Salem-News.com Saudi Arabia articles

Regional, World Powers on Alert After ISIL Declares New Islamic State

The move, at the start of the holy month of Ramadan, follows a three-week drive for territory by ISIL militants and allies among Iraqi's Sunni Muslim minority.

(TIKRIT, Iraq) - Iraqi troops battled to dislodge an al Qaeda splinter group from the city of Tikrit on Monday after its leader was declared caliph of a new Islamic state in lands seized this month across a swathe of Iraq and Syria.

Alarming regional and world powers, the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) claimed universal authority, declaring its leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi was now caliph of the Muslim world - a mediaeval title last widely recognized in the Ottoman sultan deposed 90 years ago after World War One.

Arab League Impotence Continues & What a Mess the Arab World is in

At the time of writing the divisions within the Arab League seem set to widen.

(LONDON) - A thought constantly in my mind, and which was reinforced by the Arab League’s 25th Summit in Kuwait, is that with Arab leaders and governments as “enemies” the Zionist state of Israel does not need friends.

The Arab League was formed in Cairo on 22 March 1945. Its six founding member states were Egypt, Iraq, Transjordan (renamed Jordan in 1949) Lebanon, Saudi Arabia and Syria.

Islamist Killing in the Name of Allah

We won’t hold our breath waiting for the mainstream media and the political elites in the Western world to face up to this reality any time soon.

(LONDON Redress News & Analysis) - People in the West, from laypersons to academics, journalists and politicians, tend not to associate Islamists with slick public relations or credit them with the ability to fool ostensibly sophisticated Westerners.

Yet, this is precisely what has happened. On television and radio, in newspapers and online, a distinction is often made between “extremist” and “moderate” Islamists, between the jihadists of Al-Qaeda and the “moderates” of the Muslim Brotherhood.

Killed Beaten Raped: Migrant Workers In Saudi Arabia

Large numbers of migrant workers relate similar stories, horrific experiences causing many to fall into ill health and large numbers to commit suicide...

(LONDON) - With few opportunities at home, millions of poor, desperate men and women from South East Asia and the horn of Africa migrate annually to Saudi Arabia.

Vulnerable at home and vulnerable abroad where many are enslaved and badly abused, some killed. Slavery is woven into the fabric of the psyche of the kingdom; according to Saudi scholar Ali al-Ahmed, a "culture of slavery pervades the country" [The Guardian[i]], and although banned in 1964, the barbaric practice of owning a fellow human being still exists here...

Bibi and Bandar Badger Obama: Better Six Billion than Six Trillion!

What the GCC/Arab League/Israeli team is asking of its western allies (meaning of course mainly the US) is to immediately fund the Islamic Front to the tune of $ 5.5 billion.

(DAMASCUS) - The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) member states—Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates—along with certain Arab League countries, plus Turkey and Israel, have this past week reportedly committed themselves to raising nearly $6 billion to “beef up” the just-hatched Islamic Front (IF) in Syria.

These “best friends of America” want the Obama administration to sign onto a scheme to oust the Syrian government...

Free Syrian Army Leader Defects, Exposing FSA as Saudi-Israeli Run Project

Saddam al-Jamal has since become associated with a group of jihadists called DAASH which are an even greater threat to the Syrian populace than the FSA.

(SACRAMENTO) - The leader of the "Free Syrian Army" (FSA) Eastern Front, Saddam al-Jamal, has broken ties with the FSA, citing that the group has been infiltrated with foreign spy agencies from the west since the beginning.

Al-Jamal, who was a member of the FSA Staff Board or Supreme Military Council, has recently dissociated himself from the FSA, its Military Council, and the National Coalition, aligning himself with al-Qaeda's "Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant," or DAASH as they refer to themselves. Sadly, the group poses a greater threat to Syria than the FSA.

Russia is the Likely Winner as US and Saudi Arabia Relations Chill

Russia would like a return to the Middle East. Today it only has one window - Syria - but it could easily open several doors.

(VADUZ Liechenstein) - Saudi Arabia has been a staunch ally to the United States for more than 50 years but that relationship is threatened by three unacceptable events which have triggered incomprehension as well as anger in Saudi Arabia.

The first happened almost three years ago with the ‘Arab Spring’ demonstrations in Egypt in January 2011.

Saudi Arabia:Immediately and Unconditionally Drop all Charges Against Waleed Abu Al-Khair

Human Rights Ambassador William Nicholas Gomes expresses his concern regarding the arrest of Waleed Abu Al-Khair, which is a worrying step in the judicial harassment of the human rights defender, along with the travel ban imposed upon him since 2012.

(Riyadh) - On 2 October 2013, human rights defender and lawyer Mr Waleed Abu Al-Khair was arrested in Jeddah city and charged with “organising illegal gatherings” in his house. He has since been transferred for further questioning to the interrogation office, which has extended his detention until 6 October 2013.

Waleed Abu Al-Khair is a human rights lawyer and founder of the Monitor of Human Rights in Saudi Arabia. He has been involved in cases against the government for jailing activists without charge and for banning women voting in municipal elections.

Saudi Arabia: 600 Lashes, 7 Years for Activist

Badawi’s wife and children moved abroad in 2012, fearing repercussions.

(YORK, UK) - A Jeddah court on July 29, 2013, convicted a liberal activist of violating Saudi Arabia’s anti-cybercrime law and sentenced him to 600 lashes and seven years in prison.

The Criminal Court found Raif Badawi, the founder of the Free Saudi Liberals website, guilty of insulting Islam through his website and in comments he made on television...

Total Rejection of DG 5 Year Term Mandate in the Name of ARU

All Rohingyas and well-wishers of the Rohingyas are sincerely requested not to recognize and deal with newly self-established 5 yrs. term with handpicked people, relatives and cronies on July 08, 2013.

(BERLIN) - The Director of Euro-Burma Office (EBO) says the current congress did not derive from the original ARU members. The former DG of ARU and his single handed action of holding Congress with new members without consultation and participation of founding 14 out of 25 founding members of ARU is not acceptable.

Therefore any outcome whatever it may be from two days congress will bear no formal recognition of the EBO.