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THE thump of helicopters and the sirens of police convoys will be reverberating around the Red Sea port of Jeddah from tomorrow morning. Private jets will soon be standing wing tip to wing tip at the airport. The house of Saud, the largest and wealthiest royal family in the world, whose members rule the desert kingdom of Saudi Arabia and control a quarter of the world’s known oil reserves, is descending on the city in droves. Having buried King Fahd, Saudi Arabia’s absolute monarch since 1982, in an austere ceremony in Riyadh, the royal family are free to travel again....

Last month, an attack on contractors at the Saudi oil facility in Yanbu killed six Westerners, two of them Americans. Senior Saudi officials told the world al-Qaida terrorists were to blame and al-Qaida claimed responsibility. But tape obtained by NBC News reveals that, inside Saudi Arabia, on Saudi television, Crown Prince Abdullah told a strikingly different story about who was to blame. NBC News translated Abdullah's remarks from Arabic: “Zionism is behind it. It has become clear now. It has become clear to us. I don’t say, I mean... It is not 100 percent, but 95 percent that the Zionist...

Today President Bush met with Crown Pronce Abdullah of Saudi Arabia at his Crawford ranch in Texas. Welcome! and enjoy your visit to Sanity Island!

RIYADH, 6 February 2005 — Crown Prince Abdullah yesterday vowed to press ahead with Saudi Arabia’s war on terror and called for the establishment of an international center to combat and pre-empt terrorism. “I call on all countries to set up an international center for combating terrorism. Those working in it would be experts in this field,” the crown prince said while inaugurating the international counterterrorism conference. Prince Abdullah emphasized the need to combat arms smuggling, drug smuggling and money laundering to make the war on terrorism successful. “It would be difficult for us to prevail in our war on...

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia -- Saudi Arabia announced yesterday it was withdrawing its ambassador to Libya and ordered out Libya's envoy in response to reports that Tripoli plotted to assassinate the Saudi crown prince. The alleged plot against Crown Prince Abdullah was first outlined by U.S. investigators in their case against a prominent American Muslim activist sentenced earlier this year to the maximum 23 years in prison for illegal business dealings with Libya. Libya expressed "astonishment" at the Saudi decision and asked the Arab League to investigate the matter. "Nothing has happened between the two countries that warranted the withdrawal of...

    « Dhimmitude at the LA Times: "Beheading for Sake of Fear, Not Islam" | Main | Eurabia in action: Former French PM Calls Balfour Declaration "Historic Mistake" » June 23, 2004 Douce France, by Hugh Fitzgerald One of the most dispiriting things about the comments shutdown, which we are working to end as quickly as we possibly can, is that we have all missed out on remarks from our friend Hugh Fitzgerald, one of the most erudite and articulate anti-jihadists on the scene today. In fact, I can't think of anyone who tops him in either erudition...

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia -- Saudi Arabia's ruling crown prince warned Islamic militants Tuesday that the kingdom planned shortly to deploy more security forces than they had ever faced before. "Be assured that the kingdom has enough men whom you haven't seen so far, but within the coming few days you will see them," Crown Prince Abdullah told the militants, whose attacks have increased during the past three months. His remarks were televised. Westerners in Saudi Arabia are responding to the attacks by moving to high-security compounds or even to Bahrain, and by pushing for the right to armed private guards,...

With regard to the recent attacks on westerners in Saudi Arabia, Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah made the following remarks: “Zionism is behind it. It has become clear now. It has become clear to us. I don’t say, I mean... It is not 100 percent, but 95 percent that the Zionist hands are behind what happened.” Saudi Prince Nayef, the Saudi Interior Minister said, “Al-Qaida is backed by Israel and Zionism.” Some call this dangerous Saudi doubletalk. “The crown prince’s statements are inflammatory and irresponsible,” said Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine. “On the one hand they say reassuring words to American leaders,...

Crown Prince Abdullah yesterday said Saudi Arabia stood united in the face of a spate of recent terror attacks. “You and all people, whether north, south, east or west, are one in serving your religion and your country. Islam is a religion of peace and love and mercy to all people,” he told the weekly Cabinet meeting he chaired at Al-Salam Palace here. The crown prince welcomed the unanimous condemnation of terrorist acts and the popular support for the government’s anti-terror measures. Prince Abdullah urged Saudi citizens to cooperate with police officers to fight terrorism. On Iraq, the Cabinet said...

JEDDAH, 16 May 2004 — Crown Prince Abdullah yesterday warned terrorists and their supporters that the Kingdom would not allow them to tarnish its international image. Saudis and their government were “against those who undermine the Kingdom’s security and try to damage the country’s reputation,” he told a group of citizens from the southern Asir region. The crown prince reiterated that the government was determined to track down “this deviant group, who have abandoned the Islamic nation and faith” and violated humane values. Speaking to another group of citizens from Taif, Prince Abdullah said the Kingdom would nail the terrorists...

Tuesday September 2, 2003 1:39 PM By VLADIMIR ISACHENKOV Associated Press Writer MOSCOW (AP) - Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Abdullah met Russia's president Tuesday on the first visit to post-Soviet Russia by a Saudi leader, aimed at coordinating oil exports and soothing Russian concerns about alleged funding of Chechen rebels by Saudi charities. Saudi Arabia and Russia are the world's first and second largest oil exporters, respectively, and Moscow is keen to solidify its ties with the kingdom. But Moscow has reprimanded Riyadh for failing to stop financial support allegedly flowing from the kingdom to separatists in the mainly Muslim...

<p>JIDDA, Saudi Arabia &#8212; Crown Prince Abdullah said yesterday that the desert kingdom is locked in a "a decisive battle" against the "forces of evil," language that echoed the words of President Bush after the September 11 attacks.</p> <p>"There is no room for neutrality or hesitancy," Prince Abdullah, who is Saudi Arabia's de facto ruler, said in remarks carried by the official Saudi Press Agency.</p>

JEDDAH, 23 June 2003 — Crown Prince Abdullah, deputy premier and commander of the National Guard, and former US President Bill Clinton held talks yesterday in Jeddah on the developments in Iraq and Palestine in addition to world affairs. Prince Sultan, second deputy premier and minister of defense and aviation, Prince Nawaf, head of general intelligence and prince Muhammad ibn Naif, assistant minister of interior for security affairs, attended the talks. The crown prince hosted a dinner in Clinton’s honor at his palace.

WASHINGTON, Feb. 8 — Saudi Arabia's leaders have made far-reaching decisions to prepare for an era of military disengagement from the United States, to enact what Saudi officials call the first significant democratic reforms at home, and to rein in the conservative clergy that has shared power in the kingdom. Senior members of the royal family say the decisions, reached in the past month, are the result of a continuing debate over Saudi Arabia's future and have not yet been publicly announced. But these princes say Crown Prince Abdullah will ask President Bush to withdraw all American armed forces from...

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia, Jan. 18 — Increasingly desperate to avoid war, Saudi Arabia is engaged in a campaign to incite Iraqi security forces to overthrow Saddam Hussein if he continues to refuse to step down or go into exile, officials here say. The Saudi leadership is advocating Mr. Hussein's removal as part of a war-avoidance strategy even as the kingdom signals Washington that it will cooperate extensively with an American military buildup in the Persian Gulf, including offering the use of crucial bases and airspace, Saudi officials said this week. It seemed possible that a number of Arab and Muslim...

Saudi pressure on Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat, including a personal message from Crown Prince Abdullah, to end the terror strikes of Palestinian suicide bombers in order to bring about a cease-fire, which will then lead to an international conference on the Saudi-Arab peace proposal, has failed. The outcome is that the Saudis cannot uphold their part of the agreement reached by Abdullah and U.S. President George W. Bush. It is also clear to the Saudis that the movement that Arafat heads, Fatah, and its military wing, are directly linked to the terrorism. In other words, Arafat is involved. Moreover,...

WASHINGTON, May 25 — An intense debate among President Bush and his top advisers over whether to press for the removal of Yasir Arafat as the leader of the Palestinian Authority has effectively frozen the nation's Middle East policy, according to some administration officials. It has also prompted George J. Tenet, the director of central intelligence, to delay his mission to the region until the policy is worked out. For more than two weeks, Mr. Bush and Secretary of State Colin L. Powell have said that Mr. Tenet will go to the Middle East to work to restructure Palestinian security...

Just saw a commercial featuring Prince Abdullah of Saudi Arabia. It show him (or his predecessor) meeting with all the Presidents of the U.S. going back as far as Eisenhower. Has any one else seen this gem?

Originally published April 25, 2002, 8:35 PM EDT CRAWFORD, Texas -- President Bush said today that he and Crown Prince Abdullah of Saudi Arabia forged a personal bond in a day of talks at the president's Texas ranch and Abdullah promised not to "use oil as a weapon" to show Arab anger over U.S. support for Israel. The president's upbeat assessment contrasted with recent Saudi complaints that the administration's backing of Israel had damaged prospects for Mideast peace and soured relations with the Arab world. Bush told reporters afterward that U.S.-Saudi relations were strong. "A strategy by some would be...

Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah heads to the United States on April 23, 2002 to try to persuade President George W. Bush to be more even-handed in the Middle East conflict if he wants to keep his friends in the region. Prince Abdullah gestures at the end session of the Arab summit held at the Phoenicia hotel in Beirut on March 28. (Jamal Saidi/Reuters)