The players - resources on key people and personalities in Saudi Arabia.
Issues and ideas - a selection of articles covering key topics.
Perspectives: from the GSN archive - articles from GSN's extensive database.
Saudi government list and other notables
Who's who in the government and other senior positions.
Published November 2009.
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Turki Al-Faisal on Iraq and US policy
Iraqi concerns about their neighbours’ intensions towards their country may have been underlined by comments from former Saudi General Intelligence Department chief and ambassador to London and Washington Prince Turki Al-Faisal, who has accused Iraqi prime minister Nouri Al-Maliki of trying to ‘hijack’ the results of the March general election.
Issue 877, 21 May 2010. 
more
Sharia codification plans divide Saudi clerics
The Council of Ulema has approved King Abdullah’s plans to codify sharia law, but Sahwa preachers are divided over an issue that could significantly reduce their power
Issue 875, 23 April 2010. more
Crown Prince Sultan: Out and about
In mid-March, Crown Prince Sultan toured the southern border region and inspected troops in Jizan. His large entourage included senior family members Bandar Bin Mohammed, Khalid Bin Fahd Bin Khalid, Khalid Bin Saad Bin Fahd (all of the Abdelrahman branch) and Sultan’s son Khalid.
Issue 874, 9 April 2010. more
Also see Issue 868, 18 December 2009. Crown Prince Sultan: Back in the Kingdom
No great leap forward, but King Abdullah remains committed to reform
Abdullah has proved sympathetic to reformists and the emergence of a more tolerant kingdom, promoting national dialogue and seeking to protect vulnerable Saudis. But there are clear limits to this process, imposed by the king’s age and by conservative perceptions that still drive policy
Issue 866, Saudi special, 2 December 2009. Download the PDF
Succession remains a critical issue in a system based on age and genealogy
Since coming to power, King Abdullah has moved to formalise the succession, but the issue is always rife with speculation – much of which recently has focused on Prince Nayef and the growing role of the grandchildren’s generation, writes Eleanor Gillespie
Issue 866, Saudi special, 2 December 2009. Download the PDF
Ailing Al-Bayaa head Mishaal in Geneva
Following rumours last month that Prince Mishaal Bin Abdelaziz may have suffered a stroke, the Allegiance Commission (Al-Hayat Al-Bayaa) chairman is in Geneva for health care.
Issue 863, 23 October 2009. more
Assassination attempt improves Mohammed Bin Nayef’s fortunes
Regional attention is focusing on the assistant interior minister as a serious contender for the Saudi throne following his narrow escape from a terrorist attack, writes Sultan Sooud Al-Qassemi
Issue 863, 23 October 2009. more
Bandar ‘out of favour’ over alleged freelance contacts with disaffected military
Controversy over the whereabouts of former Saudi ambassador to the United States Prince Bandar Bin Sultan Bin Abdelaziz has been reignited by comments made on Iran’s Al-Alam TV by the exiled Islamist oppositionist Saad Al-Fagih. In comments picked up by some other regional media, Al-Fagih alleged that the former envoy was confined to his home because of “contacts” with officers in the Saudi Arabian National Guard (SANG) and Royal Guard. It has not been possible to verify the claims but in a 5 August interview with GSN Fagih was insistent they had veracity.
Issue 859, 7 August 2009. more
Political caution accompanies social reform as King Abdullah keeps establishment on side
The King is overseeing a programme of cautious change, but is reluctant to ease the family hold on real power or alienate powerful religious interests. It takes fine political judgment to bolster the position of his Shammar branch of the family without provoking a rift with the Sudeiris and other powerful factions.
Issue 858, 24 July 2009. more
Also see Issue 858, 24 July 2009. As princes praise patriarch, protocol points to current Al-Saud pecking order
Security veteran Nayef is the coming man, but not yet an assured successor in Saudi Arabia
Promotion to become second deputy PM is a key step towards a throne the interior minister has long coveted, but reports that, with Crown Prince Sultan ailing, Prince Nayef is the anointed successor seem premature as King Abdullah’s true intentions remain unclear.
Issue 851, 17 April 2009. more
Also see Issue 848, 27 February 2009: CP Sultan goes back to America; Issue 845, 16 January 2009 Saudi succession issues surface once more as Sultan rests after US medical trip; Issue 842, 5 December 2008: Succession manoeuvres with Sultan in US for tests; Issue 829, 16 May 2008: As Sultan convalesces, it’s time for a Saudi generational rethink; Issue 828, 2 May 2008: Sultan health fears add impetus to Saudi elite politicking
TOP
Economy & Finances
Saudi Arabia leads way on project financing deals
A cluster of new financing facilities has raised well over $10bn, boosting the GCC’s project finance market
Issue 880, 2 July 2010. more
Economy robust, but challenges remain, says Riyad Capital
The Saudi economy did better last year than most analysts expected, with the 2010 budget, the Kingdom’s largest, showing the government’s determination to support the economy through trying times, according to Riyad Capital’s latest Quarterly Saudi Economic Report.
Issue 873, 19 March 2010. more
Government
Oil industry fears policy shift
Comments in early July by King Abdullah Bin Abdelaziz that oil production must be halted to leave resources for the next generation has provoked concern across the sector.
Issue 881, 16 July 2010. more
Sharia codification plans divide Saudi clerics
The Council of Ulema has approved King Abdullah’s plans to codify sharia law, but Sahwa preachers are divided over an issue that could significantly reduce their power
Issue 875, 23 April 2010. more
regional relations
Saudi Arabia/Yemen: Border controls
Marib governor Naji Abdelaziz Al-Zaidi in late June said that Yemen continues to work closely with Saudi security and intelligence on border controls. He said close co-operation was especially aimed at preventing Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula from using Marib’s desert area to cross the border.
Issue 880, 2 July 2010. more
Saudi mediation cools tensions in Middle Gulf
Recent tensions between Manama and Doha are forecast to cool following reported mediation efforts by the Saudis. Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Hamad on 27 May rang Saudi King Abdullah to thank him for helping to appoint a new Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC) head, a rotating post. Sheikh Hamad also rang Bahrain’s King Hamad to praise him for accepting the Saudi initiative. Qatari premier and foreign minister Sheikh Hamad Bin Jassim Bin Jabr Al-Thani was in Riyadh for talks with King Abdullah on 21 May.
Issue 878, 4 June 2010. more
Turki Al-Faisal on Iraq and US policy
Iraqi concerns about their neighbours’ intensions towards their country may have been underlined by comments from former Saudi General Intelligence Department chief and ambassador to London and Washington Prince Turki Al-Faisal, who has accused Iraqi prime minister Nouri Al-Maliki of trying to ‘hijack’ the results of the March general election.
Issue 877, 21 May 2010. more
Security
Special court head removed
Al-Watan newspaper has reported that the authorities have removed the president and two other judges of the security court where trials are ongoing for hundreds of suspected Islamist militants.
Issue 881, 16 July 2010. more
Al-Qusayir’s arrest highlights role of wives and widows in Saudi terrorism campaign
There is always something new and surprising to learn about militancy in Saudi Arabia, and Al-Qaeda’s pledge to kidnap royals and foreigners has revealed interesting features of the evolving threat
Issue 880, 2 July 2010. more
Al-Qaeda threat to Al-Saud and Christians
A senior member of Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula has called for supporters to kidnap Christians and Al-Saud members to secure the release of militants held in the Kingdom.
Issue 878, 4 June 2010. more
Succession
Crown Prince Sultan: Out and about
In mid-March, Crown Prince Sultan toured the southern border region and inspected troops in Jizan. His large entourage included senior family members Bandar Bin Mohammed, Khalid Bin Fahd Bin Khalid, Khalid Bin Saad Bin Fahd (all of the Abdelrahman branch) and Sultan’s son Khalid.
Issue 874, 9 April 2010. more
Also see Issue 868, 18 December 2009. Crown Prince Sultan: Back in the Kingdom
Succession remains a critical issue in a system based on age and genealogy
Since coming to power, King Abdullah has moved to formalise the succession, but the issue is always rife with speculation – much of which recently has focused on Prince Nayef and the growing role of the grandchildren’s generation, writes Eleanor Gillespie
Issue 866, Saudi special, 2 December 2009. Download the PDF
Also see Issue 861, 25 September 2009. Saudi rumour mill continues to churn; Issue 858, 24 July 2009. Political caution accompanies social reform as King Abdullah keeps establishment on side; As princes praise patriarch, protocol points to current Al-Saud pecking order; Issue 855, 12 June 2009. Crown Prince Sultan: Plenty of visitors but no news; Issue 851, 17 April 2009: Security veteran Nayef is the coming man, but not yet an assured successor in Saudi Arabia; Issue 848, 27 February 2009: CP Sultan goes back to America; Issue 845, 16 January 2009. Saudi succession issues surface once more as Sultan rests after US medical trip; Issue 842, 5 December 2008: Succession manoeuvres with Sultan in US for tests; Issue 829, 16 May 2008: As Sultan convalesces, it’s time for a Saudi generational rethink; Issue 828, 2 May 2008: Sultan health fears add impetus to Saudi elite politicking
WOMEN'S RIGHTS
Gender segregation row rumbles on as clerics make their views clear
Controversy has erupted in Saudi Arabia over the position of Ahmed Al-Ghamdi, head of the Mecca branch of the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice. He first hit the headlines late last year after an interview in Okaz newspaper in which he spoke openly about ikhtilat, the mixing of unrelated men and women, reportedly saying that forbidding such mixing was unknown to early scholars.
Issue 876, 7 May 2010. more
TOP
| Perspectives: from the GSN archive |
Special court head removed
Al-Watan newspaper has reported that the authorities have removed the president and two other judges of the security court where trials are ongoing for hundreds of suspected Islamist militants.
Issue 881, 16 July 2010. more
King Abdullah cancels Paris trip
King Abdullah Bin Abdelaziz Al-Saud has cancelled a mid-July trip to Paris, where he was due to open an exhibition on Arabian archaeology at the Musée du Louvre.
Issue 881, 16 July 2010. more
Oil industry fears policy shift
Comments in early July by King Abdullah Bin Abdelaziz that oil production must be halted to leave resources for the next generation has provoked concern across the sector.
Issue 881, 16 July 2010. more
Bank Al-Jazira appoints new chief executive
Nabil Dawoud Al-Hoshan is the new chief executive of Bank Al-Jazira. He takes over from Ziad Tariq Aba Al-Khail.
Issue 881, 16 July 2010. more
Al-Qusayir’s arrest highlights role of wives and widows in Saudi terrorism campaign
There is always something new and surprising to learn about militancy in Saudi Arabia, and Al-Qaeda’s pledge to kidnap royals and foreigners has revealed interesting features of the evolving threat
Issue 880, 2 July 2010. more
King Abdullah makes rare trip overseas
King Abdullah left Saudi Arabia on 19 June for trips – including key talks with political leaders – to Morocco, Canada, the US and France. He travelled first to Casablanca – Morocco is a favourite of Saudi royals – and then to Toronto on 25 June to attend the G20 summit. He is being accompanied by a large delegation, said to number some 200.
Issue 880, 2 July 2010. more
Why Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula failed in 2003
Thomas Hegghammer, the groundbreaking scholar of Saudi Islamism and a long-time friend of GSN, has released his long-awaited book, Jihad in Saudi Arabia*, preceding it with a pithy report on the same issue for the Combating Terrorism Centre at West Point in February 2010.
Issue 880, 2 July 2010. more
Saudi Arabia/Yemen: Border controls
Marib governor Naji Abdelaziz Al-Zaidi in late June said that Yemen continues to work closely with Saudi security and intelligence on border controls. He said close co-operation was especially aimed at preventing Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula from using Marib’s desert area to cross the border.
Issue 880, 2 July 2010. more
Ursula Brennan’s Riyadh visit
Ursula Brennan, second permanent under secretary at the UK’s Ministry of Defence, has been in Riyadh for meetings.
Issue 880, 2 July 2010. more
Interior Minister's Haya comments
Interior minister and second deputy premier Prince Nayef Bin Abdelaziz has urged members of the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice (Haya) to be more prudent and gentle in their dealings with people.
Issue 880, 2 July 2010. more
Saudi Arabia leads way on project financing deals
A cluster of new financing facilities has raised well over $10bn, boosting the GCC’s project finance market
Issue 880, 2 July 2010. more
Campaign to free Al-Reshoudi could signal a major breakthrough for reform
Lawyers believe the long fight for the release of human rights activist Sheikh Suleiman Ibrahim Al-Reshoudi is putting down markers for change and liberalisation in the Kingdom
Issue 879, 18 June 2010. more
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