A Land of Desert and Oil
The current image portrayed around the world of Saudi Arabia is one of trouble and unrest. The Middle East forms the bridge between Asia and Europe. The Suez canal, which is on a major trade route, allows shipping to pass from the Mediterranean across to India and Far Asia. The giant port city of Jeddah is on this trade route and is a stopping point for a lot of cargo. Dubai also is a key player in the trade routes. On the news, all we generally see is pictures of misery, and not a representative sample of what life is like. However, news organisations have very short memories, and generally are slow to put current conflicts in context. Only 60 years ago, the world engaged in a war that killed somewhere between 10 and 40 million people.Mecca is in Saudi Arabia, which is one of the worlds greatest sites of pilgrimmage.
As well as being located on this central trade route, and religious pilgrimmage, Saudi Arabia is also located close to one of the key group of oil fields in the world. All of these factors means that the administration of the territory is of interest to all the most powerful countries in the world.
Saudi Arabia is undergoing some rapid changes at the moment, which involve modernisation and construction, as the relatively young modern society develops.
Links on Saudi Arabia
- Site with Jeddah PicturesConflicting forces
Like any other country, there are tensions between the various forces that would like to influence policy in the Kingdom. The oil reserves have helped to increase the pressure on the situation. Arguments over who should control the country spill out into an ongoing conflict which results, for example, in bombings in Riyadh. Like most conflicts, there is a human cost, and at the moment, this is most clearly seen in the spate of bombings in the country over the last decade. It is not really known who is responsible for the bombs. Some sources claim external terrorist influences, others say it is internal.There are a number of interests groups lobbying and campaigning for the direction of Saudi Arabia to go one way or another.
These interest groups include the following:
Local Groups
1. Central (Najd), Eastern and Western Provinces
2. Shia and Sunni Groups
2. Local and Expatriate Groups (Indian, Philipino, Pakistani, Bangladeshi, American, British)
Foreign Groups
1. USA
2. Iran
3. Israel
4. European Countries, including the UK
Analysing politics in Saudi Arabia is very difficult. This is due to two key factors:
1. The complexity of the situation
2. The tight connection between groups reporting the situation and embedded interests
Anti-american feeling in the region is very strong due to the pro-israel stance of the US government.
WARNING: Do not select this link if you are very sensitive and don't want to be shocked - this link is to a very shocking photo is a comment on US policy in the region. It was sent to me from the middle east and is entitled: "Why Doesn't He Feel Liberated".
Click to go to root page
Events in Saudi Arabia
Gulf Daily News Article - Bahraini home safe after Saudi blast horror
A BAHRAINI woman who survived a terrorist attack in Saudi Arabia on Monday night arrived home yesterday with her husband.
Sahar Ebrahim Shakib, 24, suffered burns to her face, bruising and cuts all over her body in the attack on the Al Hamra compound, in Riyadh.
She arrived back in Bahrain in the early hours of yesterday morning with her Australian husband Andrew Anastasi, 28, who sustained deep cuts to his head and body.
They made the journey from Riyadh by car and Mrs Shakib said she was relieved to be back with her family and five-month-old daughter Katya, who escaped the blast without a scratch. "It feels safe to be back home. I really wanted to get back here, " she told the GDN yesterday.
The couple are now staying with Mrs Shakib's mother in Janabiya, while they come to terms with the attack, which killed 34 people and injured many more. They count themselves lucky to be alive - saying that everyone else in their street perished in the explosion.
Everyone on the street - all our neighbours - are dead," said Mrs Shakib, who is known to her family as Sarah. "We are the only ones from the street still alive. There were kids on our street who are now dead. "Even the people across the street from us in the apartment buildings are dead." Gunmen shot their way past security guards to get into the Al Hamra compound, where they then detonated three car bombs.
One of them exploded directly in front of Mrs Shakib's house, located in the centre of the compound, leaving a crater outside her front door. She thinks they were saved only by the fact that they had gone to bed early that night. "I think the reason that we survived - apart from someone watching over us - is that we were upstairs," she said. "The second floor collapsed and if we had been downstairs we would have died too.
"The only thing still standing upstairs was our bedroom - the rest of the second floor was gone. "I still have wood, glass and other debris in my hair."
Mr Anastasi and Mrs Shakib say they have still not come to terms with the attack, which has been blamed on Al Qaeda. But although their injuries cause them obvious discomfort, both are now able to walk gingerly around the house. The couple went for a check-up at the International Hospital yesterday to make sure that they are OK. However, five-month-old Katya - who was sleeping in a cot in the couple's bedroom when the explosions ripped through their house - appears unfazed by the incident. She was brought back to Bahrain on Tuesday by Mrs Shakib's sister Eman. A major question mark is whether the family was covered by insurance or if compensation will be awarded to the victims. But it appears unlikely that either Mrs Shakib or her husband will return to Saudi Arabia after they lost everything in the explosion. The charred remains of their passports are just some of the few items uncovered by salvage workers.
"At this time we really need to recover," said Mr Anastasi, an IT consultant for Atos Origin Middle East. "I need to speak to my company and see where we go from here. "All our belongings are gone, but my company has been excellent with helping us out. "They retrieved our passports and went back to the house to see what we could salvage.
"But for us there is nothing to go back to. I am surprised we walked out of there considering what happened to our neighbours."