Special to WorldTribune.com Leaders of Gulf Arab states have pledged solidarity with Morocco in its dispute with the UN over the fate of Western Sahara. Morocco expelled dozens of UN staff from the mission in Western Sahara, known as MINURSO, last month after UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon referred to Morocco’s 1975 annexation of the region […]
Special to WorldTribune.com U.S. President Barack Obama, who has a habit of bowing to Saudi royalty, flew into Riyadh on April 20. This time, though, there was no one on hand for Obama to bow to. The royal family gave Obama the royal snub. Saudi King Salman didn’t greet the president at King Khalid International Airport, nor […]
Special to WorldTribune.com Egypt has agreed to hand over ownership of two disputed Red Sea islands to Saudi Arabia. The two countries agreed to maritime borders that give the islands of Tiran and Sanafir to Riyadh, an Egyptian cabinet statement said on April 9. “This enables both countries to benefit from the exclusive economic zone […]
Special to WorldTribune.com Saudi King Salman’s son is said to be “ruling the kingdom” amid the king’s deteriorating health. The 80-year-old king is said to have Alzheimer’s or dementia, according to Lebanese media reports. Related: Saudi King Salman hospitalized after erratic behavior, Oct. 8, 2015 “The king is not in a stable condition and in […]
Special to WorldTribune.com Israel has confirmed it has been secretly communicating with Sunni Arab states, including a recent high-level visit by an Israeli delegation to Saudi Arabia. The Sunni states “are not shaking hands [with Israelis] in public, but we meet in closed rooms,” Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon said. The meeting in Riyadh last […]
Special to WorldTribune.com Chinese President Xi Jinping was on hand for the Feb. 16 launch ceremony for China’s largest investment project in Saudi Arabia, the Yasref oil refinery. Xi told reporters the refinery, which covers more than 5 million square meters in the city of Yanbu on Saudi’s west coast, conforms to the Saudi national […]
Special to WorldTribune.com Saudi King Salman has urged the United Nations to intervene after three days of clashes between Israeli police and Palestinian protesters at the Temple Mount’s Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem. Salman “expressed strong condemnation of the dangerous Israeli escalation” at the holy site, the official Saudi Press Agency reported on Sept. 16. “He […]
Special to WorldTribune.com Arabs will continue to turn away from the United States after a nuclear deal with Iran that will “wreak havoc in the region,” Saudi Arabia’s former head of intelligence said. Prince Bandar bin Sultan, writing in Lebanon’s Daily Star on July 16, said the deal between Iran and Western powers will allow […]
Special to WorldTribune.com By Gregory R. Copley, Editor, GIS/Defense & Foreign Affairs Saudi Arabia’s leadership succession restructuring and Cabinet reshuffle on April 29, offered important clues for the strategic shape of the region in the coming few years, and these may not be positive for the Kingdom. The leadership changes pulled the Kingdom back into […]
Special to WorldTribune.com ABU DHABI — Saudi Arabia’s new king has launched a purge of the sons of his predecessor. Saudi King Salman has reshuffled the Cabinet and government in what appeared to be directed against his late brother. On Jan. 29, Salman ordered the dismissal of several sons of the late King Abdullah, who […]