Diplomatic Briefing
Your exclusive news aggregator handpicked daily!Archive for Saudi Arabia
Newsline: Bahrain jails six for plotting attack on Saudi Embassy
Six Bahrainis have been jailed for 15 years each for being part of an Iran-backed terrorist cell planning attacks in Bahrain. They were also convicted of seeking to overthrow the government, suspend the Constitution and encroach on individual freedoms and rights by High Criminal Court. It is believed they planned attacks on targets in Bahrain, including King Fahad Causeway, the Saudi Embassy and the Interior Ministry. Three of them are still at large and were sentenced in absentia, including alleged masterminds. The convicted men, who confessed to the charges during initial questioning, caused chaos in court after the judge read out the verdict, shouting political slogans and police were forced to escort them out of the courtroom. Defence lawyers earlier requested judges to throw out the case, arguing it was unconstitutional as the country’s law is unclear with regard to terror cases. Four of the defendants are said to have been arrested in Qatar before being handed over to Bahrain’s security services, while the fifth was later arrested in Bahrain. They were reportedly on their way to Iran to receive training in explosives and firearms. A senior policeman earlier stated phone records were available showing the men had communicated with the head of the Iran-backed terror cell based in the UK.
http://www.tradearabia.com/news/LAW_218114.html
Newsline: Al Qaeda-held Saudi diplomat appeals for release
A Saudi diplomat kidnapped nearly a month ago in Yemen’s south has appealed to the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah Bin Abdulaziz Al Saud to meet Al Qaeda demands to secure his release, according to a video posted on jihadist Internet forums. “I appeal to King Abdullah… and the Saudi government to save me and release me from Al Qaeda organisation in return for releasing the sisters detained in (Saudi) general investigation prisons and fulfilling the remaining demands of the organisation,” Abdullah Al Khalidi said in the video. A Saudi interior ministry spokesman, cited by the official SPA news agency, warned that the abductors were “responsible for the security of Abdullah Al Khalidi.” The spokesman added that there was no indication of when the video was recorded.
http://www.omantribune.com/index.php?page=news&id=120209&heading=Other%20Top%20Stories
Newsline: Indian Embassy Rescues Nurses in Saudi Arabia
Seven Indian nurses stranded in Saudi Arabia without proper documents have been rescued and repatriated following intervention by the Indian Embassy. The nurses were stranded in two separate cases without papers, an official working with the labour section of the Indian Embassy said. “The sponsor neither renewed the residence permits (Iqamas) of the workers nor did he allow the nurses to leave during vacations as per the provisions of the work agreements,” he said. Once alerted, the Indian Embassy established communication with the hospital officials and involved some local Indian community leaders. “But, all pleas fell on the deaf ears of the sponsor, which finally led me to decide on a stronger course of action,” Aleem was quoted by Arab News as saying. According to Aleem, he then took the case to the Hafr Al-Batin deputy governor and the Director General of Health Mutlak Al-Khemyali, who extended full support in rescuing the nurses. Al-Khemyali raised the issue with the directors of the Passport Department and Labour Office. He then called the Saudi sponsor to endorse the final exit visa and pay the air fares for the nurses. “And thanks to the efforts of the Saudi officials, especially Al-Khemyali, that these nurses were finally repatriated to India last week,” Aleem said. These nurses were allegedly stranded after the new owner of a clinic closed down the organisation without giving any prior notice. He also turned down requests to extend validity of their Saudi ID papers. These nurses had been working for the last 18 years and their clinic was handed over to another third Saudi citizen on an operational contract basis after their sponsor died. The embassy succeeded in convincing him to grant the nurses final exit documents, said Aleem. The nurses were later sent back to India.
http://www.daijiworld.com/news/news_disp.asp?n_id=137976
Newsline: Road reopened after suspicious package reported at Saudi Embassy in Washington
New Hampshire Avenue NW between F St. and Virginia Avenue was reopened after a suspicious package at the Saudi Embassy was determined not to be hazardous, authorities said. Police tweeted the reopening of the road near the embassy, which sits near the Watergate complex and the Kennedy Center, shortly after 11 a.m.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/crime-scene/post/suspicious-package-reported-at-saudi-embassy-on-monday-morning/2012/05/14/gIQAQc8lOU_blog.html
Newsline: Saudi ambassador returns to Egypt
Saudi Arabia’s ambassador to Egypt returned to Cairo after tensions briefly spurred the kingdom to pull its envoys and shutter its missions. Ambassador Ahmad Kattan resumeed his duties on Sunday, the Saudi Press Agency said. Saudi Arabia called back Kattan and closed its embassy and consulates last Sunday after raucous protests in Cairo over the imprisonment of Ahmed Mohammed el-Gezawi, an Egyptian human rights lawyer. Throngs of Egyptians had gathered in front of the Saudi Embassy, calling for the release of el-Gezawi. The decision to pull out Saudi diplomats came after protesters’ “attempts to storm and threaten the security and safety of its (embassy) employees,” the Saudi Press Agency said. “What has happened in the recent days of repercussions in the relationship between the two countries is painful to every honorable Saudi and Egyptian citizen, and our decision to recall the ambassador and the closure of the embassy were only to protect its employees from other situations that could have developed with dire consequences,” the Saudi Press Agency said, quoting King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz. “We will not allow this incidental crisis to prolong.”
http://edition.cnn.com/2012/05/05/world/meast/saudi-arabia-egypt/
Newsline: Saudi Arabia to reopen Egypt embassy after protests
Saudi Arabia has announced it will reopen its embassy in Cairo after it was shut last week following protests. The Saudi ambassador was recalled after protesters gathered to demand the release of an Egyptian human rights lawyer being held in the kingdom. Saudi King Abdullah ordered the reopening of the embassy and consulates in Alexandria and Suez from Sunday. A high-level Egyptian delegation had visited the kingdom to defuse tensions. Egyptian human rights lawyer Ahmed al-Gizawi was detained on arrival in Saudi Arabia in early April and accused of insulting King Abdullah. His family says he had gone to perform a pilgrimage, but Saudi authorities say Mr Gizawi was found by airport officials to be carrying drugs – allegedly more than 20,000 anti-anxiety pills – in his luggage. Egyptian activists say he was held after lodging a complaint against Saudi Arabia for its treatment of Egyptians in its prisons. Many Egyptians work in Saudi Arabia and some claim they have been mistreated under Saudi law. After the protest outside the Saudi embassy in Cairo, the Saudis recalled their ambassador and closed the embassy and consulates citing safety concerns. However, there has been no word yet on the fate of Mr Gizawi who is thought to still be in custody in Saudi Arabia. Observers say this has been the worst diplomatic falling-out between the two regional allies since Saudi Arabia severed ties after Egypt signed a peace deal with Israel in 1979.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-17960084
Newsline: Saudis urged to reconsider Egypt embassy closure
Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood’s Freedom and Justice Party (FJP) issued a statement regarding the ongoing diplomatic row that has led to the closure of Saudi Arabia’s embassy in Cairo. “The Freedom and Justice Party has called upon the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to avoid increasing tension between Cairo and Riyadh and to reconsider its decision to shut its embassy in Cairo and consulates and recall its ambassador for consultations,” the party declared. The FJP went on to state that Egyptian activists protesting outside the Saudi embassy in Cairo in recent days were simply “expressing their opinion that insulting the dignity of Egyptians abroad is no longer tolerated – not after the peaceful revolution [early last year] that restored their will, their voice and their dignity.” The party called on Saudi authorities to allow an Egyptian team to join ongoing investigations into the case of Egyptian lawyer and political activist Ahmed El-Gizawi, who was detained last week by Saudi authorities. Results of investigations, the party added, should be announced in an “unbiased fashion to the public.” Egyptian activists have been staging anti-Saudi rallies at the kingdom’s embassy in Cairo for the last four days to demand El-Gizawi’s release and denounce the alleged mistreatment of Egyptians by Saudi authorities. El-Gizawi was allegedly detained on charges of “defaming the king” after he filed a lawsuit in a South Cairo court against Saudi monarch King Abdullah Bin Abdel Aziz Al-Saud on behalf of Egyptians held without charge in Saudi prisons. Following reports that El-Gizawi had been sentence to 20 lashes and one year in prison, Saudi officials denied the claims, stating that the Egyptian lawyer had been arrested after being found in possession of more than 21,000 pills of anti-depressant drug Xanax, the illicit sale of which is proscribed in the kingdom.
http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/1/64/40429/Egypt/Politics-/Brotherhoods-FJP-urges-Saudi-to-reconsider-Egypt-e.aspx
Newsline: Iran plot to kill Saudi envoy in Cairo foiled
Egyptian security services foiled an Iranian plot to assassinate the Saudi ambassador to Cairo several months ago, the legal advisor of the kingdom’s embassy said in local dailies. Egypt “arrested three Iranians planning to assassinate the ambassador, Ahmed Qattan,” Al-Hayat quoted Sami Jamal as saying. “Egyptian authorities informed concerned parties at the Saudi foreign ministry of the details of the plot, but the Saudi side opted to keep silent on the matter,” Jamal said. The arrests were made three months ago. Questioned about the reports, a spokesman for Iran’s foreign ministry, Ramin Mehmanparast, told reporters in Tehran that the allegation was “absolutely incorrect.” “Manufacturing such issues can only help divisions among Muslim countries and benefit the Zionist regime (Israel),” he said. Riyadh on Saturday recalled its ambassador from Cairo after angry protests outside the Saudi embassy in Cairo over the arrest of an Egyptian human rights lawyer in the Gulf kingdom. Saudi state news agency SPA said the Cairo embassy as well as the kingdom’s consulates in the Mediterranean cities of Alexandria and Suez were closed. In October, the United States accused Iran of plotting to kill the Saudi ambassador to Washington. Iran has fiercely denied any involvement in the alleged plot.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4223427,00.html
Newsline: Egypt Seeks To Woo Back Saudi Ambassador
Saudi Arabia is reported to be reconsidering the decision to recall its ambassador to Egypt, after leaders in Cairo worked to heal a rift between the Arab neighbors. The Saudis closed their mission in Egypt following anti-Saudi protests there. Egypt’s de-facto leader, Field Marshall Mohamed Hussein Tantawi, reached out to officials in Saudi Arabia in an attempt “to contain the situation.” Egyptian state media said he began efforts to heal the rift within hours of the Saudi decision Saturday to bring its ambassador back home. Protesters had besieged the embassy in Cairo and other Saudi missions around Egypt for several days last week, protesting the detention of Egyptian human-rights lawyer Ahmed el-Gezawi. His supporters say he is being held in retaliation for a lawsuit he filed against the Saudi monarchy over the treatment of Egyptian workers in the kingdom. Saudi officials counter that Gezawi was trying to smuggle in vast quantities of a banned anti-anxiety medication. The diplomatic rift is the worst in decades between two of the most influential Arab nations, and caught many average Egyptians by surprise.
http://www.eurasiareview.com/30042012-egypt-seeks-to-woo-back-saudi-ambassador/
Newsline: Saudi Arabia shuts down embassy in Egypt
Saudi Arabia closed its embassy in Egypt and recalled its ambassador following protests over a detained Egyptian human rights lawyer in a sharp escalation of tension between two regional powerhouses already on shaky terms because of uprisings in the Arab world. The unexpected Saudi diplomatic break came following protests by Egyptians outside the Saudi Embassy in Cairo to demand the release of Ahmed el-Gezawi. Relatives and human rights groups say he was detained for allegedly insulting the kingdom’s monarch. Saudi authorities said he was arrested for trying to smuggle antianxiety drugs into the conservative kingdom. Egypt’s military ruler, Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi, has asked King Abdullah to reconsider the decision, the Saudi news agency reported. The news agency said the king would look into the matter.
http://www.freep.com/article/20120429/NEWS07/204290597/Saudi-Arabia-shuts-down-embassy-in-Egypt
