In the News

Oil Installations Are Secure, Says Naimi
"Oil Minister Ali Al-Naimi said [Feb 8] that terrorist attacks in the Kingdom over the past two years had neither targeted nor harmed any oil plant in the Kingdom. The minister told reporters that oil plants in the Kingdom were under tight security with many levels.. ..adding that even if an attack were to take place, the impact on the Kingdom's production and export of oil will be negligible.." [more]

SAMA Pulls Out All Stops in Combating Terror Financing
"Saudi Arabia has been playing a leading role in the global campaign on combating terror financing and money laundering. "The Kingdom has adopted a number of statutory and administrative measures for this purpose," says the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency (SAMA) in a paper presented at the Counter terrorism International Conference.." [more]

GCC Makes Major Stride in Power Grid Project 
"GCC countries have made remarkable headway in their plan to link them with a power grid as tenders will be invited next week to implement the $1.25 billion first phase of the project. Dr. Saleh Al-Awaji, deputy minister for electricity affairs and chairman of the Gulf Cooperation Council Interconnection Authority (GCCIA), estimated the total cost of the project at over $3 billion.." [more]

Landmark Civic Polls Start [Feb 10] 
"Saudi citizens are set to cast their first ballots in history when Riyadh region goes to the polls in the first of a landmark municipal elections. Today's polls in Riyadh and surrounding areas are the first of three rounds that will eventually see elected representatives take up half the seats on 178 municipal councils across Saudi Arabia.." [more]

Women to Be Kept Out of Shoura During Reshuffle
"Shoura Council President Dr. Saleh Bin-Humaid has ruled out appointment of women on the consultative body during the upcoming Shoura reshuffle, when the number of its members will be increased from 120 to 150. 'The issue of women's participation in the Shoura as a member has not yet been mooted officially, although some writers and social forums have raised the issue..'" [more]

Extremist Teachings, Not Jobs, Cause of Terrorism: Gosaibi 
"Labor Minister Dr. Ghazi Al-Gosaibi thinks extremist teachings, not unemployment, are the root causes of terrorism in Saudi Arabia. Gosaibi blamed the spread of terrorism on the 'indoctrination that teaches young people they can kill justifiably' and the training some extremists received in terror camps in Afghanistan. 'I don't believe that terrorist movement has anything to do with unemployment,'.." [more]

Top World Experts to Address JEF
"The 6th Jeddah Economic Forum scheduled at Jeddah Hilton from Feb. 19-21 will have the participation of some of the top economic experts and political leaders.. ..Keynote speakers include Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai, Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa, Former US Secretary of State Madeline Albright, Senegal President Abdoulaye Wade, Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, Pakistan Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz, Brazilian Foreign Relations Minister Celso Amorim and Prince Turki Al-Faisal, the Kingdom's ambassador to the UK.." [more]

Saudis To Increase Oil Capacity
"Saudi Arabia, the world's largest oil exporter, plans to meet the sustained increase in global oil demand by boosting its efforts to add new capacity to a level last seen during the energy crises in the 1970s. By the end of the year, Saudi Aramco, the kingdom's state-owned oil company, plans to double the number of drilling rigs it operates in order to explore and develop new oil and gas fields.." [more]

Clerics 'triumph' in Riyadh vote
"Islamic clerics have triumphed in the Riyadh area in Saudi Arabia's first regular elections, an election observer said Friday. Suleiman al-Oqaili, the observer, told a press conference at which the preliminary results were announced that he had seen the seven winners' names on a list circulated via cell phones and the Internet. "It was promoted as a list that had a religious blessing," al-Oqaili said. A losing candidate objected to the results in Thursday's polls, claiming that the circulated list violated the electoral law by claiming religious backing.." [more]

Saudis Vote in Historic Election
"February 10 will go down in the books as the day Saudi citizens exercised their voting rights. In the first-ever elections held in the country, citizens over 21 headed to polling centers early in the day to choose their representatives for the Riyadh Municipal Council. An average 82 percent of registered voters cast their ballots in Riyadh.." [more]

High Hopes Abound for Fledgling Reforms
"Voters turned out in droves yesterday as Saudi Arabia took the first step on the road to reforms by holding the first-ever municipal elections. "This is a stepping stone for democracy, and voters feel that they have their rights to send their representative to the council to represent people's interests," said Waleed Al-Swaidan, chairman of the Saudi Arabian National Recruitment Committee (SANARCOM).." [more]

Citizens Suggest Cap on Election Expenses
"A cross-section of voters who participated in yesterday's municipal elections have called for a ceiling on election expenses on the ground that candidates with substantial resources could enjoy an unfair advantage over others.. ..Under the regulations of the Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs there is no cap on the electoral expenditure so long as a candidate can give an account of his expenses. This enabled candidates with substantial means to reach out to their voters using state-of-the-art communication tools such as the Internet, cell phones, newspaper adverts and by setting up huge tents with lavish receptions for voters, distribution of water bottles with their own photographs on the label, banners, etc.." [more]

Saudis Feel Winds Of Change
"..when the Saudis announced they were holding a counter-terrorism conference, many people thought it was ironic. But all those who had been invited showed up, including senior security officials from the US and Britain. In his opening speech Crown Prince Abdullah used all the right buzzwords - fighting terrorism, tolerance, moderation, education - journalists from around the world here to cover the event were given better access than usual, ministers who are usually reluctant to agree to interviews gave press conferences and spent time answering questions.." [more]

Riyadh Election Winners Named
"As the names of winners were announced [Feb 11], pro-Islamist candidates appeared to have emerged as a triumphant bloc in the capital in the Kingdom's landmark municipal elections held on [Feb 10].. ..One of the official complaints to the local election commission, spotted by Arab News, said that some candidates were misleading voters by telling them they were 'approved and blessed by Muslim scholars in the Kingdom as the ideal candidate for the community'.." [more]

Some Saudi Candidates Claim Election Violations
"Claims of violations from losing candidates in Saudi Arabia's first nationwide elections raised concerns on [Feb 13] that challenges could sour the country's tentative step toward democracy. More than 30 losing candidates in the Riyadh municipal elections have cried foul, claiming that the seven winners - all affiliated with mainstream Muslim organizations - violated campaign guidelines by presenting themselves as an unofficial alliance endorsed by religious sheiks. But the idea of challenging any results generated criticism from those who feared that the ground-breaking elections, held [Feb 10], would be marred by the bickering.." [more]

Riyadh Winners Refuse to Be Labeled Islamists
"Victorious candidates in Saudi Arabia's first round landmark municipal polls in the capital dismissed accusations that they were Islamists, insisting [Feb 12] that they represented mainstream Muslim society.. ..Refuting charges that candidates backed by religious sheikhs had emerged victorious, he said 'the whole election process was democratic and transparent. All candidates, who won are top professionals and moderates with Islamic orientation'.." [more]

Kingdom, Turkey Ink Landmark Security Pact
"Saudi Arabia and Turkey [Feb 12] signed a landmark security cooperation agreement and pledged to work together to combat terrorism at international level. The agreement on fighting narcotics came after talks between Interior Minister Prince Naif and his Turkish counterpart Abdulkadir Aksu.." [more]

Saudi Named WFP Envoy
"A Saudi diplomat has been named ambassador of the United Nations World Food Program (WFP). 'I am honored to be the first Saudi citizen selected for this post,' Ambassador Abdul Aziz Arrukban told Arab News. It is the first time that WFP has opened its office in Saudi Arabia after operating from Dubai in the past.." [more]

Complete List of Riyadh Region Winners
"The Election Commission announced on Friday the winners of municipal council elections in 37 precincts outside Riyadh.." [more]

Kingdom, Russia to Work for Oil Price Stability
"Oil giants Saudi Arabia and non-OPEC Russia will work for the stability of the world oil market.. .."As the Kingdom and Russia are the biggest oil producing and exporting countries in the world, it will be an essential matter for us to enhance our cooperation and coordination with Russia at the world oil market," Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources Ali Al-Naimi told a visiting Russian delegation.." [more]

Politics and Policies: Saudi's next step
"Feb. 14 marks the 60th anniversary of the summit between Saudi Arabia's King Abdul Aziz Ibn Saud and U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt. As World War II was in its final phase and the Cold War about to begin, Roosevelt realized the all-important role oil and geography would play in the decades to come, and wanted to make sure that Saudi Arabia -- along with its oil -- would remain safely on the side of America. The two leaders met in utmost secrecy in the Suez Canal's Great Bitter Lake, in Egypt.." [more]

Islamist Classification Is Not Acceptable, Says Naif
"Interior Minister Prince Naif has rejected moves to classify Saudis into Islamists and non-Islamists. He was referring to media reports that Islamists had won Riyadh Municipal Council elections. "I strongly object to the media for focusing on this issue. We don't accept such classifications, because we are all Muslims and citizens. The elections were held in the right manner. It has been proved that they (the winners) followed the law and did not create any problem," he told reporters.." [more]

Expatriates Can Apply for Saudi Citizenship in Two-to-Three Months
"Expatriates seeking Saudi citizenship can apply within two to three months, according to a top official. "A working team has been appointed to prepare the naturalization law's executive regulations, which will allow the department of civil status affairs to receive applications for citizenship. The Ministry of Interior will announce the executive laws within two or three months," said Nasser ibn Muhammad Al-Hanaya, undersecretary at the Ministry for Civil Status Affairs.." [more]

SAMA Data Paint Bright 2004 Picture
"Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency (SAMA) just released its December figures, and with it, we have a picture of the full year for 2004. Broad money supply (M3), which includes currency held by the public and bank deposits (demand, time, savings and quasi-monetary deposits) rose 17.2 percent on a point-to-point December-over-December basis in 2004, despite a 1.5 percent monthly decline in December.." [more]

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