damages from members of the Saudi royal family, Saudi banks and Saudi corporations, who had extensive financial holdings in the US. Among the defendants were two prominent members of the Saudi royal family, Prince Sultan bin Abdelaziz al-Saud, the defense minister, and Prince Turki bin Faisal, Saudi ambassador to Britain. The suit alleges that Prince Sultan "publicly supported and funded several Islamic charities that were sponsoring Osama bin Laden" and that Prince Turki negotiated a deal in which Al Qaeda agreed to end efforts to subvert the Saudi monarchy in exchange for a Saudi promise not to extradite terrorist leaders.

http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/gulf/turki-bin-faisal.htm

[cliss]

7. Thank you so much, onager

for that wealth of information. I was not aware of these facts, which is rather inexcusable since my gas tank is probably running on Lovely Saudi Oil at this moment.

I've also read that Saudi Arabia is a simmering powder keg, ready to blow at any moment. I've heard that the population is demographically very young; meaning a huge number of 25 year olds. Unemployment is high, so there is an unbelivable amount of tension.

Lots of resentment against the "Western Overlords" for those Saudis who are more traditional/religious.
They see the cozy relationship with the West as a real heresy, and it needs to be stopped.
Even Paul Wolfowitz recognized that, back in the 90's. he said, "We needed to get out of there" because our presence was a real eyesore.
Thanks for the good info.

[wordpix]

8. fun fact re: how the US is shielding SA royals from litigation re: 911 attacks

THIS should be investigated. Congress! Biden! Pls. note.

snip: On 19 January 2005 a US federal judge dismissed Saudi Arabia from 9/11 suits. Richard Casey ruled that Saudi Arabia, Saudi Defense Minister Prince Sultan Prince Turki al-Faisal, and the country's ambassador to Britain HRH Prince Turki Al-Faisal, all had immunity from the litigation.

Why do these people get IMMUNITY from litigation for possibly perpetrating 911? They should have no immunity from litigation for THAT.

[ohio2007]

2. The Hatfield and McCoy family fued resumes

Sunni overlords don't like the Shia in charge of a country across that line in the sand