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Former US president Barack Obama lied to Saudi Arabia when violating the redlines he famously declared regarding Syria’s use of chemical weapons and then not acting when they were used, a former senior Saudi official said in an interview with Independent Arabia. Bandar bin Sultan served for years as head of Saudi intelligence as well as the Saudi ambassador to the United States. In the interview, he recalled a last phone call between the late Saudi King Abdullah and Obama, during which the Saudi leader told the US president: “I did not expect that [after] this long life, I would...

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry met Saudi Arabia's King Salman in Jeddah on Sunday to discuss the fragile truce in Syria, before broader talks with Russia, Iran and other countries in Vienna on Tuesday. Kerry has said he hopes to strengthen a "cessation of hostilities" agreement between Syrian government forces and rebels, which has been undermined by fighting in some areas, and to increase humanitarian aid deliveries to besieged areas. On Friday, he said the meetings with the king and the Saudi interior and defense ministers - the two most senior princes - would try "to make sure that...

Washington (AFP) - US President Barack Obama on Friday welcomed Saudi Arabia's King Salman for a long-delayed first White House summit marked by warm public words, amid clashing views on Middle Eastern crises. Obama made the rare move of greeting the 79-year-old monarch at the doors of the White House, as he hailed the "longstanding friendship" between the two countries. Salman's inaugural visit as king -- originally scheduled for May and canceled by Riyadh -- had been billed as a way of putting relations back on a more stable footing. In the Oval Office, Obama was effusive, saying he wanted...

The controversial super PAC Special Operations for America, led by former Navy SEALs, is set to release a blistering new ad against President Obama Tuesday at the Republican National Convention. The ad, titled “Bow to Nobody,” depicts Navy SEALs in combat situations; it then proclaims that they fight so that America will not have to bow to anybody. Then the punch line: the infamous photo of Obama bowing to the Saudi king. The ad is sure to provoke massive consternation on the left, which has been in a frenzy ever since Special Operations for America launched. The event at which...

A little traveling, like a little learning, can be a dangerous thing. Barack Obama on the loose in a foreign land is enough to frighten protocol officers and embarrass the rest of us. He went off to Asia to tell the Chinese a thing or two about world trade, to prepare the world for a treaty to make the sun change its spots, and of course to pay his respects to assorted heads of state, with particular attention to any royal head (perhaps even including Miss Universe) who crosses his path. So far it's a memorable trip. He established a...

In a shocking display of fealty to a foreign potentate, President Obama bowed to Saudi King Abdullah at the Group of 20 summit in London last week.

Did he or didn't he? Did President Obama bow to Saudi King Abdullah at the G-20 meeting in London? That question is creating a bit of a dust-up in the blogosphere. The brouhaha reminds me of the tsk-tsking a few years back when President George W. Bush was photographed holding hands with then-Crown Prince Abdullah. I'm uncomfortable with images of hand-holding and something that looks like a bow. But let's face it -- no one would be bowing, holding hands or in other ways showering obsequious shows of respect on this monarch if Saudi Arabia weren't sitting on the world's...

EDITORIAL: Barack takes a bow The president shows fealty to a Muslim king April 7, 2009. In a shocking display of fealty to a foreign potentate, President Obama bowed to Saudi King Abdullah at the Group of 20 summit in London last week. Mr. Obama later said in Strasbourg, France, "We have to change our behavior in showing the Muslim world greater respect." Symbolism is important in world affairs. By bending over to show greater respect to Islam, the U.S. president belittled the power and independence of the United States. The bow was an extraordinary protocol violation. Such an act...

A photo of President Obama apparently bowing in front of King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia is stirring a royal-size controversy. The photo and a video were largely ignored by mainstream media outlets but created outrage in some quarters. “Such an act is a traditional obeisance befitting a king's subjects, not his peer. There is no precedent for U.S. presidents bowing to Saudi or any other royals,” said the conservative Washington Times. An Obama aide speaking anonymously denied that the president was bowing. “It wasn’t a bow. He grasped his hand with two hands, and he’s taller than King Abdullah,” the...

During the G-20 summit in London, Barack Obama took time out for a brief meeting with King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia caught on video by two cameras, and by a still photographer, where the U.S. president bowed deeply in greeting the Saudi monarch. No major American media paid any attention to the startling, unreciprocated bow, gesture of subservience. In tandem, there was scant paid attention to a disquieting comment by Obama when he spoke effusively about a 2002 Saudi peace initiative for normalization of relations between the Arab world and Israel. The Saudi initiative, which would end Israel as a...

The new Saudi king has ordered citizens not to kiss his hand, saying the traditional gesture of respect is degrading and violates Islam. "Kissing hands is alien to our values and morals, and is not accepted by free and noble souls," Abdullah told a delegation from Baha, in southwest Saudi Arabia, which came to the royal palace to offer congratulations on his accession. "It also leads to bowing, which is a violation of God's law. The faithful bow to no one but God."

While I don’t post a lot on Twitter myself, I do learn a few things by monitoring my feed. For those wondering why the media hasn’t reported at all on Barack Obama’s protocol-smashing deep-waisted bow to King Abdullah — besides the usual Cover Obama’s Behind impulse — a few people are suggesting that media outlets are taking the position that Obama was really picking something off the ground instead of bowing. Where did they get idea? Certainly not from the video. I’ve highlighted the portion, and repeat it a couple of times to be clear: Very clearly, throughout the bow,...

Why is the POTUS bowing to Saudi royalty? (.53sec mark on the video) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S60U-hl35Gw

April 02, 2009Obama bows down to Saudi KingClarice Feldman I am quite certain that this is not the protocol, and is most unbecoming a President of the United States.

Religion of Irony alert. Al Qaeda's #3 has called for the death of Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah for meeting with the Pope and calling for interfaith dialogue. Why does this get King Abdullah a death fatwa? The logic goes something like this: The Pope offended Muhammad by suggesting that the Muslim prophet spread Islam by the sword. For this, the Pope deserves death. King Abdullah deserves death by colluding with the Pope and abandoning violent jihad. It would be funny if it weren't so tragic. Al Libi also is accuses King Abdullah of being involved in some conspiracy --part...

It wasn't your typical dash to the airport. But then when you are King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia, nothing in life is particularly ordinary. Unlike most travellers, the ruler enjoyed a majestic trip along the M4 to Heathrow – in a jaw-dropping 22-vehicle motorcade that monopolised the outside lane. The convoy from Buckingham Palace, where King Abdullah had bid farewell to the Queen at the end of his controversial state visit to Britain, kept at a leisurely 55mph on the motorway. Scroll down for more... A 22-car motorcade accompanies the Saudi King to the airport Leading were two police motorcyclists...