A Brief History of Saudi Terror
Saudi authorities announced Friday that they foiled a planned suicide attack in the Grand Mosque in Mecca, Islam’s holiest site. The suicide bomber blew himself up when police surrounded the building he was in, security forces said. The kingdom has been accused by many, including U.S. President Donald Trump, of supporting terror, with Saudi nationals […]
New York Times slams ‘misguided attack on Al Jazeera’
Silencing Al Jazeera was a high priority when Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain and Yemen moved to isolate Qatar earlier this month, the Editorial Board of The New York Times (NYT) wrote in an opinion piece published on Thursday. “Qatar’s critics accuse the station of supporting Sunni Islamist terrorism and Iranian ambitions.
As Africa Faces More Terrorism, Experts Point to Saudi-spread of Fundamentalist Islam
On June 5, Saudi Arabia and its allies, including Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, cut diplomatic ties with Qatar, accusing it of funding extremist groups such as the Muslim Brotherhood and Islamic State. In response, Qatar said it was the victim of a policy of “domination and control” by its larger neighbor and […]
Qatar hosted Taliban ‘at request of US government’
Qatar hosted the Taliban at the request of the US government, the special envoy on counterterrorism for Qatar’s foreign minister told Al Jazeera. Mutlaw Al Qahtani said the Gulf country hosted the Taliban “by request by the US government” and as part of Qatar’s “open-door policy, to facilitate talks, to mediate and to bring peace”.
The five most bizarre decisions in Gulf-Qatar crisis
On June 5, three GCC members; Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, announced their decision to sever diplomatic relations with Qatar. This included a land, air, and sea blockade on the country. Those announcements were only the first phase of a number of extremely bizarre decisions that were announced over the following week, […]
UN: We are not bound by Saudi Arabia’s ‘terror list’
The United Nations says it is not bound by Saudi Arabia’s “terror list” after the kingdom named several high-profile Qatari charities that carry out life-saving work in war-torn and impoverished countries on it. Stephane Dujarric, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterras’ spokesman, said on Friday he had seen media reports that four Arab countries accused 12 organisations […]
Transcript of President Trump’s Speech in Riyadh
I want to thank King Salman for his extraordinary words, and the magnificent Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for hosting today’s summit. I am honored to be received by such gracious hosts. I have always heard about the splendor of your country and the kindness of your citizens, but words do not do justice to the […]
Saudi Man Sentenced To Death For Atheism
A Saudi Arabian man who posted videos of himself disparaging the Prophet Muhammad and renouncing Islam on Twitter had his second appeal against a 2015 death sentence denied earlier this week. Ahmad Al-Shamri was arrested by Saudi Arabia’s religious police in 2014 and charged with apostasy, a crime punishable by death in the gulf monarchy, […]
Saudi King Calls For More Moderate Islam
The king of Saudi Arabia called for a moderation of Islam as a counter to terrorism Thursday during a historic trip to Indonesia, home of the world’s largest Muslim population. The conservative reform and purist movement of Wahhabism, often referred to as Salafism, has long been the dominant strain of Islam in Saudi Arabia. But […]
Saudi Arabia Quietly Spreads its Brand of Puritanical Islam in Indonesia
When Ulil Abshar-Abdalla was a teenager in Pati, Central Java, he placed first in an Arabic class held at his local madrasa. The prize was six months of tuition at the Institute for the Study of Islam and Arabic (LIPIA), a Jakarta university founded and funded by the Saudi Arabian government.