Free Republic

This marks the president's departure from his campaign promise of isolating Riyadh over the murder of columnist Jamal Khashoggi Joe Biden will reportedly visit Riyadh later this month and meet Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, abandoning a campaign pledge to make Saudi Arabia "a pariah" for the murder of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi. The Riyadh trip, first reported by the Washington Post and New York Times, suggests Biden has prioritized his need to bring oil prices down and thereby punish Russia for its invasion of Ukraine, over his stand on human rights. The visit will be added on to...

Beloved I AM your Kingdom for ALL resides in me, Therefore I AM your Being "Zion" Do You see? For I AM the Movement within You I speak you do, It is just this simple ~ Zion living and moving through you, I AM your innate Being ALL You need to see, I reside in and through you The Wellspring you set free, I AM your true existence My Kingdom can not lie, Just let go of your existence and in me rely, Not just in steps or breathing but in each beat of your heart, For its desire must...

Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states launched airstrikes against rebel forces in Yemen’s capital and across the country in defense of what Riyadh called the nation’s legitimate government. The attacks began Thursday morning, hours after Yemen’s president, Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi, fled the southern port city of Aden by boat when Iranian-backed Houthi militants closed in. The decision by Saudi Arabia and the region’s Sunni monarchies to intervene on Mr. Hadi’s behalf raises the stakes in their rivalry with predominantly Shiite Iran, which has raged in Syria, Iraq and elsewhere in the region. The raids also risked further inflaming sectarian...

RIYADH -- Saudi Arabia said on Thursday that five Al Qaeda suspects on a most-wanted list were killed in a three-day battle with security forces in the eastern city of Dammam, the latest in a series of offensives against the militants. Four security men also died in the operation that began with a shootout on Sunday in a commercial thoroughfare in the main city of the oil-rich Eastern Province and ended on Tuesday with the storming of a militant hideout in another neighborhood. The five Al Qaeda suspects were Zaid Al Samari, Saleh Al Fraidi, Sultan Al Haseri, Nayef Al...

BANDA ACEH, Indonesia -- A powerful Saudi charity under scrutiny for alleged terrorist financing is expanding operations in tsunami-ravaged areas of Indonesia, importing a hard-line religious message that the West fears could spread extremist Islam in the world's most populous Muslim nation. The presence of the International Islamic Relief Organization could complicate relief efforts in Indonesia, which is desperate for help but also under pressure to contain Islamic militants. Attacks have included nightclub bombings in 2002 that killed 202 people. It also offers a high-profile test of Saudi promises to closely monitor its major aid societies. Many have faced probes...

TIRANA, Albania (AP) - The Albanian government said Wednesday it has frozen the assets of a Saudi citizen who is under investigation for alleged money laundering to terror networks. Authorities have seized 22 apartment units owned by Yasin Al-Qadi, a fugitive Saudi businessman suspected of laundering money for Osama bin Laden's terror network through extensive business dealings in Albania, said Alban Beqa, a spokesman for the Ministry of Finance. Al-Qadi, 47, has been under investigation since January 2002 for money laundering. He had already left the country by that time. Al-Qadi headed the Saudi-based Muwafaq Foundation, which U.S. investigators suspect...

Saudis kill al-Qaeda mastermind By Anna Cock in New York June 20, 2004 ONE of the world's most wanted terrorists was reportedly shot dead yesterday, a few hours after his militant group beheaded an American defence contractor. Abdulaziz al-Muqrin who Saudi police shot dead. Saudi authorities said Abd al-Aziz al-Muqrin was killed with three other wanted terrorists in the capital, Riyadh, while they were trying to dispose of the body. The raids followed the execution of Paul Johnson, who worked in Saudi Arabia for the aerospace company Lockheed Martin, which makes Apache helicopter gunships. Video footage of the grisly killing...