Saudi Arabia "Restricting Women"

Jul 09, 2009 - A human rights group has accused Saudi Arabia of not living up to a commitment to end the tradition of male guardianship of women. The system makes women dependent on men to manage their most basic affairs. Human Rights Watch says women are still being prevented from travelling or receiving medical treatment without a male guardian's permission. - 14 Comments

Saudis give nod to Israeli raid on Iran

Jul 05, 2009 - From The Sunday Times July 5, 2009 Uzi Mahnaimi in Tel Aviv and Sarah Baxter The head of Mossad, Israel’s overseas intelligence service, has assured Benjamin Netanyahu, its prime minister, that Saudi Arabia would turn a blind eye to Israeli jets flying over the kingdom during any future raid on Iran’s nuclear sites. Earlier this year Meir Dagan, Mossad’s director since 2002, held secret talks with Saudi officials to discuss the possibility. The Israeli press has already carried unconfirmed reports that high-ranking officials, including Ehud Olmert, the former prime minister, held meetings with Saudi colleagues. - 3 Comments

Abandoned Under Obama

Nov 11, 2009 - Abandoned Under Obama By Heather Robinson on 11.10.09 @ 6:09AM Earlier this month, Salah Uddin Shoaib Choudhury, a self-described "Muslim Zionist," traveled to the U.S. to address audiences in New York City and at Yale University. Publisher of the largest English-language weekly newspaper in Bangladesh, Choudhury has been jailed, beaten, nearly blinded, and is now on trial for his life for his reporting, and for his pro-American, pro-Israeli views. - 9 Comments

Counterterrorism: Shifting from 'Who' to 'How

Nov 06, 2009 - Counterterrorism: Shifting from 'Who' to 'How' November 4, 2009 | 1918 GMT Global Security and Intelligence Report By Scott Stewart and Fred Burton In the 11th edition of the online magazine Sada al-Malahim (The Echo of Battle), which was released to jihadist Web sites last week, al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) leader Nasir al-Wahayshi wrote an article that called for jihadists to conduct simple attacks against a variety of targets. The targets included "any tyrant, intelligence den, prince" or "minister" (referring to the governments in the Muslim world like Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Yemen), and "any crusaders whenever you find one of them, like at the airports of the crusader Western countries that participate in the wars against Islam, or their living compounds, trains etc.," (an obvious reference to the United States and Europe and Westerners living in Muslim countries). Related Special Topic Pages Surveillance and Countersurveillance Terrorist Attack Cycle Al-Wahayshi, an ethnic Yemeni who spent time in Afghanistan serving as a lieutenant under Osama bin Laden, noted these simple attacks could be conducted with readily available weapons such as knives, clubs or small improvised explosive devices (IEDs). - 1 Comment

Child rapist to be beheaded, crucified

Nov 03, 2009 - A Saudi court of cassation upheld a ruling to behead and crucify a 22-year-old man convicted of raping five children and leaving one of them to die in the desert, newspapers reported today. The convict was arrested earlier this year after a seven-year old boy helped police in their investigation. The child left in the desert after the rape was three years old, Okaz newspaper said. - 52 Comments

McChrystal Doesn’t Get It—Does Obama?

Oct 30, 2009 - Long, but worth the effort (I think) By Scott Ritter There is a curious phenomenon taking place in the American media at the moment: the lionization of Gen. Stanley McChrystal, the American military commander in Afghanistan. Although he has taken a few lumps for playing politics with the White House, McChrystal has generally been sold to the American public as a “Zen warrior,” a counterinsurgency genius who, if simply left to his own devices, will be able to radically transform the ongoing debacle that is Afghanistan into a noble victory that will rank as one of the greatest political and military triumphs of modern history. - 0 Comments

Kuwaiti women win passport rights

Oct 22, 2009 - Kuwaiti women will be able to obtain their own passport without the consent of their husbands, following a ruling by the country's constitutional court. The court, whose decisions are final, said the previous requirement was in violation of guarantees of freedom and gender equality in the constitution. The decision came about when a woman complained her husband had prevented her from leaving the country. - 7 Comments

Arabs tackle free speech taboo

Sep 17, 2009 - Across the Middle East, what would never happen in polite company now appears on broadcasts of The Doha Debates – discussion of controversy. Doha, Qatar; and Riyadh, Saudi Arabia As soon as the cameramen called it a wrap, the audience swarmed onto the TV studio set. Almost giddy with delight, several university students from Saudi Arabia went straight for chairs vacated by the performers and pretended to be stars of the show. - 9 Comments