Timeline Saudi Arabia
Return to home
CIA Factbook: http://www.odci.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/sa.html
Travel Docs: http://www.traveldocs.com/sa/index.htm
USLC: http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/satoc.html
Some 5,000 princes controlled all power and resources.
(WSJ, 11/12/03, p.A18)
Saudi Arabia holds the Koran as its constitution.
(Econ, 6/23/07, p.56)
The capital is Riyadh. Sunni Muslims comprise the majority and Shiite
Muslims are the minority and live mostly in impoverished villages in
the oil-rich eastern part of the country.
(WSJ, 10/14/95, p.A-11)
Religious purity called for deceased non-Muslims to be sent abroad for
internment.
(WSJ, 4/9/02, p.A1)
Saudi Arabia is about 1/5 the size of the US.
(SSFC, 10/9/05, Par p.27)
c1AD Nabatean
masons carved tombs into solid rock in Madain Salah near Madinah.
(NW, 11/26/01, p.SAS)
500-600 Arabs about this time brought back home from
India the numerals we refer to as Arabic numbers.
(SFEC, 1/23/00, Z1 p.2)
500-600 The Arabian city of Ubar, disappeared in the
early 6th century. The event was later cited by Muhammad in the Quran.
In 1992 a team of investigators announced the discovery of he long lost
Arabian city of Ubar. George Hedges (1952-2009), a Hollywood litigator,
and filmmaker Nicholas Clapp, participated in the find. Clapp later
authored “The Road to Ubar: Finding the Atlantis of the Sands” (1999).
(WSJ, 3/20/09, p.A12)
570 Jan 19, Mohammed (d.632), "The
Prophet", founder of Islam and speaker in the “Koran,” was born into
the Quraysh tribe in Makkah. He was orphaned at an early age and found
work in a trade caravan. He married a wealthy widow and this gave him
the freedom to visit Mount Hira each year to think. His birthday is
observed on the 12th day of Rabi ul'Awwal, the 3rd month of the lunar
calendar, in a festival known as Mawlid-al-Nabi. The Koran was probably
not fixed for the 1st two centuries after the emergence of Islam.
(ATC, p.59)(SFC, 7/6/98, p.A14)(WSJ, 11/15/01,
p.A16)(Econ, 4/28/07, p.97)
610 Apr 6, Lailat-ul Qadar: The
night that the Koran descended to Earth. Muhammad is believed by his
followers to have had a vision of Gabriel. The angel told him to recite
in the name of God. Other visions are supposed to have Gabriel lead
Muhammad to heaven to meet God, and to Jerusalem to meet Abraham, Moses
and Jesus. These visions convinced Mohammad that he was a messenger of
God.
(ATC, p.59)(MC, 4/6/02)
620 Aug 22, This day corresponds
to the 27th day of Rajab, 1427, in the Islamic calendar. It
commemorates to the night flight of Muhammad on the winged horse Buraq
to the farthest mosque, usually identified with Jerusalem, and then to
heaven and back.
(WSJ, 8/8/06,
p.A10)(www.atheists.org/Islam/mohammedanism.html)
620 Mohammad gained about a
hundred converts including some wealthy Meccan families. This made
other Meccans hostile. Mohammad in this year dreamed of being
transported from Mecca to the Rock of Mariah in Jerusalem, from which
he ascended into heaven and received instructions from God for himself
and his followers.
(ATC, p.59)(ON, 7/03, p.6)
622 Jul 16, Islamic Era began.
Mahomet began his flight from Mecca to Medina (Hegira).
(MC, 7/16/02)
622 Sep 20, Prophet Mohammed Abu
Bakr arrived in Jathrib (Medina).
(MC, 9/20/01)
622AD 24-Sep, In the Hegira
Muhammed left Mecca for Medina (aka Yathrib) with 75 followers. This
event marked the beginning of the Islamic lunar calendar. The new faith
was called "Islam," which means submission to Allah. Believers in Islam
are called Muslims-- "Those who submit to Allah's will." In Medina
Mohammad tried to unite the Jews and Arabs and initially faced
Jerusalem to pray. The Jewish leaders did not accept Mohammad as a
prophet and so Mohammad expelled from the city the Jews who opposed
him. From then on he commanded the Muslims to face the Kaaba in Mecca
when praying.
(V.D.-H.K.p.19)(ATC, p.60)
624 Muslims engaged non-believers
for the 1st time at the Battle of Badr.
(www.islaam.com/Article.aspx?id=128)
630AD Mohammad raised an army of
10,000 and took over Mecca (Makkah). He immediately set out to destroy
all the idols at Kaaba. The black stone remained embedded in the
corner. The area around became the first mosque, or Muslim house of
worship. Mohammad returned from Madinah and began the Islamic conquest
of Arabia.
(ATC, p.60)(WSJ, 11/15/01, p.A16)
632 Jun 8,
Mohammed, the founder of Islam and unifier of Arabia, died. His
companions compiled his words and deeds in a work called the Sunna.
Here are contained the rules for Islam. The most basic are The Five
Pillars of Islam. These are: 1) profession of faith 2) daily prayer 3)
giving alms 4) ritual fast during Ramadan 5) Hajj, the pilgrimage to
Mecca. The Sunna also calls for “jihad.” The term means struggle, i.e.
to do one’s best to resist temptation and overcome evil.
Four contenders stood out to
succeed Mohammad. They were Abu Bakr, his trusted father-in-law. Umar
and Uthman, long-time friends and advisers, and Ali, a cousin and blood
relative. Ali was Mohammad’s son-in-law and the father of Mohammad’s
grandsons. Abu Bakr was chosen as caliph i.e. successor.
(ATC, p.60,63)(HN, 6/8/98)(SFC, 12/15/98, p.A7)(AP,
6/8/03)
Iqra, which means read in Arabic,
was reportedly the first word that the archangel Gabriel spoke to
Mohammed.
(SFC, 10/22/98, p.C5)
In 2001 Minou Reeves,
Iranian-born scholar, authored “Muhammad in Europe: A Thousand Years of
Western Myth-Making ”
(WSJ, 12/12/01, p.A15)
634 Aug 22, Abu Bekr Abd Allah
(61), [al-Siddik], successor of Mohammed, died. He was a friend, an
Arabic merchant, Mohammed’s father-in-law and the first Caliph. Before
his death he appointed Mohammed's adviser Omar (Umar) as his successor.
(ATC, p.66)(PC, 1992, p.61)
644CE Nov 4, Umar of Arabia, the
2nd Caliph of Islam, was assassinated at Medina and was succeeded as
caliph by Uthman. On his deathbed Umar named a council to choose the
next caliph. The council appointed Uthman. Uthman continued to expand
the Muslim empire. [see Dec 8]
(ATC, p.67)(HN, 11/4/98)(MC, 11/4/01)
644 Dec 8, Omar I, 2nd caliph of
Islam, was murdered. [see Nov 4]
(MC, 12/8/01)
656 In Saudi Arabia Uthman
(Othman), the 3rd caliph, was murdered. Under his rule a full, standard
text of the Quran was compiled. He had appointed members of his own
family as regional governors and caused bitter jealousy among other
families. This caused an angry mob of 500 to murder him. This gave Ali
an opportunity to claim power. Some claim that Ali plotted Uthman’s
murder. Civil war broke out. Muawija, Uthman’s cousin and governor of
Syria, challenged Ali’s right to rule. Ali prepared for war but was
murdered by an angry former supporter. The followers of Ali became
known as Shiites from the Arabic meaning "the party of Ali." Those who
believe that the election of the first three caliphs was valid and who
claim to follow the Sunna reject the Shiite idea of the Imam, and are
called the Sunnis.
(ATC, p.67-68)(WSJ, 1/12/08, p.A6)
656 The Imam Ali mosque in Najaf
marks the grave of Ali, the son-in-law of Mohammed and a central figure
in Shiite Islam.
(SFC, 4/23/98, p.A16)
661 Jan 24, Ali ibn Abu Talib,
caliph of Islam (656-61), was murdered. Caliph Ali, son-in-law of
Mohammed, was assassinated and his followers (Shiites) broke from the
majority Muslim group.
(SFC, 3/16/02, p.A14)(MC, 1/24/02)
1324-1325 Mansa Musa, king of Mali, made the 3,500
mile pilgrimage to Mecca. He traveled with a very large retinue that
included 80 camels and 500 slaves. An Arab chronicler said he was
surrounded by over 10,000 of his subjects.
(ATC, p.119)(WSJ, 1/11/99, p.R6)
1400s The Saud dynasty was founded
near Riyadh.
(WSJ, 11/13/01, p.A14)
1511 In Mecca, Arabia, there was
an attempt to ban coffee.
(Econ, 12/20/03, p.90)
1517 Jan 22, Turks conquered
Cairo. Cairo and Mecca were captured by the Turks and Arabia came under
Turkish rule.
(TL-MB, 1988, p.11)(MC, 1/22/02)
1703 Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab
(d.1792), Islamic theologian and founder of Wahhabism, was born in
Arabia. He set out his ideas in “The Book of Unity” (1736). Wahhabism,
a puritan branch of Sunni Islam, was founded by al-Wahhab in a poor
part of Arabia called Najd. Saudi armies helped to spread Wahhabi
Islamic reform. A Salafi, from the Arabic word Salaf (literally meaning
predecessors or early generations), is an adherent of a contemporary
movement in Sunni Islam that is sometimes called Salafism or Wahhabism.
Salafis themselves insist that their beliefs are simply pure Islam as
practiced by the first three generations of Muslims and that they
should not be regarded as a sect. [see 1744]
(WSJ, 11/13/01,
p.A14)(www.concise.britannica.com)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salafi)
1710 Muhammad Ibn Saud was born.
(NW, 11/26/01, p.SAS)
1742-1765 In Arabia Muhammad bin Saud Al Saud allied
with Wahhabists and expanded the family domain.
(Econ, 1/7/06, Survey p.6)
1744 In Arabia Muhammad Ibn Saud,
local ruler of Ad-Dar'ia forged a political and family alliance with
Muslim scholar and reformer Muhammad ibn Abd al Wahhab. Abdul Aziz, the
son of Ibn Saud, married the daughter of Imam Muhammad.
(NW, 11/26/01, p.SAS)
1773 Riyadh fell to Abdul Aziz.
(NW, 11/26/01, p.SAS)
1780 The Ottomans build the
al-Ajyad Castle in Mecca to protect the city and its Muslim shrines
from invaders. The castle was torn down by the Saudis in 2001 to make
way for a trade center and hotel complex. Turkey called this a
"cultural massacre."
(SFC, 1/8/02, p.A6)
1792 Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab
(b.1703), conservative Islamic theologian, died. He founded Wahhabism
and set out his ideas in “The Book of Unity” (1736). In 2004 Natana J.
Delong-Bas authored “Wahhabi Islam: From Revival and Reform to Global
Jihad.”
(www.concise.britannica.com)(WSJ, 7/20/04, p.D8)
1801 Apr 21, Saudi Arabs led Sunni
raids into Karbala, Iraq, killing about 5,000 people.
(Econ, 10/11/08, p.65)(http://tinyurl.com/5qdnf3)
1803 Saud ibn Abdul Aziz, son of
Abdul Aziz, captured the Holy City of Makkah.
(NW, 11/26/01, p.SAS)
1804 The Wahhabis captured Medina,
Arabia.
(NW, 9/30/02, p.33)
1806 Apr 21, Saudi Arabs led Sunni
raids into Najaf, Iraq, killing about 5,000 people.
(Econ, 10/11/08, p.65)(http://tinyurl.com/5qdnf3)
1807 Saud al-Saud invaded Karbala,
Iraq, for the second time in 1807, but he could not occupy it.
(www.islamicsupremecouncil.org/CMS/Topics/Wahhabism/118121372002.htm)
1811 The Turks dispatched Egyptian
ruler Muhammad Ali to overthrow the Wahhabis and reinstate Ottoman
sovereignty in Arabia.
(NW, 9/30/02, p.33)
1813 The Wahhabis were driven from
Mecca. They returned a century later as rulers of the new state of
Saudi Arabia.
(WSJ, 7/20/04, p.D8)
1814 Saud ibn Abdul Aziz died.
Prior to his death Muhammad Ali Ottoman Viceroy of Egypt, retook Hijaz,
captured the son of Saud ibn Abdul Aziz and executed him in Istanbul.
(NW, 11/26/01, p.SAS)
1815 Britain took action against
pirate sheikhs protected by the Wahhabis, later rulers of Saudi Arabia,
because ships of the East India Company were attacked in int'l. waters.
Britain allied with the ruler of Muscat and Oman and Mohamed Ali of
Egypt.
(WSJ, 10/9/01, p.A22)
1824 The Saud family established a
new capital at Riyadh.
(WSJ, 11/13/01, p.A14)
1860s-1890s The Saud family moved to exile in Kuwait
when the Ottoman Empire conquered much of Arabia.
(WSJ, 11/13/01, p.A14)
1865 Faisal bin Turki, the
successor of Turki, died. He won control of most of Nejd and Hasa by
the time of his death.
(NW, 11/26/01, p.SAS)
1880 Sadiq Bey, an Egyptian army
colonel, took the first known photographs of Mecca and Medina. He
traveled extensively between 1860-1880 and kept itineraries of his
travels. The photos were sold to the Saudi government in 1998.
(WSJ, 6/19/98, p.W12)
1883 May 20, Faisal ibn Husayn
(d.1933), the 3rd son of the grand sherif of Mecca, was born in Mecca.
He later became 1st king of Syria (1920) and Iraq (1921).
(www.wordiq.com/definition/Faisal_I_of_Iraq)
1891 Muhammad bin Rashid, a tribal
leader in Hail, captured Riyadh. Rashid had already taken much of Saud
territory and concluded a pact with Turkey. Abdul Rahman bin Faisal,
leader of the Al Saud family, was forced to leave.
(NW, 11/26/01, p.SAS)
1901 Dec, Abdul Aziz (Ibn Saud)
left Kuwait with some 40 friends with plans to attack Riyadh.
(NW, 11/26/01, p.SAS)
1902 Jan, Abdul Aziz (Ibn Saud)
made an assault on Masmak fort and recaptured Riyadh.
(WSJ, 11/13/01, p.A14)(NW, 11/26/01, p.SAS)
1902 Saud ibn Abdul-Aziz, son of
ibn-Saud and brother of Faisal was born. He ruled Saudi Arabia from
1953-1964.
(www.geocities.com/saudhouse_p/alsaudf.htm)
1904 Faisal ibn Abd al-Aziz
(d.1975) later king Saudi Arabia, was born.
(www.geocities.com/saudhouse_p/alsaudf.htm)
1906 Abdul Aziz regained control
of the Nejd region.
(NW, 11/26/01, p.SAS)
1906-1926 Saudi forces captured the Al Hasa, Asir and
Al Hijaz regions, unifying much of Arabia under Saudi rule.
(WSJ, 11/13/01, p.A14)
1906 Abdul Aziz regained control
of the Hasa region.
(NW, 11/26/01, p.SAS)
1916 May 9, The Sykes-Picot
Agreement was a secret understanding between the governments of Britain
and France defining their respective spheres of post-World War I
influence and control in the Middle East. The boundaries of this
agreement still remains in much of the common border between Syria and
Iraq. Britain and France carved up the Levant into an assortment of
monarchies, mandates and emirates. The agreement enshrined Anglo-French
imperialist ambitions at the end of WW II. Syria and Lebanon were put
into the French orbit, while Britain claimed Jordan, Iraq, the Gulf
states and the Palestinian Mandate. Sir Mark Sykes (d.1919 at age 39)
and Francois Picot made the deal.
(WSJ, 2/27/00,
p.A17)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sykes-Picot_Agreement)
1916 Jun 10, Mecca, under control
of the Turks, fell to the Arabs during the Great Arab Revolt. Sharif
Hussein, Arab Emir of Mecca, led the revolt.
(HN, 6/10/98)(ON, 10/05, p.7)
1916 Oct, T.E. Lawrence (of
Arabia) met with Feisal Hussain for the 1st time.
(http://tinyurl.com/3rd3h)
1916 Nov, T.E. Lawrence was
assigned as the British liaison to Arab Prince Feisal Hussain.
(http://tinyurl.com/3rd3h)
1917 Jul 2, An Arab army led by
Feisal Hussein and Bedouin chief Auda Abu Taiya fought Turkish forces
at Aqaba killing 300 and capturing 160 Turkish soldiers.
(ON, 10/05, p.8)
1917 Jul 6, During World War I,
Arab forces led by T.E. Lawrence and Auda Abu Tayi captured the port of
Aqaba from the Turks.
(AP, 7/6/08)
1918 Sep 27, Arab forces attacked
and seized Deraa (Jordan).
(ON, 10/05, p.8)
1918 Oct 1, The main Arab force
entered Damascus (Syria).
(ON, 10/05, p.9)
1918 Arab Prince Feisal took
control of Syria.
(ON, 10/05, p.9)
1918 Lawrence of Arabia blew up
the Hijaz railway line in Saudi Arabia.
(Econ, 4/25/09, p.70)
1921 The Ikhwan fighters under
Abdul Aziz took the Jebelshammar region.
(NW, 11/26/01, p.SAS)(WSJ, 1/7/02, p.A10)
1921 Winston Churchill and T.E.
Lawrence promoted "the sherifian solution," under which the Hashemite
family-- Hussein, the sherif of Mecca, and his sons, would rule over
the region under Britain's eye.
(Econ, 7/19/03, p.69)
1921 At the Cairo Conference
Britain and France carved up Arabia and created Jordan under Emir
Abdullah; his brother Faisal became King of Iraq. France was given
influence over Syria and Jewish immigration was allowed into
Palestine.
(HNQ, 6/20/99)(SSFC, 10/14/01, p.D3)
1923 King Fahd was born in Riyadh.
(WP, 6/29/96, p.A20)(NW, 11/26/01, p.SAS)
1924 Mar 3, Kemal Ataturk forced
the abolition of the Muslim caliphate through the protesting assembly
and banned all Kurdish schools, publications and associations. This
ended the Ottoman Empire and created the modern Middle East, though
Iraq, Jordan, Syria and Saudi Arabia were still colonies of Britain and
France.
(WSJ, 2/11/99, p.A24)(SSFC, 10/14/01, p.A3)
1924 Oct, The Kingdom of the Hijaz
(later Saudi Arabia) was short lived with King Hussain abdicating in
favor of his son Ali. Hussain was exiled to Cyprus, eventually dying in
Amman in 1930. Ali himself departed the Hijaz in December 1925.
(www.rogersstudy.co.uk/hejaz/al_nahda/al_nahda.html)
1924 Ibn Saud, king of the Nejd,
conquered Hussein's kingdom of Hijaz and launched Wahhabi rule over
Saudi Arabia.
(Econ, 7/19/03, p.69)
1924-1926 Abdul Aziz took Makkah, Madina and Asir.
(NW, 11/26/01, p.SAS)
1926 Jan, Abdul Aziz was
declared King of Hejaz and the Sultan of Nejd and its Dependencies.
(www.rogersstudy.co.uk/hejaz/al_nahda/al_nahda.html)
1927 Jan, Abdul Aziz became King
of Hejaz, Nejd and its Dependencies.
(www.rogersstudy.co.uk/hejaz/al_nahda/al_nahda.html)
1927 May 20, Saudi Arabia became
independent of Great Britain with the Treaty of Jedda.
(MC, 5/20/02)
1927-1928 King Abd al-Aziz crushed an uprising be
fanatical Islamist tribes of central Arabia.
(WSJ, 6/30/04, p.A7)
1931 Mohammad bin Laden immigrated
to Saudi Arabia from Yemen. He established a construction business and
built close ties with the king.
(NW, 11/19/01, p.35)
1931 Osama bin Laden was born in
Jidda to a Syrian mother. He was the 17th of 51 children of Muhammad
bin Laden, a baggage carrier, who left Yemen in 1931. Muhammad and his
brothers were the founders of a prosperous construction company. In
2004 Jonathan Randal authored “Osama: The Making of a Terrorist.”
(SFC, 12/31/00, p.B9)(WSJ, 9/2/04, p.D16)
1932 Sep 22, The government of the
Kingdom of the Hejaz and Nejd officially changed its name to Saudi
Arabia.
(www.indiana.edu/~league/1932.htm)
1932 Nov 23, The kingdoms of Nejd
and Hejaz merged to become the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia under King Abdul
Aziz Ibn Saud. Abdul Aziz (d.1953) proclaimed the unified Kingdom of
Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia was named after King Ibn Saud, founder of
the Saudi dynasty. Abdul Aziz al-Saud fathered 44 sons.
(SFC, 9/1/96, Z1 p.2)(SFEC, 8/23/98, p.A15)(SFC,
5/26/00, p.D3)(WSJ, 11/13/01, p.A14)(AP, 11/23/02)
1932 Dec 22, The Kingdom of Saudi
Arabia was proclaimed.
(www.rogersstudy.co.uk/hejaz/al_nahda/al_nahda.html)
1933 May, Saudi Arabia gave
Standard Oil of California exclusive rights to explore for oil. Socal
formed the California Arabian Standard Oil Co. to drill for oil in
Saudi Arabia.
(www.chevron.com)(SFC, 10/20/04, p.C6)
1936 Jan, Standard Oil of
California found some gas and oil at their 1st Saudi Arabia test well,
Damman No. 1.
(www.chevron.com)
1936 Mar 3, Standard Oil of
California struck oil at Damman No 7. Aramco made the first commercial
oil find in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia. The English Arabist, H. St. John
Philby, orchestrated the Aramco concession in Saudi Arabia.
(HN, 3/15/98)(WSJ, 3/8/99, p.A16)(SFEC, 6/27/99,
p.T3)(www.chevron.com)
1936 The Texas Co. joined Standard
Oil in Saudi Arabia. The joint venture eventually became the Saudi oil
giant Aramco.
(SFC, 10/20/04, p.C6)
1938 Norman Lewis (d.2003),
British travel writer, authored "Sand and Sea in Arabia."
(SFC, 7/26/03, p.A22)
1945 Feb 14, Saudi King Abd
al-Aziz and Franklin D. Roosevelt met on a ship in the Suez Canal and
reached an understanding whereby the US would protect the Saudi royal
family in return for preferred access to Saudi oil. William Eddy, US
minister to Saudi Arabia, arranged the meeting.
(WSJ, 10/4/01, p.A1)(Econ, 11/8/08,
p.102)(http://tinyurl.com/5a3c49)
1945 Mar 22, The Arab League was
formed with the adoption of a charter in Cairo, Egypt. Saudi Arabia
became a founding member of the UN and the Arab League.
(AP, 3/22/97)(WSJ, 11/13/01, p.A14)
1947 The family-owned Olayan Group
was founded in Saudi Arabia and grew to became one of the country’s
largest private conglomerates.
(WSJ, 1/16/08, p.A10)
1948 May 18, Arab Legion captured
the fort on Mount Scopus.
(SC, 5/18/02)
1948 May 18, Saudi Arabia joined
the invasion of Israel.
(SC, 5/18/02)
1951 Saudi Arabia put the Ghawar
oil field into production. It measured 20 miles wide and 175 miles long
and was the largest oil field ever found.
(WSJ, 5/6/08, p.A15)
1953 Prince Fahd was
appointed as the 1st Education Minister.
(NW, 11/26/01, p.SAS)
1953 King Abdul Aziz died. He was
the founder of modern Saudi Arabia and fathered a total of 44 sons
before his death. Aziz was succeeded by King Saud who ruled to 1964.
(WSJ, 1/9/96, p.A-10)(WSJ, 10/22/01, p.A18)
1953-1964 King Saud ruled.
(WSJ, 1/9/96, p.A-10)
1956 Feb 18, The US lifted its
arms ban and shipped tanks to Saudi Arabia.
(EWH, 1968, p.1241)
1960 Sep 14, Iraq, Iran, Kuwait,
Saudi Arabia and Venezuela formed OPEC. Fuad Rouhani (1907-2004) of
Iran served as its 1st secretary-general. In 1964 he was succeeded by
Abdul Rahman Bazzaz of Iraq.
(HN, 9/14/98)(WSJ, 7/28/03, p.A8)
1962 May 3, William A, Eddy
(b.1896), former US minister to Saudi Arabia (1944-1946), died. In 2008
Thomas W. Lippman authored “Arabian Knight: Colonel Bill Eddy, USMC,
and the Rise of American Power in the Middle East.”
(Econ, 11/8/08, p.102)
1962 Nov 6, Saudi Arabia abolished
slavery.
(www.hrw.org/reports/1992/saudi/INTROTHR.htm)
1963 Prince Fahd was
appointed as the Interior Minister.
(NW, 11/26/01, p.SAS)
1964 Nov 2, Faisal ibn Abdul Aziz
Al Saud (1904-1975) succeeded his older brother Saud bin Abdul Aziz as
king of Saudi Arabia.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faisal_of_Saudi_Arabia)
1964-1975 King Faisal ruled.
(WSJ, 1/9/96, p.A-10)
1965 Prince Fahd was
appointed as the 2nd Deputy Prime Minister.
(NW, 11/26/01, p.SAS)
1965 Television arrive in Saudi
Arabia. It caused riots until senior clerics grasped that they could
use it to promote their faith.
(Econ, 1/7/06, Survey p.9)
1965-1966 King Faisal bin Abd al-Aziz defied Islamist
opposition and introduced women’s education and television. There were
70 female university students in Saudi Arabia. In 2001 the number
reached 200,000, 54% of the student population.
(WSJ, 1/2/02, p.A1)(WSJ, 6/30/04, p.A7)
1966 In Egypt Sayed Qutb (b.1906),
intellectual godfather of radical Islam, was executed by Pres. Nasser.
Qutb had earlier written: "A Muslim has no nationality except his
belief." He denounced western hedonism and the decadence of Muslim
regimes. Qutb had spent some time in the US (1948-1951) and authored
the 1951 essay “The America I Have Seen.” His brother Muhammad went
into exile in Saudi Arabia where he taught at King Abdul Aziz Univ.
Osama bin Laden was one of his students.
(WSJ, 3/22/04, p.A18)(Econ, 2/4/06, p.24)(Sm, 2/06,
p.100)
1967 June 2, Three bombs, one a
car bomb, went off in the Saudi seaport town of Jidda. One outside the
US Embassy, one at Grove Int'l, an American construction comp., and one
at the US Military Training Mission.
(WSJ, 12/26/95, p. A-7)
1967 Sep 3, Muhammad Bin Laden, a
Yemeni immigrant to Saudi Arabia, died in a plane crash. He left King
Faisal in charge of his ~50 children.
(NW, 11/19/01,
p.35)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muhammad_bin_Laden)
1972 Kamal Helbawy, a London-based
Egyptian and speaker on behalf of the Muslim Brotherhood, was invited
to Saudi Arabia to set up the World Assembly of Muslim Youth (WAMY).
(Econ, 2/4/06, p.24)
1973 Oct 17, Arab oil-producing
nations announced they would begin cutting back on oil exports to
Western nations and Japan; the result was a total embargo that lasted
until March 1974.
(WSJ, 11/4/96, p.C1)(AP, 10/17/97)
1973 Nov 19, Saudi Arabia, Libya
and other Arab states proclaimed a total ban on oil exports to the
United States. Gasoline prices quadrupled from twenty-five cents per
gallon to over one dollar. The New York stock market took its sharpest
drop in 19 years.
(HN,
11/19/98)(www.bullnotbull.com/archive/market-01222006.html)
1973 Oct 16, OPEC, the Arab
oil-producing nations, announced they would begin cutting back on oil
exports to Western nations and Japan. The next day, the five Arab
members of the OPEC committee were joined in Kuwait by the oil
ministers of Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Libya, and Syria. The result was
a total embargo that lasted until March 1974 and caused oil prices to
quadruple.
(www.harvardir.org/articles/1659/)(AP,
10/17/97)(WSJ, 7/28/03, p.A8)
1975 Mar 25, King Faisal of Saudi
Arabia was shot to death by a nephew with a history of mental illness.
The nephew was beheaded the following June.
(AP, 3/25/00)
1963 Prince Fahd became
Crown Prince and Deputy Prime Minister.
(NW, 11/26/01, p.SAS)
1975 Mar 25, King Faisal ibn Abd
al-Aziz (68) of Saudi Arabia was shot to death by a nephew with a
history of mental illness. The nephew was beheaded the following June.
In 2008 Joseph A. Kechichian authored “Faysal: Saudi Arabia’s King for
All Seasons.”
(AP, 3/25/00)(Econ, 10/04/08, p.92)
1975 Jun 18, Faisal Ibn Mussed
Abdul Aziz, Saudi prince, was beheaded in a Riyadh shopping center
parking lot for killing his uncle the king.
(http://tinyurl.com/47da5p)
1975 Saudi Arabia began
nationalizing foreign oil assets with full compensation.
(WSJ, 10/4/01, p.A1)
1975-1982 King Khaled ruled.
(WSJ, 1/9/96, p.A-10)
1977 Feb 24, Pres. Carter
announced the US was cutting off all military aid to Ethiopia because
of its human rights violations. The unstated reason was the US desire
to cooperate with Saudi Arabia to lure Somalia from the Soviet camp, an
effort which was ultimately successful.
(www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Politics/africa.html)
1977 Prince Turki al-Faisal was
promoted to head of the General Intelligence Directorate. He resigned
in 2001.
(WSJ, 10/22/01, p.A18)
1978 Fred Dutton (1923-2005),
Washington counsel and lobbyist for Saudi Arabia, helped get US
congressional approval for a major arms sale to Saudi Arabia.
(SFC, 6/28/05, p.B5)
1979 Apr 4, Bechtel Corp.
announced that it had won a contract to manage construction of a
115-square-mile airport for Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The cost was
estimated a $3 billion.
(SFC, 4/2/04, p.F3)
1979 Apr 11, Idi Amin was deposed
as president of Uganda as rebels and exiles backed by Tanzanian forces
seized control of Kampala. Amin escaped to Libya and settled into exile
in Saudi Arabia.
(AP, 4/11/97)(SFC, 10/15/99,
p.D7)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Idi_Amin)
1979 May 20, Helen Smith (b.1956),
a British nurse, died after reportedly fall from a balcony in Jeddah,
Saudi Arabia. The bodies of Helen and Johannes Otten (35), a Dutch
tugboat captain, were found in the street 70 feet below a sixth floor
balcony. Helen was found lying in the road fully clothed and Johannes,
whose underpants were around his thighs, was impaled upon the spiked
railings surrounding the apartment block. Helen’s father, Ron Smith,
did not allow her burial because he did not believe official Saudi and
British reports that the death was an accident. He believed his
daughter was murdered and that her body could provide forensic evidence
to expose a cover up. In 2009 Smith and his ex-wife decided to cremate
their daughter before they both died.
(AP,
11/9/09)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helen_Smith_%28nurse%29)
1979 Nov 16, Some 200 armed men
and women, Mahadi-ists, seized the Grand Mosque in Mecca. They
denounced the monarchy and demanded an end to corrupting modernization
and "foreign ways." Saudi preacher Juhayman al Uteybi led the radicals.
French special forces shot dead all the Wahhabi extremists.
(SSFC, 10/21/01, p.C3)(WSJ, 11/12/03, p.A18)(WSJ,
9/18/07, p.A8)
1979 Dec 4, In Saudi Arabia
security forces overran the Grand Mosque in Mecca, which had been
seized on Nov 16. One of two African-American converts, who had
participated in the take-over of the mosque, was killed. The other was
later released and returned to the US. In 2007 Yaroslav Trofinov
authored “The Siege of Mecca.”
(WSJ, 9/18/07, p.A8)
1979 Osama bin Laden left Saudi
Arabia to fight against the Soviets in Afghanistan, where he laid the
groundwork for his al-Qaeda network.
(NW, 11/19/01, p.35)
1980 Jan 9, Saudi Arabia beheaded
63 people in towns across the country for their roles in the November
1979 raid on the Grand Mosque in Mecca.
(AP, 1/9/00)(SSFC, 10/21/01, p.C3)
1980 Aug 19, 301 people aboard a
Saudi Arabian L-1011 died as the jetliner made a fiery emergency
landing at the Riyadh airport.
(AP, 8/19/99)
1981 Apr 21, Pres. Reagan called
for support for the sale of AWACS to Saudi Arabia. The proposed AWACS
sale was just the beginning of a secret $50 billion plan to build
surrogate military bases in Saudi Arabia.
(http://tinyurl.com/98qre)(http://eightiesclub.tripod.com/id110.htm)
1981 May 25, Sheik Zayed bin
Sultan Al Nahyan (1918-2004), United Arab Emirates President, urged in
5 other Arab monarchies (Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar and Saudi Arabia)
to form the Gulf Cooperation Council. The unified economic agreement
between the countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council was signed on 11
November 1981 in Riyadh.
(Econ, 11/20/04,
p.90)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gulf_Cooperation_Council)
1981 Oct 28, The US Senate voted
for the sale of AWACS to Saudi Arabia. Fred Dutton (1923-2005),
Washington counsel and lobbyist for Saudi Arabia, helped get US
congressional approval for a 2nd major arms sale to Saudi Arabia.
(http://tinyurl.com/98qre)(SFC, 6/28/05, p.B5)
1981 Prince Fahd of Saudi Arabia
proposed an 8-point peace plan to end the Arab-Israeli conflict. It was
adopted by the Arab League after some controversy.
(Econ, 8/6/05, p.71)
1982 Jun 13, King Khalid of Saudi
Arabia died at the age of 69; he was succeeded by a half brother, Crown
Prince Fahd.
(WSJ, 1/9/96, p.A-10)(AP, 6/13/02)
1982 Adnan Khashoggi, an arms
dealer from Saudi Arabia, settled divorce proceedings with his wife
Soraya for $950 million plus property.
(SFC, 2/14/98, p.E6)
1983 Nov 25, Syria and Saudi
Arabia announced a cease-fire in PLO civil war in Tripoli.
(www.defense-update.com/2005/02/arafats-dissidents-challenge-to-abu.html)
1983 In Saudi Arabia the King
Khalid Int'l. Airport opened in Riyadh and was touted as the largest in
the world. One of the terminals was mothballed at opening and remained
so in 2008.
(WSJ, 8/20/96, p.A1)(Econ, 4/26/08, p.15)
1983 Sulaiman Al Rajhi and his
brother Saleh won permission to open Saudi Arabia’s first Islamic bank.
They had begun changing money for traders and pilgrims in the 1940s. In
2007 Sulaiman Al Rajhi’s fortune was estimated at $12 billion and the
Al-Rajhi Bank was the largest Islamic bank in Saudi Arabia.
(WSJ, 1/26/07, p.A1)
1983-2005 Prince Bandar bin Sultan served as Saudi
Arabia’s ambassador in Washington. In 2006 William Simpson authored
“The Prince: The Secret Story of the World’s Most Intriguing Royal,
Prince Bandar bin Sultan”
(www.saudiembassy.net/Country/Government/BandarBio.asp).
(Econ, 12/2/06, p.86)
1985 Britain under PM Thatcher
signed an $80 billion contract with Saudi Arabia to provide 120 fighter
jets and other military equipment over a period of 20 years. Prince
Bandar bin Sultan, Saudi Arabia’s ambassador to the US, helped
negotiate the deal.
(SFC, 6/8/07, p.A16)
1986 Apr 1, World oil prices
dipped below $10 a barrel.
(MC, 4/1/02)
1987 Jul 31, Iranian pilgrims and
riot police clashed in the Muslim holy city of Mecca in Saudi Arabia.
The Saudi government blamed Iranians for the resulting 402 deaths.
(AP, 7/31/97)(AP, 2/1/04)
1987 Aug 1, Iranians attacked the
Saudi Arabian and Kuwaiti embassies in Tehran as word spread of rioting
in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, a day earlier that claimed some 400 lives, most
of them Iranian pilgrims.
(AP, 8/1/97)
1987 Aug 25, Saudi Arabia
denounced Iran's government as a "group of terrorists," and said its
forces would deal firmly with any Iranian attempts to attack the
Saudis' Muslim holy places or vast oil fields.
(AP, 8/25/97)
1988 Saudi-born Osama bin Laden
founded al Qaida (the base), a Sunni fundamentalist operational hub for
terrorist activities. The organization’s intent was to establish an
Islamic caliphate throughout the world.
(SFC, 8/28/98, p.A3)(SSFC, 7/30/06, p.A10)
1989 Jan 12, Idi Amin was expelled
from Zaire (later CongoDRC) and forced to return to Saudi Arabia.
(www.moreorless.au.com/killers/amin.html)
1989 Jul 9, Two bombs explode in
Mecca, killing one pilgrim, wounding 16. Saudi authorities blame
Iranian-inspired terrorists and later beheaded 16 Kuwaiti Shiite
Muslims for bombings. Iran denied involvement.
(AP, 2/1/04)
1989 Rafik Hariri financed a
gathering of Lebanese politicians at the Saudi city of Taif to hammer
out a deal to disband militias and distribute power more equitably. The
Taif Agreement maintained sectarian divisions in government and led to
the end of the civil war. It stipulated that Syria withdraw its troops
to the border and leave within 2 years.
(SFC, 9/28/98, p.A10)(SFC, 4/4/02, p.A13)(Econ,
2/19/05, p.43)
1989 The $140 million King Fahd
Cultural Center was completed on the outskirts of Riyadh. It has never
been opened to the public and was maintained by a fulltime staff of 180
people.
(SFC, 11/22/96, p.A20)
1990 Jul 2, Some 1402 Muslim
pilgrims were killed in a stampede inside a pedestrian tunnel leading
to Mecca in Saudi Arabia. It was worst hajj tragedy of modern times.
(AP, 7/2/00)(AP, 2/1/04)
1990 Aug 7, President Bush ordered
U.S. troops and warplanes to Saudi Arabia to guard the oil-rich desert
kingdom against a possible invasion by Iraq. The US Persian Gulf War
began. Operation Desert Shield ended Feb 28, 1991. It cost $8.1 billion
and left 383 US casualties with 458 wounded.
(AP, 8/7/99)(WSJ, 9/22/99, p.A8)(MC, 8/7/02)
1990 Aug 8, As the Persian Gulf
crisis deepened, American forces began taking up positions in Saudi
Arabia; Iraq announced it had annexed Kuwait as its 19th province;
President Bush warned Iraqi President Saddam Hussein that "a line has
been drawn in the sand."
(AP, 8/8/00)(MC, 8/8/02)
1990 Aug 11, Egyptian and Moroccan
troops arrived in Saudi Arabia to join US forces in helping to protect
the desert kingdom from possible Iraqi attack.
(AP, 8/11/00)
1990 Aug, 540,000 American troops
assembled to drive Iraqi forces from Kuwait.
(WP. 6/29/96, p.A22)
1990 Sep 22, Saudi Arabia expelled
most of the Yemeni and Jordanian envoys in Riyadh, accusing them of
unspecified "activities jeopardizing the peace and security of the
kingdom."
(AP, 9/22/00)
1990 Nov 6, In Saudi Arabia a
group of women got into cars and drove the streets of Riyadh in
defiance of a government ban. The protest, which made headlines around
the world, cost the 47 female drivers and passengers dearly. They were
arrested, lost their jobs for 2 1/2 years, were banned from travel for
a year and were condemned by the powerful clergy as harlots.
(AP, 11/14/08)
1990 Nov 21, President Bush
arrived in Saudi Arabia, where he conferred with Saudi King Fahd and
Kuwait's exiled emir.
(AP, 11/21/00)
1991 Jan 17, On the first day of
Operation Desert Storm, US-led forces hammered Iraqi targets in an
effort to drive Iraq out of Kuwait. A defiant Iraqi President Saddam
Hussein declared that the "mother of all battles" had begun. Iraq
attacked Israel with ten Scud missiles. The US Patriot defense missile
was used in battle for the first time to shoot down a Scud fired at
Saudi Arabia.
(AP, 1/17/01)
1991 Jan 22, During the Gulf War,
Iraq fired six Scud missiles into Saudi Arabia; all were either
intercepted, or fell into unpopulated areas. However, in Tel Aviv, a
Scud eluded the Patriot missile defense system and struck the city,
resulting in three deaths.
(AP, 1/22/01)
1991 Jan 24, A brief skirmish
occurred high above the Persian Gulf as a Saudi warplane shot down two
Iraqi jets.
(AP, 1/24/01)
1991 Jan 29, Iraqi forces attacked
into Saudi Arabian town of Kafji, but were turned back by Coalition
forces.
(HN, 1/29/99)
1991 Jan 30, The first major
ground battle of the Gulf War was fought at the frontier port of Khafji
in Saudi Arabia; eleven US Marines were killed, seven of them by
"friendly fire."
(AP, 1/30/01)
1991 Jan 31, During the Gulf War,
Army Specialist Melissa Rathbun-Nealy and Army Specialist David Lockett
were captured by Iraqi forces near the Kuwaiti-Saudi border; both were
eventually released. Allied forces claimed victory against Iraqi
attackers at Khafji, Saudi Arabia.
(AP, 1/31/01)
1991 Feb 23, French forces
unofficially started the Persian Gulf ground war by crossing the
Saudi-Iraqi border. Lessons learned in the savage 1972 Eastertide
Offensive paid off at the Battle of Khafji in the Gulf War almost two
decades later.
(HN, 2/23/98)
1991 Feb 25, During the Persian
Gulf War, 28 Americans were killed when an Iraqi Scud missile hit a
U.S. barracks in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia.
(AP, 2/25/98)
1991 Mar 24, General H. Norman
Schwarzkopf, the American commander of Operation Desert Storm, told
reporters in Saudi Arabia the United States was closer to establishing
a permanent military headquarters on Arab soil.
(AP, 3/24/01)
1991 Apr 29, US troops continued
airlifting Iraqi refugees from a camp in southern Iraq to Saudi Arabia.
(AP, 4/29/01)
1991 Jul 11, A Nigerian Airlines
jet carrying Muslim pilgrims crashed at the Jiddah, Saudi Arabia, int'l
airport, killing all 261 people on board. The plane was a
Canadian-chartered DC-8.
(AP, 7/11/97)(WSJ, 11/13/01, p.A14)
1991 Khalid bin Sultan was the
commander of the Saudi military forces during the Gulf war. He later
became the principal owner of Al-Hayat, an Arabic language daily
published in London.
(SFC, 1/4/97, p.A3)
1991 A Saudi businessman started
the 1st independent Arabic news and entertainment channel, the
London-based Middle East Broadcasting Co.
(WSJ, 10/25/00, p.A17)
1992 Sep 11, President Bush
announced he was approving the sale of 72 F-15 jet fighters to Saudi
Arabia.
(AP, 9/11/97)
1992 In Saudi Arabia King Fahd
decreed a basic law that for the 1st time outlined an institutional
structure for the country. A law was passed that allowed the king to
name any of his brothers or nephews as a successor, and to replace him
at will.
(WSJ, 9/25/02, p.A11)(Econ, 1/7/06, Survey p.6)
1992 A team of investigators
announced the discovery of he long lost Arabian city of Ubar, which had
disappeared around the early 6th century. George Hedges (1952-2009), a
Hollywood litigator, and filmmaker Nicholas Clapp, participated in the
find. Clapp later authored “The Road to Ubar: Finding the Atlantis of
the Sands” (1999).
(WSJ, 3/20/09, p.A12)
1993 Saudi wheat production, part
of a self-sufficiency program, grew from a few thousand tons on the mid
1970s to 4.5 million tons. The production was having a negative impact
on water reserves and production was cut.
(SFC, 3/29/97, p.A10)(Econ, 5/23/09, p.62)
1994 May 23, Some 270 pilgrims,
most of them Indonesian, were killed in a stampede in Mecca as
worshippers surge toward cavern for symbolic ritual of "stoning the
devil."
(AP, 2/1/04)
1994 The Saudis chose AT&T for
a $4 billion telecommunications project.
(WSJ, 12/18/95, p.A-10)
1994 The Saudi family of Osama bin
Laden disowned him. The Binladin Group later invested with the
Washington-based Carlyle Group, which also employed George Bush Sr.
(NW, 11/19/01, p.35)
1994 In Saudi Arabia Osama Bin
Laden, the scion of a wealthy Saudi family, was stripped of his Saudi
citizenship. He financed a host of hard-line groups from Egypt to
Algeria. His fortune was estimated at $250 mil.
(SFC, 8/14/96, p.A10,12)
1994 Safar al-Hawaly and Salman
al-Awdeh, religious militants and critics of the government, were
jailed.
(SFC, 8/15/96, p.C3)
1994-1996 The BBC ran an Arabic language satellite TV
service from a Saudi-backed company called Orbit. It ended after
Saudi’s objected to the BBC’s programming.
(Econ, 10/29/05, p.57)
1995 Nov 13, A car bomb killed 7
people, including five Americans, and injured about 60 at a military
training facility in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
(WSJ, 10/14/95, p.A-1)(SFC, 6/27/96, p.A10)(SFEC,
11/10/96, p.T5)(AP, 11/13/00)
1995 Crown Prince Abdullah bin
Abdel-Aziz has been in charge of the 80,000 man national guard since
the early 60's.
(WSJ, 10/14/95, p.A-11)
1995 A record 192 people were
beheaded.
(SFC, 8/27/96, p.A10)
1996 May 31, Four Saudi citizens
were beheaded for the bombing of a US facility last Nov 13. The
explosion shattered the Saudi Arabian National Guard training center,
and killed 5 Americans and 2 Indians. [the date doesn't seem to jive]
(SFC, 6/1/96, p.A12)
1996 May, Osama bin Laden was
driven out of Sudan under pressure from the Clinton administration. His
horse, “Swift Like the Wind,” was left behind. He had lived there for
some years running a construction company and allegedly recruiting and
training terrorists. Abdul Rasul Sayyaf, a Saudi Arabian-backed
jihadist leader, invited bin Laden back to Afghanistan and bin Laden
returned.
(SFC, 8/21/98, p.A2)(SFC, 12/17/04, p.W4)(Econ,
9/17/05, p.40)(WSJ, 8/21/98, p.A4)
1996 Jun 4, The Saudi debt load is
already equal to about $100 bil.
(WSJ, 6/4/96, p.A12)
1996 Jun 25, At least 19 Americans
were killed at a US base near Dhahran. Another 105 suffered serious
injuries from a truck bomb estimated at 5,000 pounds at the Khobar
Towers apartment complex adjacent to King Abdul Aziz Air Base. About
5,000 US troops served in Saudi Arabia. US, French and British aircraft
resumed flying 100 missions per day over southern Iraq from Saudi
Arabia. In 1997 intelligence information tied a senior Iranian
intelligence officer to Hani Abd Rahim Sayegh, a man who fled Saudi
Arabia shortly after the bombing. In 1999 the US threatened was set to
deport Hani al-Sayegh to Saudi Arabia. Sayegh feared torture and asked
for US asylum. Sayegh was deported Oct 10. In 2000 Ahmad Behbahani told
a 60 Minutes journalist from a refugee camp in Turkey that he proposed
the Pan Am operation and coordinated the 1996 bombing of the Khobar
Towers in Saudi Arabia. In 2001 13 Saudis and one Lebanese man were
indicted for the bombing that killed 19 American airmen and wounded
nearly 400 others. In 2006 a US judge ruled that Iran financed the
bombing and owes families of those killed $254 million.
(WP, 6/29/96, p.A22)(SFEC, 4/13/97, p.A14)(WSJ,
10/5/99, p.A10)(SFC, 10/12/99, p.C16)(SFC, 6/5/00, p.A9)(SFC, 6/22/01,
p.A1)(WSJ, 12/23/06, p.A1)
1996 Jun 25, Later reports said
that Osama bin Laden, an exiled Saudi billionaire, bankrolled the
bombing of the US base that killed 19 US servicemen. He was an advocate
of strict Islamic rule and had said that he would campaign to overthrow
the Saudi royal family. He had lived in the Sudan for 5 1/2 years and
recently moved to Afghanistan and was accepted by the Taliban. In 1998
a senior Saudi official absolved Iran of any involvement in the
bombing. In 2000 it was reported that the Bin Laden family firm was
awarded the contract to rebuild the Khobar Towers.
(SFC, 3/7/97, p.A17)(SFC, 5/23/98, p.A12)(SFC,
11/18/00, p.A12)
1996 Dec, Yvonne Gilford (55), an
Australian nurse, was stabbed and bludgeoned to death at the King Fahd
Military Medical Center in Dammam. Two other nurses, Deborah Parry (38)
and Lucille McLaughlan (30) were accused of the murder. Their sentences
were commuted and the accused nurses were released May 20, 1998.
McLaughlan faced charges in Scotland of stealing $2,800 from a dying
AIDS patient in 1996 before leaving for Saudi Arabia.
(SFC, 9/26/97, p.A14)(SFEC, 3/1/98, p.A19)
1996 Dec, Abdul-Karim Naqshabandi,
a foreign worker, was executed after refusing to falsely testify
against another employer. His employer, a nephew of the king, demanded
his death on false charges of witchcraft.
(SFC, 10/7/97, p.A15)
1996 Saudi Arabia’s King Fahd (73)
ceded power to his half-brother, Crown Prince Abdullah, who is
considered to be more of a traditionalist.
(WSJ, 1/2/96, p. A-1)
1996 The United Arab Emirates,
Saudi Arabia and Pakistan recognized the Taliban after they seized the
Afghan capital Kabul. All three countries cut ties with the Taliban
after it sheltered al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden following the Sept.
11, 2001, attacks on the US.
(AP, 2/24/06)
1997 Mar 2, Saudi Arab billionaire
Prince al-Waleed bin Talal acquired 5% of Apple.
(SC, 3/2/02)
1997 Apr 15, In Saudi Arabia at
least 343 Muslim pilgrims died in a fire on a plain outside the holy
city of Mecca and injured 1290. The fires stemmed from cooking gas
canisters. Aid workers and diplomats said the death toll was at least
500.
(SFC, 4/16/97, p.A1)(WSJ, 4/16/97, p.A1)(WSJ,
4/17/97, p.A1)(AP, 4/15/98)(AP, 2/1/04)
1997 Dec 18, It was reported the
Prince Alwaleed bin Talal bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud was building a 984-foot
structure called "The Kingdom Centre" in central Riyadh at a cost of
$427 million.
(WSJ, 12/18/97, p.A1)
1998 Mar, Saudi Arabia, Venezuela
and Mexico began talking to reduce oil output. They pledged to take
2-3% of the world's oil production off the market in what came to be
called the Riyadh Pact.
(WSJ, 6/23/98, p.A1)
1998 Apr 9, In Saudi Arabia it was
reported that 2.3 million Muslims made the pilgrimage, hajj, to Mecca
this year. Over 150 pilgrims died at the "stoning of the devil" ritual
during a stampede that occurred on the last day of the annual
pilgrimage to the holy city of Mecca, Saudi Arabia.
(SFC, 4/9/98, p.A10)(SFC, 4/10/98, p.A14)(SFC,
2/12/03, p.A9)(AP, 4/9/08)
1998 Jun 4, Mexico, Saudi Arabia
and Venezuela agreed to cuts in oil production and exports for the 2nd
time this year in order to raise prices.
(WSJ, 6/5/98, p.A2)
1998 Jun, Prince Turki al Faisal
of Saudi Arabia, chief of Saudi intelligence, negotiated with the
Taliban in Kandahar for the ouster or custody for trial in Saudi Arabia
of Osama bin Laden. Negotiations broke down after the Aug 7 US embassy
bombings in Africa.
(SFEC, 8/8/99, p.A15)
1998 Jul 20, Saudi Arabia attacked
a Yemeni island in the Red Sea and killed 3 guards. 3 islands and parts
of the Empty Quarter, a vast desert with potential for oil, were under
contention.
(SFEC, 7/21/98, p.A7)
1998 Saudi Arabia, in response to
a massive outbreak of rift-valley fever, imposed a trade ban to prevent
nomadic herders from selling sheep and goats for sacrifice during the
hajj pilgrimage to Mecca. The government opted to buy more expensive
Australian livestock instead.
(Econ, 2/3/07, p.80)
1998 The Saudi population was
about 12 million. In 2006 it reached 23 million. The forecast for 2020
was 33 million.
(SFC, 5/23/98, p.A12)(Econ, 1/7/06, Survey p.12)
1999 Mar 19, Saudi Arabia
permitted some 18,000 destitute Iraqis to cross the border for the
annual pilgrimage to Mecca.
(SFC, 3/20/99, p.A8)
1999 Jun 27, It was reported that
Saudi Arabia had recently opened its borders to upscale travel groups.
(SFEC, 6/27/99, p.T3)
1999 Aug 21, Prince Faisal bin
Fahd, the eldest son of King Fahd, died of a heart attack at age 54. He
headed the Arab Sports Federation and had just returned from the Arab
Games in Jordan.
(SFEC, 8/22/99, p.D5)
1999 Nov 27, Yemeni military
sources reported that 2 Yemeni soldiers had been killed over the last
few days in border clashes with Saudi Arabia.
(SFEC, 11/28/99, p.A26)
1999 Dec 9, The first day of
Ramadan. In Saudi Arabia a young man was scheduled to be beheaded by
this day unless the family of a man he killed, while performing the
mizmar dance, receive some $1.3 million in blood money.
(SFC, 12/6/99, p.A13)
1999 Anthony Cave Brown published
"Oil, God, and Gold: The Story of Aramco and the Saudi Kings."
(WSJ, 3/8/99, p.A16)
1999 Saudi police arrested
Mohammed Hamdi al-Ahdal and jailed him for 14 months for maintaining
contact with Osama bin Laden. He was then deported to Yemen.
(SFC, 11/26/03, p.A10)
2000 Jun 12, Saudi Arabia and
Yemen signed an agreement to end decades of border disputes.
(SFC, 6/13/00, p.A11)
2000 Oct 14, A Saudi jetliner was
hijacked with over 100 people and landed in Baghdad. 2 hijackers were
arrested.
(SFEC, 10/15/00, p.A10)
2000 Nov 8, Saudi Arabia opened
its border with Iraq and signed export contracts to nearly $600 million
under exceptions to US sanctions.
(WSJ, 11/8/00, p.A1)
2000 Nov 17, A car bomb in Riyadh
killed Christopher Rodway, a British technician. In 2001 3 Westerners
were arrested in connection with the bombing.
(SFC, 11/18/00, p.A12)(SFC, 2/5/01, p.A10)
2000 Nov 22, In Riyadh an
explosion hit a car and injured 3 British citizens. In 2001 3
Westerners were arrested in connection with the bombing.
(SFC, 11/24/00, p.D8)(SFC, 2/5/01, p.A10)
2000 Nov 22, Yemen identified the
bombers of the USS Cole as 2 Saudi Arabian citizens with Yemeni family
roots. One was named Abdul Mohsen al-Taifi and both had suspected ties
to Osama bin Laden.
(SFC, 11/23/00, p.A22)
2000 Dec 31, Six Persian Gulf
nations (Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab
Emirates) signed a regional defense pact.
(SFC, 1/1/01, p.A10)
2001 Jan 26, A UN panel criticized
Saudi Arabia for discriminating against women, harassing minors and for
punishments that included flogging and stoning.
(SFC, 1/27/01, p.C16)
2001 Jan, Abdulaziz al-Kohaji,
engineering student and son of a Saudi oilman, went missing from the
Community College of Denver. His body was found in a landfill in Erie,
15 miles north of Denver, a month later and police said he had been
taped to a chair and strangled before being thrown into a trash bin.
Mishal al-Suwaidi, Tariq al-Dossary and al-Yousif, suspects in the
murder, were acquaintances of al-Kohaji and prosecutors said the motive
was robbery. Suwaidi and Dossary fled to Saudi Arabia. Yousif was
convicted in the US and sentenced to life. In 2004 the family of Kohaji
pardoned the Suwaidi and Dossary and save them from execution.
(AP, 1/2/05)
2001 Mar 4, Muslim pilgrims
climbed Mount Arafat as some 2 million gathered for the annual hajj to
Mecca.
(WSJ, 3/5/01, p.A1)
2001 Mar 5, Muslim pilgrims began
the stoning of the three pillars symbolizing the devil as part of the
annual hajj to Mecca. 35 people suffocated to death during the stoning
of the devil ritual.
(WSJ, 3/5/01, p.A1)(SFC, 3/6/01, p.A11)
2001 Mar 15, Chechen rebels
hijacked a Russian plane with 174 people after it left Turkey. They
forced a landing in Medina.
(SFC, 3/16/01, p.A14)
2001 Mar 16, Saudi commandos freed
over 100 hijacked hostages held by Chechen rebels. 3 people were killed
including a hijacker, a flight attendant and a passenger.
(SFC, 3/17/01, p.A10)
2001 Mar 25, The Higher Committee
for Scientific Research and Islamic Law claimed that Pokemon games and
cards have "possessed the minds" of Saudi children.
(SFC, 3/27/01, p.F2)
2001 Apr 16, Iran and Saudi Arabia
signed a pact to fight terrorism and drug trafficking.
(SFC, 4/18/01, p.A13)
2001 Aug 4, In Florida an
immigration official turned back Muhammed al-Kahtani (al-Qahtani), a
Saudi who had flown in from London with $2,800 in cash and no return
ticket. He was later captured in Afghanistan and detained at Guantanamo
after officials suspected that he was the intended 20th hijacker for
the Nov 11 attacks. In 2008 the Pentagon dropped charges against
al-Qahtani.
(Econ, 2/16/08, p.39)(AP, 5/13/08)
2001 Aug 31, Prince Turki
al-Faisal resigned as head of the General Intelligence Directorate and
Prince Nawwaf took over.
(WSJ, 10/22/01, p.A18)
2001 Sep 13, A private Lear jet
with 3 Saudi passengers flew from Tampa, Fla., to Lexington, Ky., as
part of an effort to help prominent Saudis, who feared reprisals over
the Sep 11 attack by al-Qaida in NYC.
(WSJ, 6/1/04, p.A1)
2001 Sep 14-24, Six chartered
flights carrying mostly Saudi nationals departed from the US. [see Sep
20]
(WSJ, 6/1/04, p.A4)
2001 Sep 20, A chartered flight
left the US with members of the sprawling bin Laden family. The FBI
interviewed 22 of the 26 people aboard.
(WSJ, 6/1/04, p.A4)
2001 Sep 23, The 6-member Persian
"Gulf Cooperation Council" (Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia,
UAR) met in Jidda and pledged support for an int'l. coalition against
terrorism.
(SFC, 9/24/01, p.A7)
2001 Sep 25, Saudi Arabia withdrew
diplomatic recognition of the Afghan Taliban government.
(SFC, 9/26/01, p.A1)
2001 Oct 6, A bomb exploded in
Khobar. 2 people were killed and 4 were injured.
(SSFC, 10/7/01, p.A17)
2001 Oct 15, It was reported that
Sheik Hamoud bin Uqlaa al-Shuaibi (80), a militant Wahhabi, called on
Muslims to wage jihad on supporters of the US military action in
Afghanistan.
(WSJ, 10/15/01, p.A12)
2001 Oct 31, The Bush
administration said the Saudi government has issued an order to freeze
assets of people and groups suspected of links to terrorism.
(SFC, 11/1/01, p.A5)
2001 At Washington’s request the
UN Security Council ordered that the assets of Yassin Qadi, a Saudi
businessman and multimillionaire, be frozen soon after the Sep 11
attacks in NYC. He was alleged to be a financier of Islamic terrorism
with close links to al-Qaida. The EU froze the assets of Yasin al-Qadi,
a Saudi businessman, and the Al-Barakaat International Foundation, a
Sweden-based charity suspected of funding al-Qaida terror groups. In
2008 the EU's highest court overturned the decision saying the order
failed to offer those on a terror blacklist any legal rights to a
judicial review under European law. Also frozen were the assets of Omar
Mohammed Othman, also known as Abu Qatada, an extremist Muslim preacher
from Jordan. In 2009 an EU court voided the freeze on Othman due to
lack of proper judicial review. Othman has lived in Britain since 1993,
has been arrested several times there under anti-terrorist legislation
and currently faced deportation to Jordan.
(WSJ, 8/29/07, p.A1)(AP, 9/3/08)(AP, 6/11/09)
2002 Jan 4, A WSJ editorial by
former US Army officer Ralph Peters blamed Saudi Arabia as the source
of fundamentalist terrorism. "We must be prepared to seize the Saudi
oil fields and administer them for the greater good."
(WSJ, 1/4/02, p.A12)
2002 Jan 13, Muslim scholars
concluded a 6-day conference in Mecca and issued a definition of
terrorism as: "all acts of aggression committed by individuals, groups
or states against human beings, including attacks on their religion,
life, intellect or property.
(WSJ, 1/14/02, p.A12)
2002 Jan, Saudi Arabia began the
demolition of the 222-year-old Al Ajyad Ottoman fortress on Bulbul
Mountain in Mecca. A $120 million hotel complex was planned. The
demolition angered Turkey and destruction was halted.
(WSJ, 1/10/02, p.A9)
2002 Feb 17, Saudi Crown Prince
Abdullah presented a Middle East peace plan to NY Times columnist
Thomas Friedman. It included Arab recognition of Israel's right to
exist if Israel pulled back from lands that were once part of Jordan,
including East Jerusalem and the West Bank.
(SFC, 2/26/02, p.A1)
2002 Feb 19, In Saudi Arabia some
2 million Muslims gathered in Mecca for the annual hajj.
(SFC, 2/20/02, p.A11)
2002 Mar 7, Doctors in Saudi
Arabia reported that the world's 1st uterus transplant lasted 99 days
before it began to deteriorate.
(SFC, 3/7/02, p.A5)
2002 Mar, A fire at a girl's
school in Mecca killed 15 students.
(WSJ, 3/19/02, p.A1)
2002 Apr 4, The UN released $995
million in compensation to Kuwait for Iraq's 1990 invasion. Most went
to 1,058 individuals. Saudi Arabia received $82.6 million and Jordan
got $44.9.
(SFC, 4/5/02, p.A12)
2002 Apr 13, Ghazi Algosaibi,
Saudi ambassador to Britain, published a poem in the Saudi daily Al
Hayat titled "The Martyrs," in praise of Ayat Akhras, the Mar 29
Palestinian suicide bomber.
(SFC, 4/16/02, p.A9)
2002 Apr 20, It was reported that
recent flash flooding from torrential spring rains had killed at least
19 people.
(SFC, 4/20/02, p.A24)
2002 Apr 25, Pres. Bush met with
Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah, who told him bluntly that the US must
temper its support of Israel. Abdullah gave Bush an 8-point proposal
for Middle East peace.
(SFC, 4/26/02, p.A1)
2002 Apr, The Saudi government
cracked down on factories producing women's cloaks that violated
religious rules.
(SSFC, 5/5/02, p.A16)
2002 May, Saudi diplomats clashed
with the UN Committee Against Torture over whether flogging and the
amputation of limbs are violations of the 1987 Convention Against
Torture.
(SSFC, 5/19/02, p.A18)
2002 Jun 11, Moroccan police
arrested three Saudi nationals who were allegedly planning attacks
against U.S. and British war ships in the Strait of Gibraltar. They
were identified as: Hilal Jaber al-Assiri, Abdellah Ali al-Ghamdi and
Zuher al-Tbaiti.
(AP, 6/11/02)
2002 Jun 13, Pres. Bush met with
Saudi Prince Saud al-Faisal and indicated that he would support the
creation of a Palestinian state.
(SFC, 6/14/02, p.15)
2002 Jun 18, Saudi Arabia
announced its first al-Qaida-related arrests since Sept. 11 and said it
was holding 11 Saudis, an Iraqi and a Sudanese man behind a plot to
shoot down a U.S. military plane taking off from a Saudi air base.
(Reuters, 6/18/02)(AP, 6/18/02)
2002 Jun 20, In Saudi Arabia John
Veness, a British employee at Al Bank al Saudi al Fransi, was killed in
a car bomb explosion in Riyadh.
(WSJ, 6/21/02, p.A7)
2002 Jun, Iran transferred 16 al
Qaeda suspects to Saudi Arabia.
(SSFC, 8/11/02, p.A13)
2002 Jul 19, In Saudi Arabia
a passenger bus collided head on with a truck and caught fire outside
the holy city of Mecca, killing 26 people and injuring 24 others.
(AP, 7/21/02)
2002 Jul 22, Ahmed bin Salman bin
Abdulaziz (43), the genial Saudi prince who dominated racing the last
two years with Kentucky Derby winner War Emblem and 2001 horse of the
year Point Given, died.
(AP, 7/23/02)
2002 Aug 7, Saudi Arabia's Foreign
Minister Prince Saud said his country had made it clear to Washington,
publicly and privately, that the U.S. military will not be allowed to
use the kingdom's soil in any way for an attack on Iraq. Saud said the
longtime U.S. ally does not plan to expel American forces from an air
base used for flights to monitor Iraq.
(AP, 8/7/02)(AP, 8/8/02)
2002 Aug 13, The minaret at the
Imam Ali al Uraidh Islamic shrine complex in Medina was demolished with
dynamite.
(WSJ, 8/18/04, p.A1)
2002 Aug 27, Pres. Bush met with
Prince Bandar bin Sultan of Saudi Arabia, who said war with Iraq was
not acceptable and that Saudi Arabia would not cooperate.
(SFC, 8/28/02, p.A1)
2002 Sep 6, US officials reported
that the assets of Wa'el Hamza Julaidan, alleged al Qaeda financier,
had been frozen, and that he had been located in Saudi Arabia.
(SFC, 9/7/02, p.A8)
2002 Sep 29, A Saudi prince signed
deals worth $330 million to export Sudanese livestock and build a
five-star hotel in Sudan's capital.
(AP, 9/29/02)
2002 Nov 3, Saudi Arabia said it
would not permit bases on its soil in an attack against Iraq and would
not grant flyover rights to US military planes even if the UN sanctions
an invasion. Prince Saud later said a final decision had not been made.
(SFC, 11/4/02, p.A3)(SFC, 11/5/02, p.A7)
2002 Dec 10, Saudi dissidents
reported a new radio station, Sawt al-Islah (the Voice of Reform), had
started broadcasting from Europe to push for reforms.
(SFC, 12/11/02, p.A14)
2002 Dec 12, OPEC agreed to cut
oil production by as much as 7%, well ahead of a seasonal decline.
(SFC, 12/13/02, p.B1)
2003 Feb 8, Nearly 2 million
Muslims converged on Mecca for the annual pilgrimage. Some of the
faithful offered prayers to avert a U.S.-led war on Iraq.
(AP, 2/8/03)
2003 Feb 11, In Mina, Saudi
Arabia, 14 Muslim pilgrims were trampled to death when some worshippers
tripped amid a jostling crowd during the devil-stoning ritual of the
annual Hajj pilgrimage.
(AP, 2/11/03)(SFC, 2/12/03, p.A9)
2003 Feb 18, Saudi Arabia
said it has referred 90 Saudis to trial for alleged al Qaeda links.
Another 250 were reported under investigation.
(SFC, 2/19/03, A10)
2003 Feb 20, In Saudi
Arabia a British defense worker was killed by Saud bin Ali bin Nasser,
a Saudi citizen.
(SFC, 2/21/03, A1)
2003 Mar 25, Saudi Arabia
contacted the United States and Iraq with a peace proposal and was
still awaiting a response.
(AP, 3/25/03)
2003 Apr 28, The US moved an air
operation center from Saudi Arabia to Qatar.
(AP, 4/29/03)
2003 Apr 29, The US said it would
withdraw all combat forces from Saudi Arabia.
(SFC, 4/29/03, A14)
2003 May 6, Saudi authorities
seized a weapons cache and foiled plans by suspected terrorists. At
least 19 men were sought.
(SFC, 5/8/03, p.A1)
2003 May 12, In Riyadh, Saudi
Arabia, multiple, simultaneous suicide car bombings at 3 foreign
compounds killed 26 people, including 9 US citizens. The next day Saudi
authorities linked Khaled Jehani (29) head of a 19-member al-Qaida team
to the carnage. Ali Abd al-Rahman al-Faqasi al-Ghamdi, a senior al
Qaeda figure, surrendered Jun 26. On Jan 8, 2004, 8 accomplices were
arrested in Switzerland.
(SFC, 5/14/03, p.A1)(WSJ, 5/14/03, p.A1)(SFC,
6/27/03, p.A16)(SFC, 1/10/04, p.A3)(AP, 5/12/08)
2003 Jun 7, The Saudi interior
minister linked last month's Riyadh bombings to the al-Qaida terror
network in an interview, and his ministry identified 12 of the
attackers.
(AP, 6/7/03)
2003 Jun 15, The Saudi government
said it foiled "an imminent terrorist" attack with an overnight raid on
a bomb-filled, booby-trapped apartment in the holy city of Mecca that
left five suspects and two security agents dead.
(AP, 6/15/03)
2003 Jun, Ahmed Omar Abu Ali (22),
a US citizen, was arrested in Medina as Saudi authorities were
investigating a wave of bombings. He was convicted in 2005 in a
Virginia federal court of conspiring with Al-Qaida. In 2008 a federal
appeals court upheld the conviction, but ordered a new sentencing
hearing. In 2009 he was sentenced to life in prison for plotting to
kill Pres. George W. Bush.
(SFC, 11/23/05, p.A14)(SFC, 6/7/08, p.A3)(SFC,
7/28/09, p.A5)
2003 Jul 3, In Suweir, Saudi
Arabia, Turki Nasser al-Dandani, the top suspect wanted in the May 12
Riyadh suicide bombing, was killed along with three other militants in
a gunbattle when police raided their hideout.
(AP, 7/3/03)
2003 Jul 21, The Saudi government
announced that police arrested 16 al-Qaida-linked terror suspects over
the last 4 days and used tractors to dig up an underground arsenal: 20
tons of bomb-making chemicals, detonators, rocket-propelled grenades
and rifles.
(AP, 7/22/03)
2003 Jul 28, In Saudi Arabia 6
suspected militants were killed in a firefight with Saudi police, who
raided a farm where they were hiding out. Two police also were killed.
(AP, 7/28/03)
2003 Aug 10, Saudi police arrested
10 suspected Muslim militants following a gunfight after police tried
to stop their cars outside Riyadh.
(WSJ, 8/12/03, p.A1)
2003 Aug 11, Saudi Crown Prince
Abdullah flew to Morocco for talks with King Mohammed VI about Iraq and
the Palestinian territories.
(AP, 8/11/03)
2003 Aug 15, Saudi police arrested
at least 11 suspected militants and seized a large weapons cache in
southern Jazan province that included rockets and explosive chemicals.
(AP, 8/16/03)
2003 Aug 16, Former Ugandan
dictator Idi Amin, blamed for the murder of tens of thousands of his
people in the 1970s, died in a Saudi hospital where he had been
critically ill for weeks.
(AP, 8/16/03)
2003 Sep 2, Saudi Arabia's Crown
Prince Abdullah met Russia's Pres. Putin on the first visit to
post-Soviet Russia by a Saudi leader, aimed at coordinating oil exports
and soothing Russian concerns about alleged funding of Chechen rebels
by Saudi charities.
(AP, 9/2/03)
2003 Sep 14, A Saudi importer
of some 58,000 Australian sheep was reported to be trying to give
them away for free. The sheep had been stranded for five weeks on
the ship, the Cormo Express, due to a 6% infection rate for scabby
mouth disease. Australia in 2002 had imposed tougher rules on ships
exporting livestock to the Persian Gulf after it was revealed that
14,500 sheep had died from heat stress in one month. Some 5,700 sheep
aboard the Cormo Express died before Eritrea accepted the animals.
(AP, 9/14/03)(Econ, 12/2/06, p.88)
2003 Sep 14, Dhaher bin Thamer
al-Shimry, a Saudi marijuana trafficker, was beheaded, bringing the
number of beheadings in the kingdom this year to 41.
(AP, 9/14/03)
2003 Sep 15, In Saudi Arabia a
fire that swept through el-Haer prison in Riyadh and 94 were reported
killed.
(AP, 9/16/03)
2003 Sep 23, A raid in Saudi
Arabia on Islamic militants left three suspects dead, including Jubran
Sultan al-Qahtani (aka as Zubayr al-Rimi), an al-Qaida figure wanted by
the US.
(AP, 9/24/03)
2003 Oct 13, The Saudi Cabinet
announced that first-ever elections would be held for local councils in
14 municipalities throughout the country.
(AP, 10/14/03)
2003 Oct 14, In Riyadh, Saudi
Arabia, hundreds took to the streets demanding reforms, the first
large-scale protest in this conservative kingdom where demonstrations
are illegal.
(AP, 10/14/03)
2003 Oct 20, Saudi authorities
announced the arrests of terrorist suspects and the discovery of large
quantities of weapons and ammunition during raids around the kingdom.
(AP, 10/20/03)
2003 Nov 3, Saudi police battled
militants in the streets of the holy city of Mecca, killing two of the
suspects and uncovering a large cache of weapons. Police arrested six
al-Qaida suspects.
(AP, 11/3/03)(AP, 11/4/03)
2003 Nov 6, In Saudi Arabia 2
suspected militants blew themselves up in Mecca when security forces
tried to arrest them. A 3rd was shot to death by police during a raid
in Riyadh.
(AP, 11/6/03)
2003 Nov 8, In Saudi Arabia a
suicide car bombing that devastated a Riyadh housing complex, killing
17 people and wounding more than 120. Officials pointed to al-Qaida
terrorists as responsible.
(SSFC, 11/9/03, p.A1)(AP, 11/8/04)
2003 Nov 25, Saudi police killed 2
militants and seized a car bomb ready for detonation in post Ramadan
celebrations.
(WSJ, 11/26/03, p.A1)
2003 Nov 27, Talal
al-Rasheed, a prominent Saudi poet, was shot to death by attackers
while on a hunting trip in Algeria.
(AP, 11/30/03)
2003 Dec 6, Saudi Arabia issued
the names and photos of its 26 most wanted terrorist suspects and
increased protection around Western housing compounds in the capital.
(AP, 12/7/03)
2003 Dec 7, Saudi security forces
stormed a gas station and killed one of the country's most wanted
terrorist suspects and a second militant.
(AP, 12/8/03)
2003 Rachel Ehrenfeld authored
“Funding Evil: How Terrorism is Financed and How to Stop It.” She later
lost a libel case concerning the book brought in the English High Court
of Justice by Saudi businessman Khalid bin Mahfouz.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Funding_Evil)
2003 Dore Gold authored "Hatred's
Kingdom: How Saudi Arabia Supports the New Global Terrorism."
(WSJ, 3/27/03, p.D7)
2003 Saudi Arabia’s Tadawul
All-Share Index posted a 76% gain for the year.
(WSJ, 4/4/05, p.C18)
2003 The Saudi-owned news channel
al-Arabiya was launched from Dubai.
(Econ, 2/26/05, p.25)
2003 A CIA report said that the
Al-Rajhi Bank in Saudi Arabia had served as a conduit for terrorist
transactions since at least the mid-1990s.
(WSJ, 1/26/07, p.A10)
2003 Libya planned a covert
operation to assassinate Crown Prince Abdullah of Saudi Arabia
according to 2004 testimony by 2 jailed participants.
(SFC, 6/10/04, A10)
2003 Doctors at St. Vincent
Medical Center in LA, Ca., performed a liver transplant on a Saudi
citizen, who was 52nd on a transplant list. The Saudi Arabian Embassy
paid $339,000 for the operation. In 2005 the hospital suspended its
liver program after determining that the 2003 operation was improper.
(SFC, 9/28/05, p.A7)
2004 Jan 8, Teams of Swiss police
in 5 cantons arrested 8 suspected accomplices in the May 12 al Qaeda
car bomb attack in Saudi Arabia.
(SFC, 1/10/04, p.A3)
2004 Jan 29, In Saudi Arabia some
2 million Muslims from around the world gathered at the start of the
annual Hajj.
(AP, 1/29/04)
2004 Feb 1, In Saudi Arabia 251
Muslim worshipers died in a hajj stampede during the annual stoning of
Satan ritual.
(AP, 2/2/04)(WSJ, 2/3/04, p.A1)
2004 Mar 15, In Saudi Arabia
authorities killed Khaled Ali Haj, a Yemeni, and Ibrahim bin Abdul-Aziz
bin Mohammed al-Mezeini, a Saudi. Haj, who also uses the name Abu Hazim
al-Sha'ir, was the "most dangerous" al-Qaida operative in the region.
Haj was third on the government's list of Saudi Arabia's 26 most wanted
militants.
(AP, 3/16/04)
2004 Apr 10, Rania al-Baz, a
popular Saudi TV host, was severely beaten by her husband. She suffered
13 facial fractures that required 12 operations. She allowed photos to
be broadcast and opened discussions of ongoing violence against women
in Saudi Arabia.
(SFC, 4/20/04, p.A6)
2004 Apr 13, In Saudi Arabia
militants near Unaizah opened fire on a police checkpoint at dawn,
killing four police officers and fleeing in security agents' cars.
(AP, 4/13/04)
2004 Apr 19, Saudi police seized 2
explosives packed SUVs on a highway outside Riyadh. It the 3rd day in a
row that such a seizure was announced.
(WSJ, 4/20/04, p.A1)
2004 Apr 21, Two car bombs blasted
the Saudi security headquarters, killing at least 4 people and wounding
148.
(AP, 4/21/04)(SFC, 4/22/04, p.A16)
2004 Apr 22, Saudi security forces
killed five wanted militants and were pursuing others after shootouts
that spread over two days in the port city of Jiddah.
(AP, 4/23/04)
2004 May 1, In Yanbu, Saudi
Arabia, suspected militants sprayed gunfire inside the offices of
Houston-based ABB Ltd., an oil contractor, killing at least six people
— including two Americans and three other Westerners — and wounding
dozens. Police killed four brothers in a shootout after a car chase in
which the attackers reportedly dragged the naked body of one victim
behind their getaway car.
(AP, 5/1/04)(SFC, 5/3/04, p.A7)(WSJ, 2/25/06, p.A1)
2004 May 10, Saudi oil ministers
called on OPEC to pump more oil.
(SFC, 5/11/04, p.A1)
2004 May 20, Four suspected Saudi
militants and a policeman were killed in a shootout the Saudi city of
Buraida.
(Reuters, 5/21/04)
2004 May 28, In Saudi Arabia
suspected Islamic militants sprayed gunfire inside two oil industry
compounds on the Persian Gulf, killing at least 10 people including one
American.
(AP, 5/29/04)(SSFC, 5/30/04, p.A1)
2004 May 29, In Saudi Arabia
gunmen shot down security guards and entered 2 office complexes in
Khobar searching for and murdering anyone looking western.
(Econ, 6/5/04, p.41)
2004 May 30, Saudi commandos
stormed the expatriate resort of Khobar to free up to 60 foreign
hostages seized by Islamic militant gunmen who had attacked oil
industry compounds, killing 22 people. Americans were among those
killed and taken captive. 3 suspects escaped.
(AP, 5/31/04)(WSJ, 6/1/04, p.A1)
2004 Jun 2, Saudi security forces
killed two suspected militants linked to a weekend shooting and
hostage-taking.
(AP, 6/2/04)
2004 Jun 6, In Saudi Arabia Simon
Chambers (36), an Irish cameraman working for the BBC, was killed in a
shooting in Riyadh. A BBC correspondent was injured.
(SFC, 6/7/04, A8)
2004 Jun 8, In Saudi Arabia an
American citizen who worked for a US defense contractor was shot and
killed in Riyadh.
(AP, 6/8/04)
2004 Jun 12, In Saudi Arabia an
American was kidnapped. An al-Qaida statement, posted on an Islamic Web
site, showed a passport-size photo of a brown-haired man and a Lockheed
Martin business card bearing the name Paul M. Johnson. Islamic
militants shot and killed Kenneth Scroggs of Laconia, New Hampshire, in
his garage in Riyadh.
(AP, 6/13/04)(AP, 6/20/04)
2004 Jun 13, Saudi Arabia held a
3-day “national dialogue” in Medina on how women’s lives could be
improved. On Jun 15, recommendations (19) were given to Crown Prince
Abdullah.
(Econ, 6/19/04, p.26)
2004 Jun 15, A Saudi al Qaeda
group threatened to execute Paul M. Johnson Jr. within 72 hours unless
fellow jihadists were released were released from prison.
(SFC, 6/19/04, p.A15)
2004 Jun 18, A Saudi al-Qaida
group said it killed American hostage Paul M. Johnson Jr., posting 3
photos on the Internet showing his body and severed head. Hours later
Saudi security forces killed Abdulaziz al-Moqrin (31), a top al-Qaida
leader, and 3 other militants in Riyadh.
(AP, 6/18/04)(AP, 6/19/04)
2004 Jun 23, Saudi Arabia offered
Islamic militants a limited amnesty, saying their lives would be spared
if they surrendered but they would face the "full might" of state wrath
if they did not. Prince Nayef said foreign residents may be allowed to
carry guns.
(AP, 6/23/04)(SFC, 6/25/04, p.A10)
2004 Jun 27, Saudi Arabia
dispatched two planeloads of aid to Sudan's war-torn western region of
Darfur.
(AFP, 6/27/04)
2004 Jun, The Saudi parliament
passed legislation overturning a law banning girls and women from
participating in physical education and sports. In August the ministry
of education announced that it had no intention of honoring the
legislation.
(SFC, 8/26/04, p.B1)
2004 Jun, Fawaz al-Nashimi (aka
Turki bin Fuheid al-Muteiry), an al-Qaida operative, was killed in a
gunbattle with Saudi forces. He was involved in the May 29 attack
inside two oil industry compounds. In 2006 an al-Qaida statement
identified him as the would-be 20th hijacker for the Sep. 11 attacks.
(SFC, 6/21/06, p.A3)
2004 Jul 1, Saudi security forces
traded gunfire with militants in a Riyadh, killing one militant and
wounding one. A police officer was killed and two were hurt.
(AP, 7/2/04)
2004 Jul 12, A Sri Lankan woman
was beheaded in the Saudi capital for murdering her employer. Bader
el-Nisaa Mibari had been convicted of killing Sara bint Mohammed
al-Haqeel, a Saudi woman, after trying to rob her with the help a male
companion.
(AP, 7/12/04)
2004 Jul 13, A confidant of Osama
bin Laden (Khaled bin Ouda bin Mohammed al-Harby) surrendered to Saudi
diplomats in Iran and was flown to Saudi Arabia.
(AP, 7/13/05)
2004 Jul 16, A Saudi transport
company said it had pulled out of Iraq to save the life of an Egyptian
truck driver taken hostage by kidnappers who demanded the firm leave
the country.
(Reuters, 7/16/04)
2004 Jul 20, In Saudi Arabia the
head of slain American hostage Paul M. Johnson Jr., who was kidnapped
and decapitated by militants last month, was found by security forces
during a raid that targeted the hideout of the Saudi al-Qaida chief.
Two militants were killed.
(AP, 7/21/04)
2004 Jul 29, In Saudi Arabia Colin
Powell met with Iraq’s PM Alawi to talk about a Muslim peacekeeping
force.
(WSJ, 7/30/04, p.A1)
2004 Jul 30, Abdurahman Alamoudi
pleaded guilty in a Virginia court to moving cash from Libya and
involvement in a plot to assassinate Saudi Prince Abdullah.
(SFC, 7/31/04, p.A3)
2004 Aug 4, The official Saudi
Press reported that municipal elections across Saudi Arabia, the first
such polls in decades, have been have been pushed back two months to
November.
(AP, 8/4/04)
2004 Aug 6, Saudi officials
reported the capture of Faris Ahmed Jamaan al-Showeel al Zahrani, No.
12 on their list of 26 most wanted terrorism suspects.
(SFC, 8/7/04, p.A10)
2004 Sep 1, In Riyadh, Saudi
Arabia, 3 people were killed in a stampede to a newly opened Ikea
branch.
(SFC, 9/2/04, p.C2)
2004 Sep 2, In Saudi Arabia one
policeman was killed and three others wounded in clashes with militants
in a town northeast of Riyadh.
(AP, 9/3/04)
2004 Sep 15, In Saudi Arabia
Edward Stuart Muirhead-Smith (55) was killed at the Max shopping center
in eastern Riyadh.
(AP, 9/16/04)
2004 Sep 26, A French national was
shot and killed in the Saudi Arabian city of Jiddah.
(AP, 9/26/04)
2004 Sep 28, Saudi Arabia's
highest religious authority issued an edict barring the use of cell
phones with built-in cameras, blaming them for "spreading obscenity."
(AP, 9/30/04)
2004 Oct 16, Saudi security forces
captured four suspected militants in the Khaleej neighborhood of Riyadh.
(AP, 10/17/04)
2004 Nov 6, In an open letter to
the Iraqi people and posted on the Internet, 26 Saudi scholars and
religious preachers stressed that armed attacks launched by militant
Iraqi groups on U.S. troops and their allies in Iraq were "legitimate"
resistance.
(AP, 11/6/04)
2004 Nov 8, Saudi Arabia's Crown
Prince Abdullah launched $8 billion in development projects in Mecca.
(WSJ, 11/9/04, p.A1)
2004 Nov 16, Saudi police arrested
5 suspected militants in al-Qassim, 220 miles northwest of Riyadh,
following a shootout that killed a policeman.
(AP, 11/17/04)
2004 Nov 27, Saudi security forces
killed a suspected militant in the Red Sea city of Jeddah.
(AP, 11/27/04)
2004 Dec 6, In Saudi Arabia
Islamic militants threw explosives at the gate of the heavily guarded
US consulate in Jiddah in a bold assault, then forced their way into
the building, prompting a gunbattle that left 9 people dead and several
injured. In 2005 two AK-47 assault rifles used in the attack were later
traced to Yemen’s Ministry of Defense.
(AP, 10/12/05)(AP, 12/06/05)
2004 Dec 22, Saudi Arabia
announced it was withdrawing its ambassador to Libya and ordered out
Libya's envoy in response to reports that Tripoli plotted to
assassinate the Saudi crown prince.
(AP, 12/22/04)
2004 Dec 28, In Saudi Arabia
security forces killed three suspected militants in a raid on their
hideout in Riyadh.
(AP, 12/29/04)
2004 Dec 29, In Saudi Arabia
insurgents bombed two security headquarters in Riyadh, setting off
violence that left 10 attackers and one bystander dead.
(AP, 12/30/04)
2004 Carmen bin Ladin authored
“Inside the Kingdom: My Life in Saudi Arabia.” Carmen, the ex-wife of
Osama’s older brother Yeslam, grew up in Geneva.
(SFC, 7/29/04, p.D8)
2004 In Saudi Arabia women until
this year were legally required to conduct business through a male
agent.
(Econ, 4/12/08, p.86)
2004 Saudi Arabia’s Tadawul
All-Share Index posted a 85% gain for the year.
(WSJ, 4/4/05, p.C18)
2005 Jan 1, In Saudi Arabia 2 men,
a Pakistani and an Iraqi, were beheaded for smuggling in drugs.
(AP, 1/1/05)
2005 Jan 1, Saudi Arabia was
forecast for 2.3% annual GDP growth with a population at 25.7 million
and GDP per head at $4,110.
(Econ, 1/8/05, p.94)
2005 Jan 9, Saudi police killed
four terrorists believed linked to al-Qaida after the militants fled
their desert tent while throwing hand grenades at surrounding forces.
(AP, 1/9/05)
2005 Jan 13, Saudi judicial
officials said a religious court has sentenced 15 Saudis, including a
woman, to as many as 250 lashes each and up to six months in prison for
participating in a protest against the monarchy.
(AP, 1/14/05)
2005 Jan 15, Police and militants
fought a gun battle in a small Kuwaiti town near a US military
logistics center, leaving one Saudi gunman dead and two policemen
wounded.
(AP, 1/15/05)
2005 Feb 5, The crown prince of
Saudi Arabia called for the creation of an international anti-terrorism
center to trade information in an effort to prevent attacks.
(AP, 2/5/05)
2005 Feb 7, A Saudi woman was
beheaded after she was convicted of murdering her mother-in-law. Noura
bint Khalaf al-Harbi was found guilty of setting her mother-in-law,
Noura bint Salem al-Harbi, on fire as she slept following a dispute.
(AP, 2/7/05)
2005 Feb 10, Male voters converged
at polling stations in the Riyadh region to participate in city
elections, marking the first time Saudis are taking part in a vote that
largely conforms to international standards. Women were banned from
casting ballots.
(AP, 2/10/05)
2005 Feb 10, Saudi Arabia
confirmed a 2nd case of polio from 2004 and feared pilgrims to Mecca
might spread the disease.
(SFC, 2/11/05, p.A13)
2005 Feb 12, Saudi newspapers said
dozens of losing candidates in Saudi Arabia's first regular election
will contest results from the opening round of municipal balloting,
arguing that conservative religious candidates won unfairly by claiming
support from clerics.
(AP, 2/12/05)
2005 Mar 3, Men in eastern and
southern Saudi Arabia turned out in the thousands to vote in municipal
elections. They expect to provide their first say in decision-making in
this absolute monarchy.
(AP, 3/3/05)
2005 Mar 3, An Arab League meeting
opened in Cairo. An Arab diplomat said Syria has told Arab countries it
needs to keep 3,000 troops and early-warning stations inside Lebanon to
maintain its security despite international pressure for a full
withdrawal. Saudi Arabia told Syria to withdraw its troops.
(AP, 3/3/05)(SFC, 3/4/05, p.A3)
2005 Mar 13, Saudi police killed
an alleged Islamic militant and arrested three others in a shootout at
a suspected terror cell hideout in the Red Sea city of Jiddah.
(AP, 3/13/05)
2005 Apr 1, Saudi Arabia beheaded
3 men in public in the northern city of al-Jawf where in 2003 they
killed a deputy governor, a religious court judge and a police
lieutenant.
(AP, 4/3/05)
2005 Apr 1, Saudi Arabia’s Tadawul
All-Share Index reached a record 10853, up 28% for the year this far.
(WSJ, 4/4/05, p.C18)
2005 Apr 3, In central Saudi
Arabia a gun battle began that left 7 suspected al-Qaida militants
killed in a shootout with Saudi security forces in ar-Rass.
(AP, 4/4/05)
2005 Apr 5, Saudi police killed 2
more militants, bringing the total to 9, as security forces continued a
tense standoff in ar-Rass. Among those killed were Moroccan Kareem
Altohami al-Mojati and Saudi Saud Homood Obaid al-Otaibi, who were
ranked 4 and 7 respectively on Saudi Arabia's list of 26 most wanted
al-Qaida-linked terror suspects.
(AP, 4/5/05)(SFC, 4/5/05, p.A3)
2005 Apr 6, Security forces killed
one of Saudi Arabia's most wanted Islamic militants. At least 14
militants were killed over the 4 straight days of shootouts with
extremists in different parts of the kingdom.
(AP, 4/6/05)(SFC, 4/6/05, p.A3)
2005 Apr 21, Saudi authorities
extended their limited experiment in democracy to the holiest cities of
Islam with elections for some local council seats in Mecca and Medina,
in the third and final round of the kingdom's first nationwide vote.
(AP, 4/21/05)
2005 Apr 21, Islamic militants
clashed with Saudi security forces in Islam's holiest city of Mecca and
nearby Jiddah, killing two militants and two policemen.
(AP, 4/21/05)
2005 Apr 25, President Bush sought
relief from record-high gas prices and support for Middle East peace as
he opened his Texas ranch to Crown Prince Abdullah of Saudi Arabia.
(AP, 4/25/05)
2005 May 8, In Saudi Arabia a
Pakistani man was beheaded for attempting to smuggle heroin into the
kingdom.
(AP, 5/8/05)
2005 May 15, In Saudi Arabia 3
reform advocates were sentenced to terms ranging from six to nine years
in prison, prompting a human rights activist to call their trial a
"farce."
(AP, 5/15/05)
2005 May 15, Ali al-Dimeeni
(al-Domeini), already jailed more than a year in a Saudi prison outside
Riyadh, was sentenced to nine years in prison for sowing dissent,
disobeying his rulers and sedition. His 1998 novel "A Gray Cloud,"
centered on a dissident jailed for years in a desert nation prison
where many others have done time for their political views.
(AP, 5/25/05)(Econ, 5/21/05, p.51)
2005 May 27, King Fahd, Saudi
Arabia's monarch for the last 23 years was hospitalized for unspecified
tests.
(AP, 5/28/05)
2005 Jun 15, OPEC agreed to
increase its production quota by half a million barrels a day in an
effort to cool high crude oil costs that have dampened the global
economy.
(AP, 6/15/05)
2005 Jun 16, Board members of the
UN atomic watchdog agency approved a deal that exempts Saudi Arabia
from nuclear inspections, despite serious misgivings about the
arrangement in an era of heightened proliferation fears.
(AP, 6/16/05)
2005 Jun 18, A senior Saudi police
officer was killed in a drive-by shooting in Mecca.
(AP, 6/19/05)
2005 Jun 21, Saudi security forces
killed two suspected terrorists accused of fatally shooting a senior
security official outside his home.
(AP, 6/21/05)
2005 Jun 28, Saudi Arabia issued a
list of 36 men wanted for acts of terror and called on people to report
them to the police.
(AP, 6/28/05)
2005 Jul 8, In China Exxon Mobil
Corp., Saudi Aramco and top Asian refiner Sinopec signed a $3.5 billion
deal to expand a refinery in south China, sealing what they called the
country's largest oil project.
(Reuters, 7/8/05)
2005 Jul 25, Saudi authorities
arrested a number of suspected militants in Arar, Medina and Riyadh.
Among those arrested Mohammed Saeed Mohammed al-Sayam al-Umari (25) was
No. 10 on Saudi list of 36 most wanted terrorists.
(AP, 8/27/05)
2005 Aug 1, King Fahd (83), Saudi
ruler since 1982, died at the King Faisal Specialist Hospital in
Riyadh. He moved Saudi Arabia closer to the US but ruled the nation in
name only since suffering a stroke in 1995. His half brother, Crown
Prince Abdullah, was named to replace him.
(AP, 8/1/05)(Econ, 8/6/05, p.71)
2005 Aug 5, VP Dick Cheney,
accompanied by former President George H.W. Bush and former Secretary
of State Colin Powell, paid respects to new Saudi King Abdullah (81).
(AP, 8/5/05)(Econ, 8/6/05, p.10)
2005 Aug 8, In Saudi Arabia King
Abdullah pardoned 4 prominent activists who were jailed after
criticizing the strict religious environment and the slow pace of
democratic reform.
(AP, 8/8/05)
2005 Aug 18, Saleh Mohammed
al-Aoofi, Al-Qaida's leader in Saudi Arabia, was killed along with 5
others during clashes with police in the western city of Medina. Majed
Hamed Abdullah al-Haasiri (29), who was No. 14 on a list of 36 most
wanted terrorists sought for connection to terror attacks in the
kingdom dating back to 2003, was killed in a shootout with police in
Riyadh.
(AP, 8/18/05)(AP, 8/27/05)
2005 Aug, Saudi Arabia granted a
15% pay raise to government employees, their 1st pay raise in 22 years.
(Econ, 1/7/06, Survey p.11)
2005 Sep 4, Saudi Arabia said it
had signed a bilateral free trade agreement with the US.
(www.bilaterals.org/article.php3?id_article=2640)
2005 Sep 4, In eastern Saudi
Arabia police fought running gun battles with al-Qaida militants in
Dammam in clashes that killed two extremists and a police officer. The
militants aimed to attack oil facilities.
(AP, 9/4/05)(WSJ, 2/25/06, p.A1)
2005 Sep 6, Saudi security forces
stormed a villa in Dammam where Islamic militants were holed up, ending
3 days of fierce fighting that killed 4 policemen and a number of
militants.
(AP, 9/6/05)
2005 Sep 8, The Saudi Interior
Ministry said security forces killed five of Saudi Arabia's most-wanted
al-Qaida militants in a three-day battle in an eastern city earlier
this week and arrested 11 other suspects.
(AP, 9/8/05)
2005 Sep 15, The Saudi government
ordered a Jiddah chamber of commerce to allow female voters and
candidates.
(AP, 9/16/05)
2005 Sep 21, In Saudi Arabia 2 men
were beheaded in Riyadh, after being convicted of kidnapping and raping
a woman.
(AP, 9/21/05)
2005 Sep 25, Sudanese President
Omar al-Beshir met with King Abdullah in the Saudi city of Jeddah to
discuss cooperation between their countries and regional developments.
(AP, 9/25/05)
2005 Sep, The novel “The Girls of
Riyadh” by Rajaa al-Sanie (23) was published in Lebanon. Only pirated
copies were available in Saudi Arabia. Rajaa Alsanea wrote the novel as
a series of anonymous e-mails about the protagonists. In 2007 the book
became available in English.
(SFC, 12/16/05, p.A29)(WSJ, 6/29/07, p.W2)
2005 Oct 4, A new Syrian TV series
began broadcasting around the Middle East. It tells the story of Arabs
living in residential compounds in Saudi Arabia and the militant
Islamists who want to blow them up so they can collect their rewards in
heaven, 72 beautiful virgins.
(AP, 10/10/05)
2005 Oct 19, The International
Organization for Migration (IMO) said "Ethiopian women and girls who
migrate to Lebanon, Egypt, Yemen and Saudi Arabia suffer from
maltreatment, physical, sexual and emotional abuses," in a report based
on interviews with 443 women returning from the region.
(AP, 10/20/05)
2005 Oct 28, Saudi Arabia was
given a green light to join the World Trade Organization, in time to
participate in December's crucial ministerial summit in Hong Kong.
(AP, 10/29/05)
2005 Nov 8, The US State
Department issued its 7th annual report to Congress on religious
freedom. It cited Burma, China, Eritrea, Iran, North Korea, Saudi
Arabia, Sudan and Vietnam as restricting religious freedom.
(AP, 11/8/05)
2005 Nov 11, The World Trade
Organization (WTO) approved Saudi Arabia's bid to become the 149th
member of the global group, winding up a 12-year negotiating process
slowed by the country's participation in the Arab League boycott of
Israel.
(AP, 11/11/05)
2005 Nov 13, Prince Saud
al-Faisal, Saudi Arabia's foreign minister, said he is less worried
that US policies in Iraq will bring on a civil war there, and pledged
anew to contribute $1 billion for rebuilding that war-ravaged country's
shattered infrastructure.
(AP, 11/13/05)
2005 Nov 14, It was reported that
a consortium led by Saudi Arabia's Oger Telecom has signed a deal to
take a majority stake in state-owned telecommunications company Turk
Telekom, sealing Turkey's largest privatization worth 6.55 billion
dollars. Oger Telecom, part of the Oger group owned by the family of
slain former Lebanese PM Rafiq Hariri, had won the tender for the 55%
stake in July, in partnership with Italian operator Telecom Italia.
(AFP, 11/14/05)
2005 Nov 17, Saudi judicial
officials said a Saudi high-school chemistry teacher, accused of
discussing religion with his students, was sentenced to 750 lashes and
40 months in prison for blasphemy following a trial on Nov 12.
(AP, 11/17/05)
2005 Nov 27, Two women were
elected to a chamber of commerce in Jiddah, the first to win any such
post in Saudi Arabia, where women are largely barred from political
life.
(AP, 11/30/05)
2005 Dec 6, In Saudi Arabia
representatives of Islamic countries met ahead of a two-day summit,
with delegates saying the world's largest Islamic organization must
reform to face new challenges.
(AP, 12/06/05)
2005 Dec 8, In Saudi Arabia
leaders from more than 50 Muslim countries promised to fight extremist
ideology, saying they would reform textbooks, restrict religious edicts
and crack down on terror financing.
(AP, 12/08/05)
2005 Dec 27, Saudi police arrested
Mohammed Abdel-Rahman Mohammed al-Suwailmi, a terror suspect on the
country's list of most wanted militants.
(AP, 12/27/05)
2005 Dec 28, Saudi police shot
dead a militant on Saudi Arabia's most-wanted list, the second major
terror suspect to die in the country in 24 hours.
(AP, 12/28/05)
2005 Pascal Menoret authored “The
Saudi Enigma: A History.”
(Econ, 11/19/05, p.87)
2005 Saudi Arabia enacted a law
that banned state employees from saying anything in public that
conflicts with official policy.
(Econ, 3/3/07, p.53)
2006 Jan 5, In Saudi Arabia a
building used as a hostel by pilgrims in Mecca collapsed as millions of
Muslims converged for the annual hajj, and at least 76 people were
killed.
(AP, 1/7/06)
2006 Jan 12, Thousands of Muslim
pilgrims rushing to complete a symbolic stoning ritual during the hajj
tripped over luggage, causing a crush in which 363 people were killed.
(AP, 1/12/07)
2006 Jan 23, Saudi King Abdullah
met with Chinese President Hu Jintao in Beijing, amid efforts by China
to secure overseas oil and gas reserves for its power-hungry economy.
(AP, 1/23/06)
2006 Jan 26, Saudi Arabia recalled
its ambassador in Denmark to protest a published series of caricatures
of the prophet Muhammad. Protests spread across the Muslim world for
weeks, and dozens of people were killed.
(AP, 1/26/07)
2006 Jan 31, Saudi Arabia and
Jordan pressed the Islamic militant group Hamas to moderate its stand
on Israel and to entice the defeated Fatah party into a deal to share
power.
(AP, 1/31/06)
2006 Feb 19, Almost five months
after publishing 12 cartoons of the prophet to highlight what it
described as self-censorship, Denmark’s Jyllands-Posten newspaper
printed a full-page apology in a Saudi-owned pan-Arab newspaper.
(AFP, 2/19/06)
2006 Feb 24, Suicide bombers in
explosives-laden cars attempted to attack an oil processing facility at
the Abqaiq facility that handles about two-thirds of Saudi
Arabia's petroleum output, but were stopped when guards opened fire on
them, causing the cars to explode.
(AP, 2/24/06)
2006 Feb 26, The Saudi Interior
Ministry identified two Feb 24 attackers as Abdullah Abdul-Aziz
al-Tweijri and Mohammed Saleh al-Gheith. Both were on a list of the 15
most-wanted terrorists the kingdom issued in June.
(AP, 2/27/06)
2006 Feb 27, Saudi security forces
in Riyadh shot dead five suspected terrorists believed to be involved
in a foiled attack on the world's biggest oil processing complex. A
sixth suspect was arrested. Fahd Faraaj al-Juwair, the leader of
al-Qaida in Saudi Arabia, and two men who helped attack the world's
largest oil-processing complex were among five militants killed during
the police raids.
(AP, 2/27/06)(AP, 2/28/06)
2006 Feb 28, Iraqi border guards
captured, Abdullah Salah al-Harbi, a Saudi who admitted he was involved
in the suicide attack on the Abqaiq oil facility in Saudi Arabia.
(AP, 3/2/06)
2006 Mar 5, French President
Jacques Chirac on a trip to Saudi Arabia preached greater tolerance and
respect after the publication of satirical cartoons of the Prophet
Mohammad a month ago whipped up protests around the world.
(AP, 3/5/06)
2006 Mar, Persian Gulf stock
markets suffered their 1st serious correction after years of 6-7%
annual gains. Stock market reversals in Abu Dhabi and Dubai in the UAR,
along with Kuwait, Qatar and Saudi Arabia triggered outrage among local
small investors.
(WSJ, 3/27/06, p.C1)
2006 Mar 29, The Saudi Press
Agency reported that Saudi authorities had arrested 40 suspected
members of al-Qaida, including some allegedly involved in last month's
attempted bombing of a key oil complex, and seized a large cache of
weapons and explosives.
(AP, 3/29/06)
2006 Apr 6, Japan said it would
launch free trade talks with six Gulf kingdoms that provide
three-quarters of its oil imports, during a visit by a Saudi crown
prince aimed at expanding business ties.
(AP, 4/6/06)
2006 Apr 6, Cheese and butter from
the Danish company Arla were back on supermarket shelves in Saudi
Arabia after an Islamic group ended a boycott of the dairy producer
sparked by Denmark's publication of drawings of the Prophet Muhammad.
(AP, 4/6/06)
2006 Apr 15, Saudi Arabia's Crown
Prince Sultan Bin Abdul Aziz began a two-day visit to Pakistan during
which he is expected to discuss a possible arms deal.
(AFP, 4/15/06)
2006 Apr 18, A security official
said Saudi authorities arrested five suspected terrorists linked to the
February 24 deadly attack on the world's largest oil processing
facility.
(AP, 4/18/06)
2006 Apr 22, Saudi Arabia and
China signed defense, security and trade agreements in Riyadh on the
first day of Chinese President Hu Jintao's visit.
(AP, 4/22/06)
2006 Apr 30, Saudi King Abdullah
issued a decree lowering domestic gasoline prices by about 25%. That
would lower the cost to about 16 cents per liter.
(AP, 4/30/06)
2006 Apr, Saudi Arabia announced
plans to build an electrified fence along its 560-mile border with Iraq.
(WSJ, 9/13/06, p.A1)
2006 May 9, Cuba, Saudi Arabia,
China and Russia won seats on the new UN Human Rights Council despite
their poor human rights records. Two rights abusers, Iran and
Venezuela, were defeated.
(AP, 5/10/06)
2006 May 16, Saudi newspapers
reported that King Abdullah has told Saudi editors to stop publishing
pictures of women as they could make young men go astray.
(AP, 5/16/06)
2006 Jun 10, Three Guantanamo Bay
detainees, 2 from Saudi Arabia and one from Yemen, hanged
themselves with nooses made of sheets and clothes, bringing further
condemnation of the isolated camp where hundreds of men have been held
for years without charge. Yasser Talal al-Zahrani (21) of Saudi Arabia,
captured in Pakistan in 2002, was one of the 3 Gitmo detainees who
committed suicide.
(AP, 6/11/06)(Econ, 6/17/06, p.92)
2006 Jun 23, Saudi security forces
stormed a suspected al-Qaida hideout in Riyadh, killing six militants
and arresting a seventh after an exchange of gunfire.
(AP, 6/23/06)
2006 Jun 24, Saudi Arabia’s
Interior Ministry said security forces had arrested 42 suspected
terrorists, including four foreign nationals, allegedly involved in
earlier attacks across the kingdom. 27 of the detainees, including an
Ethiopian and two Somalis, were rounded up May 9-23 in Riyadh, Mecca,
the Eastern Region province and the Hafer al-Baten province that
borders Iraq. An Iraqi and three Saudis were detained in a June 17 raid
on a desert camp in Hafer al-Baten. Another nine, all Saudis, also were
captured at a desert hideout in Hafer al-Baten. Two more suspected were
arrested after the June 23 raid.
(AP, 6/24/06)
2006 Jul 8, Saudi officials said 7
suspected terrorists had escaped from a prison in Riyadh a few days
earlier.
(AP, 7/8/06)
2006 Jul 21, It was reported that
Saudi Arabia has ordered 76 artillery howitzers from the French
armaments manufacturer Giat Industries as defense minister Crown Prince
Sultan bin Abdul Aziz completed a two-day visit.
(AFP, 7/21/06)
2006 Aug 18, The Financial Times
reported that Britain has agreed to a multi-billion-dollar defense deal
to supply 72 Eurofighter Typhoon aircraft to Saudi Arabia.
(AP, 8/18/06)
2006 Aug 21, Saudi police killed
two armed men during clashes in the Red Sea port of Jeddah.
(AP, 8/21/06)
2006 Sep 8, It was reported that
Saudi Arabia’s religious police have issued a decree in Jiddah and
Mecca banning the sale of the pets, seen as a sign of Western influence.
(AP, 9/8/06)
2006 Sep 9, It was reported that
some 15,000 students from Saudi Arabia were enrolling on college
campuses across the United States this semester under a new educational
exchange program brokered by President Bush and Saudi King Abdullah.
(AP, 9/9/06)
2006 Oct 20, Saudi Arabia's
state-run news agency reported that the king gave new powers to his
brothers and nephews in an overhaul of the way the kingdom chooses
future monarchs, in what appeared to be an attempt to defuse internal
power struggles.
(AP, 10/20/06)
2006 Oct 20, Shiite and Sunni
religious figures met in Mecca in a bid to stop sectarian bloodshed,
and issued a series of edicts forbidding violence between Iraq's two
Muslim sects.
(AP, 10/20/06)
2006 Nov 25, US Vice President
Dick Cheney arrived in Saudi Arabia for talks with King Abdullah,
apparently seeking the Sunni royal family's influence and tribal
connections to calm Iraq after an especially violent week..
(AP, 11/25/06)
2006 Dec 2, Saudi news said
authorities have arrested 136 suspected militants over the past three
months, accusing some of plotting to carry out suicide attacks inside
the kingdom.
(AP, 12/3/06)
2006 Dec 6, Saudi Arabia said it
had fired a security adviser who wrote in The Washington Post that the
world's top oil exporter would intervene in Iraq once the United States
withdraws troops. Saudi Arabia beheaded a Pakistani citizen and
his daughter for smuggling heroin into the kingdom. The kingdom
beheaded 83 people in 2005 and 35 people in 2004.
(AP, 12/6/06)(Reuters, 12/7/06)
2006 Dec 7, In Saudi Arabia armed
men shot and killed two guards outside a prison in the western city of
Jiddah before taking cover in a residential building where they were
surrounded by Saudi security forces.
(AP, 12/7/06)
2006 Dec 10, The oil-rich Arab
states on the Persian Gulf said that they will consider starting a
joint nuclear program for peaceful purposes. The six-nation Gulf
Cooperation Council included Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, United Arab
Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain and Oman.
(AP, 12/10/06)
2006 Dec 11, More than 30
prominent Islamic clerics from Saudi Arabia called on Sunni Muslims
around the Middle East to support their brethren in Iraq against
Shiites and praised the insurgency.
(AP, 12/12/06)
2006 Dec 26, The Saudi government
said it had released 18 men who were detained after returning to their
homeland from the US military prison in Guantanamo Bay.
(AP, 12/26/06)
2006 Dec 28, Nearly 3 million
Muslims from around the world, chanting and raising their hands to
heaven, marched through a desert valley outside Mecca on the first day
of the annual hajj pilgrimage.
(AP, 12/28/06)
2006 William Simpson authored “The
Prince: The Secret Story of the World’s Most Intriguing Royal, Prince
Bandar bin Sultan.” Bandar (b.1949) had served over 20 years as Saudi
Arabia’s ambassador in Washington (1983-2005).
(www.saudiembassy.net/Country/Government/BandarBio.asp)(Econ, 12/2/06,
p.86)
2006 The Saudi offshoot of Emaar,
one of Dubai’s big-three developers, raised 2.55 billion riyals ($680
million) to build a metropolis on the Red Sea coast. The King Abdullah
Economic City (KAEC) was due for completion in 2016.
(Econ, 4/26/08, p.38)
2007 Jan 3, In Saudi Arabia
Muslims circled the Kaaba, Islam's holiest site, for a final time,
bringing to a close what may have been the largest hajj pilgrimage ever.
(AP, 1/3/07)
2007 Jan 29, Saudi Arabia said it
would begin a 158,000 barrel-a-day cut in oil production effective Feb
1.
(WSJ, 1/30/07, p.A1)
2007 Jan 30, The Saudi foreign
minister said Saudi Arabia and Iran are working together to try to calm
the crises in Iraq and Lebanon.
(AP, 1/30/07)
2007 Jan 30, Jamal Khalifa, a
Saudi citizen married to a sister of Osama bin Laden, was killed when
gunmen broke into his house in village in Madagascar in an apparent
robbery.
(AP, 1/31/07)
2007 Feb 3, The interior ministry
spokesman said Saudi police have arrested 10 people who are accused of
collecting donations and recruiting on behalf of militant groups.
(AP, 2/3/07)
2007 Feb 4, A Saudi newspaper
reported that a Saudi Arabian judge sentenced 20 foreigners to receive
lashes and spend several months in prison after convicting them of
attending a party where alcohol was served and men and women danced.
(AP, 2/4/07)
2007 Feb 7, In Saudi Arabia rival
Palestinian leaders began open-ended talks in Mecca optimistic that
they could reach an agreement to end their bloody street battles and
resume the peace process with Israel.
(AP, 2/7/07)
2007 Feb 8, A Fatah official in
Saudi Arabia said that rival Palestinian factions had reached an
agreement on how to divide up Cabinet posts in a power-sharing
government.
(AP, 2/8/07)
2007 Feb 11, President Vladimir
Putin, making the first visit by a Russian leader to Saudi Arabia, met
King Abdullah and other senior officials for talks that touched on
regional tensions including Iraq and the Palestinian territories.
(AP, 2/11/07)
2007 Feb 17, A US human rights
watchdog that recently sent a team to Saudi Arabia to investigate
abuses said in a new report the kingdom keeps thousands of prisoners in
jail without charge, sentences children to death and oppresses women.
(AP, 2/18/07)
2007 Feb 19, A Saudi court ordered
the bodies of four Sri Lankans to be displayed in a public square after
being beheaded for armed robbery.
(AP, 2/21/07)
2007 Feb 21, Seven Saudis released
from the US prison in Guantanamo Bay returned home and were promptly
detained to see if they had terrorist connections.
(AP, 2/21/07)
2007 Feb 26, Three Frenchmen who
lived in Saudi Arabia were killed by gunmen on the side of a desert
road leading to the holy city of Medina in an area restricted to
Muslims only. Soon after a 4th died from his wounds. An investigation
later revealed that Waleed bin Mutlaq al-Radadi, among the kingdom's
most wanted terrorists, was the mastermind and one of the triggermen in
the shooting. Al-Radadi was killed on April 6 in a gunbattle with Saudi
forces.
(AP, 2/26/07)(AP, 4/18/07)
2007 Feb, Saudi Arabia arrested 10
intellectuals for signing a polite petition suggesting it was time for
the kingdom to consider a transition to constitutional monarchy.
(Econ, 3/17/07, p.54)
2007 Mar 3, Saudi Arabia's king
personally welcomed Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad upon his
arrival, a rapprochement many hope will help calm sectarian tensions
threatening the Middle East. The leaders pledged to fight the spread of
sectarian strife in the Middle East, which they said was the biggest
danger facing the region.
(AP, 3/3/07)(AP, 3/4/07)
2007 Mar 26, Israel welcomed the
idea of a regional peace summit and Saudi Arabia suggesting it would
consider changes in a dormant peace initiative to make it more
acceptable to Israel.
(AP, 3/26/07)
2007 Mar 29, Arab leaders at their
summit in Riyadh agreed on a call for Israel to accept their
land-for-peace offer and open direct negotiations with the Arabs.
Unlike past summits that at times saw overt feuds break out, the
gathering of Arab kings, emirs and presidents showed unusual public
unity as it revived the peace offer, which they first made in 2002 only
to meet rejection from Israel.
(AP, 3/29/07)
2007 Apr 2, Saudi Arabia signaled
it is unlikely to accept an Israeli invitation to a regional peace
conference, saying that Israel must first stop mistreating Palestinians
and move to withdraw from Arab lands.
(AP, 4/2/07)
2007 Apr 5, US House Speaker Nancy
Pelosi said that she raised the issue of Saudi Arabia's lack of female
politicians with Saudi government officials on the last stop of her
Mideast tour.
(AP, 4/5/07)
2007 Apr 6, In Saudi Arabia Waleed
bin Mutlaq al-Radadi, among the kingdom's most wanted terrorists, was
killed in a gunbattle with Saudi forces. Al-Radadi was implicated in
the Feb 26 killing of 4 French nationals.
(AP, 4/18/07)
2007 Apr 15, The official Saudi
news agency reported that Sudan has signed a joint agreement with the
UN and the African Union that defines their respective roles in Darfur.
(AP, 4/16/07)
2007 Apr 27, Saudi Arabia’s
Interior Ministry said police had arrested 172 Islamic militants, some
of whom had trained abroad as pilots so they could fly aircraft in
attacks on Saudi Arabia's oil fields. A spokesman said all that
remained in the plot "was to set the zero hour." More than $32.4
million was seized in the operation, one of the largest sweeps against
terror cells in the kingdoms.
(AP, 4/27/07)
2007 Apr 29, Saudi Arabia's King
Abdullah held an unannounced meeting with Palestinian President Mahmoud
Abbas to discuss the recent escalation in Israeli-Palestinian tensions.
Saudi Arabia banned the sale of concentrated fertilizer, a favorite
component of homemade terrorist bombs.
(AP, 4/30/07)(Econ, 5/5/07, p.60)
2007 May 3, African neighbors
Sudan and Chad signed a Saudi-brokered reconciliation deal in Saudi
Arabia, requiring both sides to cooperate with the United Nations to
stabilize Darfur and the adjacent region in Chad.
(AP, 5/3/07)
2007 May 5, Prince Abdul-Majid bin
Abdul-Aziz (65), the governor of Mecca, died after a long illness.
(AP, 5/5/07)
2007 May 8, A newspaper owned by
Saudi Arabia's royal family said one of seven recently exposed Saudi
terrorist cells used Syria as a base for coordinating with al-Qaida in
Iraq and held training camps in the desert of neighboring Yemen.
(AP, 5/8/07)
2007 May 9, Saudi authorities
beheaded an Ethiopian woman convicted of killing an Egyptian man over a
dispute. Khadija Bint Ibrahim Moussa was the second woman to be
executed this year. The kingdom last beheaded two women in 2005.
Beheadings are carried out with a sword in a public square.
(AP, 5/9/07)
2007 May 9, In France Nayef
al-Shaalan, a Saudi Prince, was sentenced in absentia to 10 years in
jail on charges of involvement in a cocaine smuggling gang.
(AP, 5/9/07)
2007 May 30, A Saudi Arabian
detainee died at Guantanamo Bay prison and the US military said he
apparently committed suicide.
(AP, 5/31/07)
2007 Jun 7, British media reported
that Saudi Arabia’s Prince Bandar bin sultan pocketed about $2 million
in secret payments as part of an $80 billion arms deal between Britain
and Saudi Arabia first signed in 1985.
(SFC, 6/8/07, p.A16)
2007 Jun 23, In Saudi Arabia a
judge postponed the trial of 3 members of the religious police for
their alleged involvement in the death of a man arrested after being
seen with a woman who was not his relative.
(AP, 6/23/07)
2007 Jul 15, The Los Angeles Times
reported that about 45 percent of all foreign militants targeting US
troops and Iraqi security forces were from Saudi Arabia, 15 percent
from Syria and Lebanon, and 10 percent from North Africa.
(AFP, 7/15/07)
2007 Jul 17, The US freed 16
Saudis from Guantanamo and flew them home, where they were taken into
custody for investigation of possible links to terrorism.
(WSJ, 1/17/07, p.A1)
2007 Jul 30, UN inspectors visited
a nuclear reactor being built in central Iran, a facility that has been
off-limits since April. Iran's foreign ministry spokesman criticized a
US plan to sell state-of-the-art weapons to Saudi Arabia.
(AP, 7/30/07)
2007 Jul 31, In Egypt US Sec. of
State Rice and Defense Secretary Robert Gates made a joint show of
diplomatic force during two days of meetings with Arab allies, part of
an 11th-hour effort to rally diplomatic and practical help for the
US-backed Shiite-led government in Baghdad. The tour opened talks on a
proposed US arms package for Arab states worth more than $20 billion.
US officials extended a 10-year pledge to continue $1.3 billion in
annual aid to Egypt’s military. Military aid to Israel was raised to $3
billion. Weapons sales to Saudi Arabia and 5 smaller monarchies was
said to be $20 billion. Total US military aid to the region over the
next decade amounted to $63 billion.
(AP, 7/31/07)(Econ, 8/4/07, p.39)
2007 Aug 17, Saudi King Abdullah
ordered two aid packages worth 20 million dollars each be dispatched to
Sudan and Mauritania to help the impoverished African countries hit by
severe floods.
(AFP, 8/17/07)
2007 Aug 28, Journalists and
diplomats said Saudi Arabia has banned the influential Arab newspaper
Al Hayat from distribution in the kingdom, just days after it reported
a Saudi man had served as a key figure for an al-Qaida front group in
Iraq.
(AP, 8/28/07)
2007 Sep 6, A Pentagon spokesman
said 16 detainees from the US military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba,
have been transferred to the custody of Saudi Arabia.
(AP, 9/7/07)
2007 Sep 8, Saudi Arabia and an
influential Lebanese politician joined calls by Pakistan for former
prime minister Nawaz Sharif to scrap plans to return to the country
next week.
(AP, 9/8/07)
2007 Sep 10, Former PM Nawaz
Sharif returned to Pakistan from a seven-year exile, hoping to campaign
against the country's US-allied military ruler, but was immediately
charged with corruption and deported to Saudi Arabia hours later.
Pro-Taliban militants freed more than 260 Pakistani troops who were
kidnapped nearly two weeks ago in a restive tribal region near the
border with Afghanistan.
(AP, 9/10/07)
2007 Sep 16, Saudi King Abdullah
oversaw the signing in Jiddah of a reconciliation agreement negotiated
by several Somali factions in an attempt to stabilize their country and
battle the Islamic opposition.
(AP, 9/16/07)
2007 Sep 17, Saudi Arabia
announced it has signed a 4.43 billion pound (8.86 billion dollar) deal
to buy 72 Eurofighter planes, after tortuous negotiations on one of the
largest ever British export orders.
(AP, 9/17/07)
2007 Oct 5, Abdullah bin
Abdul-Aziz, Saudi Arabia's king, announced an overhaul of the country's
judicial system, fulfilling a pledge he made several months ago to
reform the current heavily-criticized administration.
(http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7029308.stm)(Econ, 10/13/07,
p.51)
2007 Oct 6, A Saudi newspaper said
the Saudi Arabian government will temporarily release 55 prisoners
recently transferred from the US military prison at Guantanamo Bay,
Cuba and will give each of them about $2,600 to celebrate the upcoming
Muslim holiday of Eid al-Fitr.
(AP, 10/7/07)
2007 Oct 23, First lady Laura Bush
helped launch a screening facility in Saudi Arabia as part of a
U.S.-Saudi initiative to raise breast cancer awareness in the kingdom
where doctors struggle to break long-held taboos about the disease.
(AP, 10/23/07)
2007 Oct 30, In London Saudi
Arabia's King Abdullah received a lavish welcome from Queen Elizabeth
II as he started a state visit amid angry protests and headlines after
accusing Britain of anti-terrorism failures. The Policy Exchange, an
independent think tank, said Agencies linked to the Saudi government
have distributed extremist literature to mosques and Islamic centers in
Britain.
(AP, 10/30/07)
2007 Oct 31, In London King
Abdullah of Saudi Arabia met PM Gordon Brown to discuss Middle East
issues and counter-terrorism, amid a swirl of protests.
(AP, 10/31/07)
2007 Nov 6, In the Vatican
Benedict XVI raised concerns about restrictions on Christian worship in
Saudi Arabia in the first meeting ever between a pope and a reigning
Saudi king.
(AP, 11/6/07)
2007 Nov 9, Saudi authorities
beheaded Saudi citizen Khalaf al-Anzi in Riyadh for kidnapping and
raping a teenager.
(AP, 11/10/07)
2007 Nov 10, Saudi authorities
received a group of 14 Saudis Saturday from the US military prison at
Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Saudi authorities beheaded a Pakistani for drug
trafficking. This execution brought to 131 the number of people
beheaded in the kingdom this year. Saudi Arabia beheaded 38 people last
year and 83 people in 2005.
(AP, 11/10/07)
2007 Nov 12, Airbus said it was
building a custom, 380 VIP double-decker jet for Saudi Prince Alwaleed
bin Talal with a price tag of over $320 million.
(AP, 11/12/07)
2007 Nov 14, A Saudi court
sentenced a woman (19) who had been gang raped to six months in jail
and 200 lashes, more than doubling her initial penalty for being in the
car of a man who was not a relative. The court also roughly doubled
prison sentences for the seven men convicted of raping the woman. Their
new sentences range from two to nine years. The court also banned the
lawyer from defending her, confiscated his license to practice law and
summoned him to a disciplinary hearing later this month.
(AP, 11/16/07)
2007 Nov 18, In eastern Saudi
Arabia an explosion and fire on a gas pipeline killed 40 workers. The
cause of the fire was an accident during maintenance work and Aramco
said it did not expect a disruption in gas supplies.
(AP, 11/18/07)(AP, 11/20/07)
2007 Nov 23, Saudi Arabia and
other Arab nations grudgingly agreed to attend an upcoming US-sponsored
Mideast peace conference, despite failing to get any guarantee of
Israeli concessions.
(AP, 11/23/08)
2007 Nov 28, Authorities in Saudi
Arabia announced the arrest of 208 suspected terrorists in six cells
and thwarted several planned attacks in the kingdom's largest terror
sweep to date. They included 8 al-Qaida linked men allegedly planning
to attack oil installations.
(AP, 11/28/07)
2007 Dec 16, Millions of Muslims
from around the world gathered in Mecca for the start of the annual
Islamic hajj pilgrimage, as the Saudi Interior Ministry announced tough
security precautions.
(AP, 12/16/07)
2007 Dec 17, In Saudi Arabia a
gang-rape victim who was sentenced to six months in prison and 200
lashes for being alone with a man not related to her was pardoned by
the Saudi king after the case sparked rare criticism from the United
States, the kingdom's top ally.
(AP, 12/17/07)
2007 Dec 21, In Saudi Arabia the
annual 5-day hajj come to a close as some 3 million pilgrims
participated.
(AP, 12/21/07)
2007 Dec 23, Saudi Arabia’s
Interior Ministry said police have arrested 28 men for allegedly
planning to attack holy sites around Mecca and Medina during the
recently finished Muslim hajj.
(AP, 12/23/07)
2007 The population of Saudi
Arabia passed 24 million. The country imported $6 billion in food this
year.
(WSJ, 12/12/07, p.A17)(WSJ, 8/26/08, p.A12)
2008 Jan 12, Saudi authorities
beheaded an Indonesian maid convicted of killing her employer. The
Interior Ministry said the maid used a pillow to suffocate her employer
Aisha Al Makhaled and then stole her jewelry in the southern province
of Asir.
(AP, 1/12/08)
2008 Jan 14, In Saudi Arabia
President Bush, on his first visit to this oil-rich kingdom, delivered
a major arms sale to its ally in a region.
(AP, 1/14/08)
2008 Jan 15, In Saudi Arabia Pres.
Bush urged OPEC nations to put more oil on the world market and warned
that soaring prices could cause an economic slowdown in the US. The
kingdom's oil minister said Saudi Arabia will raise oil production when
the market justifies it.
(AP, 1/15/08)
2008 Jan 21, In Saudi Arabia the
daily Al-Watan, which is deemed close to the Saudi government, reported
that the Interior Ministry issued a circular to hotels asking them to
accept lone women, as long as their information is sent to a local
police station.
(AP, 1/21/08)
2008 Jan 29, Saudi Arabia said it
had killed some 158,000 chickens after the deadly H5N1 bird flu strain
was found at an infected farm. The agriculture ministry also said more
than 4.5 million fowl have been killed in provinces around the capital,
but it did not specify when the killing took place.
(AP, 1/30/08)
2008 Feb 14, A leading human
rights group appealed to Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah to stop the
execution of a woman accused of witchcraft and performing supernatural
acts.
(AP, 2/14/08)
2008 Feb 23, In Saudi Arabia bus
plunged over a cliff, killing at least 25 people on board.
(AP, 2/24/08)
2008 Mar 3, Saudi police arrested
28 suspected militants accused of trying to rebuild al-Qaida’s terror
network in the kingdom.
(WSJ, 3/4/08, p.A1)
2008 Mar 22, US Vice President
Dick Cheney completing a two-day stay in Saudi Arabia, discussed ways
to stabilize the energy market with Saudi King Abdullah.
(AP, 3/22/08)
2008 Mar 23, Saudi Arabia said
inflation reached a 27-year high of 8.7% in February.
(WSJ, 3/24/08, p.A6)
2008 Mar 24, Saudi Arabia said its
king would send a lower level diplomat to the March 29 Arab League
summit in Syria, which hoped to help solve the stalemate in Lebanon.
(WSJ, 3/25/08, p.A1)
2008 Mar 25, King Abdullah of
Saudi Arabia made a proposal for dialogue among the world’s
monotheistic religions. Abdullah said Saudi Arabia's top clerics gave
him a green light.
(AP, 3/26/08)
2008 Apr 13, The Saudi Arabia
beheaded two Nigerian men convicted of smuggling cocaine into the
kingdom. 42 people have been beheaded this year, according to an AP
count.
(AP, 4/13/08)
2008 May 2, In Saudi Arabia a
German-based quartet staged the first-ever performance of European
classical music in a public venue before a mixed gender, largely
expatriate audience.
(AP, 5/4/08)
2008 May 16, Pres. Bush arrived in
Saudi Arabia and appealed for increased oil production just as prices
hit another record high.
(AP, 5/16/08)
2008 May 19, Matrook al-Faleh was
arrested at King Saud University in the Saudi capital Riyadh, where he
teaches political science. A rights group said it came after al-Faleh
publicly criticized conditions in a prison where two other human rights
activists are serving jail terms. Faleh was released in January, 2009.
(AP, 5/25/08)(AP, 1/11/09)
2008 May 23, A UN food aid agency
said the response to its appeal for money to help meet soaring fuel and
food costs went beyond what it had hoped to collect, saying $500
million from Saudi Arabia means it won't have to cut rations.
(AP, 5/23/08)
2008 May 24, In Saudi Arabia
authorities beheaded a local man convicted of armed robbery and raping
a woman. The execution brings the number of people beheaded this year
to 55.
(AP, 5/24/08)
2008 Jun 5, In Italy a 3-day UN
summit aimed at fighting hunger worldwide ended with pledges to boost
food output, calls to cut trade barriers and more research on biofuels.
Just before the meeting Saudi Arabia announced a donation of $500
million.
(WSJ, 6/6/08, p.A10)(Econ, 6/7/08, p.70)
2008 Jun 20, In Saudi Arabia
religious police arrested 21 allegedly homosexual men and confiscated
large amounts of alcohol at a large gathering of young men at a rest
house in Qatif.
(AP, 6/21/08)
2008 Jun 22, Saudi Arabia held
meeting in Jiddah between oil producing and consuming nations as a way
to show that it was not deaf to international cries that high oil
prices have caused social and economic turmoil. Oil Minister Ali
al-Naimi said Saudi Arabia is willing to produce more oil if customers
need it without citing any specific output increase. Britain’s PM
Gordon Brown called for cash-rich Gulf nations to invest in renewable
and nuclear energy production in Britain and elsewhere.
(AP, 6/22/08)
2008 Jun 25, Saudi officials said
authorities have arrested hundreds of suspected al-Qaida-linked
militants this year. Some of those arrested are suspected of plotting
attacks against the kingdom's oil and economic installations. Of the
701 arrested 181 were released because there was no proof linking them
to the terror network.
(AP, 6/25/08)
2008 Jul 8, A human rights group
said domestic workers in Saudi Arabia often suffer abuse that in some
cases amounts to slavery, as well as sexual violence and lashings for
spurious allegations of theft or witchcraft.
(AP, 7/8/08)
2008 Jul 16, In Spain King
Abdullah of Saudi Arabia kicked off an interfaith conference in Madrid,
an effort to bring Muslims, Christians and Jews closer together amid a
world that often puts the three faiths at odds.
(AP, 7/16/08)
2008 Jul 18, In Spain a
Saudi-organized conference of the world's great religions called for an
international agreement to combat terrorism, "a universal phenomenon
that requires unified international efforts."
(AFP, 7/18/08)
2008 Jul 28, Tarek bin Laden
signed a deal with Djibouti to build Noor City, the first of a hundred
“Cities of Light” that the Saudi Binladen Group planned around the
world. Plans called for the city to have 2.5 million people by 2025 and
4.5 million for its Yemeni twin.
(Econ, 8/2/08,
p.50)(www.railpage.com.au/f-p1093077.htm)
2008 Jul 30, Saudi Arabia's
Islamic religious police banned the sale dogs and cats as pets, as well
as walking them in public due to “the rising of phenomenon of men using
cats and dogs to make passes at women and pester families" as well as
"violating proper behavior in public squares and malls."
(AP, 7/31/08)
2008 Sep 11, Sheik Saleh
al-Lihedan (79), Saudi Arabia's top judiciary official, issued a
religious decree saying it is permissible to kill the owners of
satellite TV networks that broadcast immoral content. On Sep 14 he
adjusted his comments saying owners who broadcast immoral content
should be brought to trial and sentenced to death if other penalties do
not deter them.
(AP, 9/12/08)(SFC, 9/15/08, p.A3)
2008 Oct 12, The United Arab
Emirates said it would guarantee domestic bank deposits and with Saudi
Arabia promised fresh financial support to domestic banks.
(WSJ, 10/13/08, p.A5)
2008 Oct 21, Saudi Foreign
Minister Saud al-Faisal confirmed for the first time that the kingdom
has been sponsoring talks between the Afghan government and the Taliban
militia.
(AP, 10/21/08)
2008 Oct 21, Saudi Arabia’s
interior minister said authorities have indicted 991 suspected
militants on charges that they participated in terrorist attacks
carried out in the kingdom over the last five years.
(AP, 10/21/08)
2008 Nov 2, British PM Gordon
Brown said he is confident that Saudi Arabia will contribute to the
International Monetary Fund's bailout reserves after he promised
business leaders in the Gulf that they would have a say in any future
new world economic order.
(AP, 11/2/08)
2008 Nov 6, A group of Saudi
activists began a rare public hunger strike to demand judiciary reform
and draw attention to the detention without trial of 11 political
reformists.
(AP, 11/6/08)
2008 Nov 15, Gunmen hijacked a
freighter with 23 crew off the coast of Somalia. The crew of the
Japanese-owned Chemstar Venus consisted of five South Koreans and 18
Filipinos. Somali pirates hijacked the Sirius Star, a newly
commissioned supertanker, more than 450 nautical miles southeast of
Mombasa, Kenya, along with its 25-member crew. The ship, owned by Saudi
oil company Aramco, was capable of carrying about 2 million barrels of
oil. The ship was released on Jan 9, 2009.
(AP, 11/16/08)(AP, 11/17/08)(AP, 1/9/09)
2008 Nov 18, Owners of a Saudi oil
supertanker hijacked by Somali pirates grappled with how to respond, as
navies patrolling the region said they would not intervene to stop or
free the captured vessel.
(AP, 11/18/08)
2008 Nov 23, Saudi Arabia slashed
a key lending rate and cut reserve requirements amid intensifying
economic headwinds.
(WSJ, 11/24/08, p.A8)
2008 Dec 5, In Saudi Arabia nearly
3 million Muslims from all over the world gathered in Mecca, on the eve
of the start of the annual hajj pilgrimage.
(AP, 12/5/08)
2008 Dec 7, In Saudi Arabia nearly
3 million Muslims converged on a rocky desert hill outside Mecca to
perform the ritual of forgiveness marking the climax of the annual hajj.
(AP, 12/7/08)
2008 Dec 10, In Saudi Arabia
Muslims poured into Mecca for a final day of the hajj.
(AP, 12/10/08)
2008 Dec 10, The European
Commission awarded the first Chaillot Prize to the Al-Nahda
Philanthropic Society for Women, a Saudi charity which helps divorced
and underprivileged women.
(AFP, 12/10/08)
2008 Dec 14, It was reported that
Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, who owns a double-decker "flying
palace" and recently raised his bet on Citigroup, lost $4 billion in
the past year.
(AP, 12/14/08)
2008 Steve Coll authored “The Bin
Ladens: An Arabian Family in the American Century.”
(Econ, 4/12/08, p.92)
2008 David B. Ottaway authored
“The King’s Messenger: Prince Bandar bin Sultan and America’s Tangled
Relationship with Saudi Arabia.”
(Econ, 11/8/08, p.101)
2008 Saudi Arabia abandoned its
self-sufficiency agricultural program when it discovered that farmers
were burning through water coming from a non-replenishable aquifer.
(Econ, 5/23/09, p.62)
2009 Jan 9, Somali pirates
released the MV Sirius Star, an oil-laden Saudi supertanker seized on
Nov 15, after receiving a $3 million ransom.
(AP, 1/9/09)
2009 Jan 14, Saudi Arabia's most
senior cleric was quoted as saying it is permissible for 10-year-old
girls to marry and those who think they're too young are doing the
girls an injustice.
(AP, 1/14/09)
2009 Jan 19, The Saudi king said
his country will donate $1 billion to help rebuild the Gaza Strip after
the devastating Israeli offensive and told Israel that an Arab
initiative offering peace will not remain on the table forever. The
Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency cut its benchmark lending rate a half
point to 2%, and its deposit rate by three-quarters point to .75%.
(AP, 1/19/09)(WSJ, 1/20/09, p.A11)
2009 Jan 20, Saudi Arabia’s prince
Alwaleed bin Talal said his conglomerate Kingdom Holding Co. lost about
$7.9 billion in 2008.
(WSJ, 1/21/09, p.A11)
2009 Jan 21, In Pakistan a Saudi
called Zabi ul Taifi was among seven Al-Qaida suspects caught when
government forces mounted a raid near the northwestern city of Peshawar.
(AP, 1/22/09)
2009 Jan 23, Said Ali al-Shihri, a
Saudi man released from Guantanamo after spending nearly six years
inside the US prison camp, is now the No. 2 of Yemen's al-Qaida branch,
according to a purported Internet statement from the terror network.
(AP, 1/23/09)
2009 Feb 2, Saudi Arabia issued a
list of its 83 most wanted suspects living abroad, including six Saudis
released from Guantanamo Bay, and asked Interpol for help in arresting
them. On Feb 10 Interpol put out an international alert for 85 alleged
terrorists suspected of plotting attacks against Saudi Arabia.
(AP, 2/2/09)(WSJ, 2/11/09, p.A1)
2009 Feb 14, Saudi King Abdullah
(86), in an apparent bid to reform the religious establishment,
dismissed the head of the feared religious police and a hard-line
cleric who issued an edict last year saying it was permissible to kill
owners of satellite TV stations that show "immoral" content. King
Abdullah also appointed Noura al Fayez as deputy minister of women’s
education, the 1st female to hold a ministerial post.
(AP, 2/14/09)(SSFC, 2/15/09, p.A6)(Econ, 2/21/09,
p.48)
2009 Feb 17, The Yemeni Interior
Ministry announced the surrender of Abu al-Hareth Muhammad al-Oufi, a
former Guantanamo detainee who later became an al-Qaida field
commander. He was handed over to Saudi authorities.
(AP, 2/17/09)
2009 Feb 19, Naser Abdel Karim
al-Wahishi, Yemen's most wanted fugitive and leader of al-Qaida in the
Arabian Peninsula, used an audio recording to urge Yemenis to rise up
against the government and called on Arabs in Saudi Arabia and Gulf
countries to help their brothers in Yemen.
(AP, 2/19/09)
2009 Feb 25, Saudi police were
reported to have clashed with Shiite pilgrims over several days near a
cemetery in Islam's second-holiest city, leading Shiite Cleric Sheik
Nimr al-Nimr to appeal to the king to put a stop to the "insults"
of the religious police. Shiites make up a small minority of the
country's 22 million people. Following the incendiary sermon, more than
35 people were arrested in a government crackdown and al-Nimr went into
hiding.
(AP, 2/25/09)(AP, 4/1/09)
2009 Mar 3, In Saudi Arabia
Khamisa Sawadi, a 75-year-old widow, was sentenced to 40 lashes and
four months in jail for mingling with two young men who are not close
relatives. The case drew new criticism for the kingdom's
ultraconservative religious police and judiciary.
(AP, 3/10/09)
2009 Mar 10, In Saudi Arabia a
huge sandstorm blanketed the city of Riyadh with a thick layer of
yellow dust.
(AP, 3/11/09)
2009 Mar 11, Saudi Arabia hosted
the leaders of Egypt and Syria in an effort to persuade Damascus to
move away from Iran and join with US-allied Arab countries in working
to blunt Tehran's influence.
(AP, 3/11/09)
2009 Mar 22, A group of Saudi
clerics urged the kingdom's new information minister to ban women from
appearing on TV or in newspapers and magazines, making clear that the
country's hardline religious establishment is skeptical of a new push
toward moderation.
(AP, 3/22/09)
2009 Mar 25, Fahad al-Ruwaily, a
senior al-Qaida leader, returned to Saudi Arabia voluntarily and turned
himself in. He was on a list of the kingdom's 85 most wanted militants
living abroad.
(AP, 3/26/09)
2009 Mar 27, Saudi Arabia’s King
Abdullah (84) appointed his half-brother, Prince Nayef (75), as his 2nd
deputy prime minister.
(Econ, 4/4/09, p.51)
2009 Apr 1, Sudanese President
Omar Hassan al-Bashir arrived in Saudi Arabia for a brief pilgrimage,
his latest trip abroad in defiance of an international arrest warrant
against him.
(Reuters, 4/1/09)
2009 Apr 7, Saudi authorities
beheaded 3 Pakistanis convicted of killing a fellow Pakistani during a
jewelry heist. This brought to 20 the number of beheadings in the
kingdom this year.
(AP, 4/7/09)
2009 Apr 11, A Saudi man convicted
of rape and robbery was beheaded, becoming the 22nd prisoner to be
executed by sword this year in the kingdom. An Interior Ministry
statement says the man committed the crimes after drinking alcohol.
(AP, 4/11/09)
2009 Apr 30, In Saudi Arabia a
lawyer said an 8-year-old girl has divorced her middle-aged husband
after her father forced her to marry him last year in exchange for
about $13,000. Saudi Arabia has come under increasing criticism at home
and abroad for permitting child marriages. The United States, a close
ally of the conservative Muslim kingdom, has called child marriage a
"clear and unacceptable" violation of human rights.
(AP, 5/1/09)
2009 May 12, The US won a seat on
the UN Human Rights Council for the first time along with Cuba, Saudi
Arabia, China and Russia, four countries accused of serious human
rights violations.
(SFC, 5/13/09, p.A2)
2009 May 23, It was reported that
Saudi Arabian investors were spending $100 million to raise wheat,
barley and rise on land leased from the government of Ethiopia. The
World Food Program estimated that it would spend almost the same amount
between 2007 and 2011 to provide 230,000 tons of food aid to some 4.6
million Ethiopians threatened by hunger and malnutrition.
(Econ, 5/23/09, p.61)
2009 May 28, The Saudi Arabia,
Monetary Agency froze the bank accounts of Maan al-Sanea, head of the
Saad Group and ranked recently as the 3rd richest Arab businessman.
(Econ, 6/20/09, p.70)
2009 May 29, Saudi authorities
beheaded and crucified a man convicted of brutally slaying an
11-year-old boy and his father.
(AP, 5/30/09)
2009 May, The Int’l. Banking
Corporation (TIBC), a Bahraini bank owned by the Gosaibi family of
Saudi Arabia, defaulted.
(Econ, 7/11/09, p.65)
2009 Jun 3, Iranian nuclear
scientist Shahram Amiri vanished during a pilgrimage to the Saudi
kingdom. In October Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said:
"We hold Saudi Arabia responsible for Shahram Amiri's situation and
consider the US to be involved in his arrest."
(AP, 10/7/09)
2009 Jun 3, President Barack Obama
began his latest bid to open a dialogue with the Muslim world by paying
a call on King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia. Pres. Obama spoke to King
Abdullah about a host of thorny problems, from Arab-Israeli peace
efforts to Iran's nuclear program.
(AP, 6/3/09)
2009 Jun 6, In Saudi Arabia a
screening of the Saudi film, "Menahi," brought a taste of the
moviegoing experience to Riyadh more than 30 years after the government
began shutting down theaters. No women were allowed. Men and children,
including girls up to 10, were allowed to attend the show at a
government-run cultural center.
(AP, 6/8/09)
2009 Jun 7, Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar
and Saudi Arabia signed an agreement paving the way for a monetary
union and plans for a unified regional currency.
(SFC, 6/8/09, p.C1)
2009 Jun 12, Guantanamo detainee
Ahmed Zuhair and two others were reported to have been sent home to
Saudi Arabia, where they would be subject to judicial review before
entering a government-run "rehabilitation" program. Zuhair had been
held at Guantanamo since June 2002 and had refused to eat since the
summer of 2005. He was force-fed a liquid mix to keep him alive.
(AP, 6/12/09)
2009 Jun 14, Yemen accused a
Shiite rebel group of kidnapping nine foreigners while on a picnic in
northern Saada province. The Interior Ministry official said Hassan
Hussein Bin Alwan, a Saudi man suspected of financing Al-Qaida cells in
Yemen and Saudi Arabia, has been arrested.
(AP, 6/14/09)
2009 Jun 24, The Gosaibi family of
Saudi Arabia held a creditor’s meeting in Bahrain. Their
representatives revealed that the group owed $9.2 billion to over 120
banks all over the world.
(Econ, 7/11/09, p.65)
2009 Jul 15, Mazen Abdul-Jawad
(32), a Saudi man, appeared on the Lebanese-based LBC satellite TV
station’s "Bold Red Line" program and shocked Saudis by publicly
confessing to sexual exploits. More than 200 people soon filed legal
complaints against Abdul-Jawad, dubbed a "sex braggart" by the media,
and many Saudis said he should be severely punished. On July 31
Abdul-Jawad was detained for questioning. The Jiddah offices of the LBC
station were closed soon thereafter.
(AP, 8/6/09)(AP, 8/9/09)
2009 Jul 8, Saudi officials said a
criminal court has convicted and sentenced an al-Qaida militant to
death and given more 330 others jail terms, fines and travel bans in
the country's first known terrorism trials for suspected members of the
terror network. The 330 are believed to be among the 991 suspected
militants that Interior Minister Prince Nayef has said had been charged
with participating in terrorist attacks over the past five years.
(AP, 7/8/09)
2009 Jul 9-2009 Aug 2, Saudi
Arabian authorities arrested 44 suspected militants who sought to
recruit youths and finance their "deviant activities" through
charitable donations.
(AP, 8/19/09)
2009 Jul 22, Amnesty International
reported that Saudi Arabia is holding more than 3,000 people in secret
detention and has used torture to extract confessions in its
anti-terrorism crackdown since the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks.
(AP, 7/22/09)
2009 Jul 23, Arab health ministers
decided to ban children, the elderly and those with chronic medical
conditions from attending the annual Muslim pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia
this year in effort to slow the spread of swine flu.
(AP, 7/23/09)
2009 Aug 9, Italians newspapers
reported that burglars earlier in the week had made off with jewels and
cash worth 11 million euros (15.6 million dollars) from the hotel room
of a Saudi princess in Sardinia, sparking a diplomatic incident. On Sep
15 Sardinia police said most of the jewels had been recovered.
(AFP, 8/9/09)(AP, 9/15/09)
2009 Aug 19, Saudi authorities
said they have arrested 44 suspected militants with al-Qaida links in a
yearlong sweep that also uncovered dozens of machine guns and
electronic circuits for bombs.
(AP, 8/20/09)
2009 Aug 27, In Saudi Arabia a
suicide bomber targeted the assistant interior minister, Prince
Mohammed bin Nayef, and blew himself up just before going into a
gathering of well-wishers for the Muslim holy month of Ramadan in
Jiddah. Nayef was slightly wounded.
(AP, 8/28/09)
2009 Sep 23, Saudi Arabia opened a
new multibillion dollar coed university outside the coastal city of
Jeddah. The King Abdullah Science and Technology University, or KAUST,
boasts state-of-the-art labs, the world's 14th fastest supercomputer
and one of the biggest endowments worldwide. 817 students representing
61 different countries were currently enrolled, with 314 beginning
classes this month.
(AP, 9/23/09)
2009 Oct 7, A Saudi court
convicted Mazen Abdul-Jawad for publicly talking about sex after he
bragged on a TV talk show about his exploits, sentencing him to five
years in jail and 1,000 lashes. The program, which aired July 15 on the
Lebanese LBC satellite channel, was seen in Saudi Arabia and
scandalized conservative viewers where such frank talk is rarely heard
in public.
(AP, 10/7/09)
2009 Oct 7, Saudi Arabia's King
Abdullah made his first visit to Syria since becoming monarch, the
strongest indication yet of thawing relations between the two rival
nations following years of tension. The 2-day talks between Abdullah
and Assad focused on the need for Arab solidarity in view of the
numerous challenges facing the Arab world.
(AP, 10/7/09)(AP, 10/9/09)
2009 Oct 13, In Saudi Arabia a
shootout between Saudi security forces and al-Qaida militants near, two
of whom were disguised as women and wearing explosives belts, left two
of the militants and a soldier dead near the southern Yemen border. One
of the assailants, Abdullah Hassan Tali Assiri, was captured. The two
al-Qaida militants killed were planning to carry out a massive attack.
6 Yemeni accomplices. who were coordinating with the two militants,
Youssef al-Shihri and Raed al-Harbi, were later arrested.
(AP, 10/14/09)(AP, 10/18/09)
2009 Oct 24, A Saudi court
convicted a female journalist for her involvement in a TV show, in
which a Saudi man, Abdul-Jawad, publicly talked about sex, and
sentenced her to 60 lashes. Rozanna al-Yami (22) is believed to be the
first Saudi woman journalist to be given such a punishment. The same
court sentenced Abdul-Jawad earlier this month to five years in jail
and 1,000 lashes. 3 other men who appeared on the show, "Bold Red
Line," were also convicted of discussing sex publicly and sentenced to
two years imprisonment and 300 lashes each. Saudi Arabia's King
Abdullah waived the flogging sentence of the female journalist, the
second such pardoning of such a high profile case by the monarch in
recent years. He ordered al-Yami's case and that of another journalist,
a pregnant woman also accused of involvement in the program, be
referred to a committee in the ministry.
(AP, 10/24/09)(AP, 10/26/09)
2009 Nov 1, A Saudi Arabia
Interior Ministry spokesman said authorities have discovered large
quantities of weapons in the capital Riyadh belonging to al-Qaida
terror network. The discovery included 281 assault rifles and 51
ammunition boxes.
(AP, 11/1/09)
2009 Nov 3, Unidentified gunmen
infiltrated from Yemen and attacked Saudi security guards patrolling
the Mount Dokhan border area. 3 senior security men were killed.
(AP, 11/5/09)(Econ, 11/7/09, p.47)
2009 Nov 4, Saudi Arabia launched
a large military incursion across the border into northern Yemen, using
fighter jets and artillery bombardments to try to end a Shiite
rebellion inside its troubled southern neighbor.
(AP, 11/5/09)
2009 Nov 6, Saudi Arabia said it
carried out airstrikes against "infiltrators" from Yemen that were
limited to areas inside Saudi territory, and vowed to press on with the
military action until the border with its restive neighbor was secure.
In Yemen, however, a military official said Saudi forces continued to
shell rebel position in Saada.
(AP, 11/6/09)
2009 Nov 8, Saudi Arabia’s
assistant defense minister said Saudi forces have taken control of
Dokhan mountain straddling the border with Yemen and cleared it of
Shiite rebels, in five days of fighting that saw three soldiers killed
and 15 wounded.
(AP, 11/8/09)
2009 Nov 9, In Saudi Arabia Ali
Sibat, a Lebanese psychic who made predictions on a satellite TV
channel from his home in Beirut, was sentenced to death for practicing
witchcraft. He was arrested by religious police in Medina during a
pilgrimage there in May, 2008.
(AP, 11/25/09)
2009 Nov 10, A Saudi Arabian
government adviser says the kingdom has imposed a naval blockade on
northern Yemen's Red Sea coast to try to prevent weapons and fighters
flowing to Shiite rebels in the area.
(AP, 11/10/09)
2009 Nov 21, Saudi health
officials announced the first deaths from swine flu of this year's
annual pilgrimage to Mecca, as four pilgrims succumbed to the disease
soon after arriving in Saudi Arabia.
(AP, 11/21/09)
2009 Nov 23, Shiite rebels in
northern Yemen accused Saudi forces of launching a major cross-border
ground and air attack, a day after an alleged failed incursion.
(AFP, 11/23/09)
2009 Nov 25, In Saudi Arabia rare,
heavy rainstorms soaked pilgrims and flooded the road into Mecca,
snarling Islam's annual hajj as some 2.5 million Muslims headed for the
holy sites. The downpours add an extra hazard on top of intense
concerns about the spread of swine flu. The torrential rains killed at
least 106 people. Most of the deaths occurred in Jiddah, where streets
were swamped with water, some houses collapsed and mudslides took
place, and in areas around the main highway to Mecca.
(AP, 11/25/09)(AFP, 11/25/09)(AP, 11/26/09)(AP,
11/28/09)
2009 Nov 27, In Saudi Arabia vast
crowds of pilgrims cast stones at walls representing the devil on the
third day of the annual hajj as Muslims around the world began
celebrating Eid al-Adha, the most important holiday of the Islamic
calendar.
(AP, 11/27/09)
2009 Nov 27, Saudi Arabia said
nine of its soldiers fighting Yemeni rebels on the border were missing
and Saudi King Abdullah vowed to defend the country.
(AP, 11/28/09)
2009 Nov 29, Saudi officials said
5 people died from swine flu during the hajj, a relatively small number
considering the event is the largest annual gathering in the world and
was seen as an ideal incubator for the virus.
(AP, 11/29/09)
2009 Nov 29, Somali pirates seized
the Greece-flagged Maran Centaurus, a tanker carrying more about $150
million of crude oil from Saudi Arabia to the US, in the waters off
East Africa.
(AP, 11/30/09)(AP, 12/4/09)
2009 Dec 12, Saudi newspapers said
Saudi ground forces and Apache attack helicopters had battled Huthi
fighters for two days at the Al-Jabri post on the Yemeni border in the
southern province of Yemen, and repulsed attempted Huthi incursions.
Saudi military denied a claim by Yemen's Huthi rebels that they seized
a Saudi border post.
(AFP, 12/12/09)
2009 Dec 13, In Yemen air strike
killed at least 35 people in the northwest where rebels have been
fighting a guerrilla war against Yemeni and Saudi forces. Rebels said
70 civilians were killed as fighter jets struck the town of Razah.
(SFC, 12/14/09, p.A2)
2009 Dec 15, In Kuwait Gulf Arab
nations put into force a monetary pact, moving a step closer toward the
elusive goal of a single regional currency and greater integration
between the mainly oil-rich states. The announcement was made by
Kuwait's finance minister came as leaders from the six-member Gulf
Cooperation Council nations were wrapping up a two-day summit in which
they launched a regional electricity project. The GCC groups Kuwait,
Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Oman and Bahrain.
(AP, 12/15/09)
2009 Dec 22, Saudi Arabia said
that 73 Saudis have been killed and 26 gone missing since the kingdom
launched an offensive against Yemeni Shiite rebels along the border
last month. Rebels, known as Hawthis, have alleged dozens of civilian
deaths in Saudi air assaults.
(SFC, 12/23/09, p.A2)
2009 Robert Lacey, British
journalist, authored “Inside the Kingdom: Kings, Clerics, Modernists,
Terrorists, and the Struggle for Saudi Arabia.”
(Econ, 10/10/09, p.88)
Go to http://www.timelinesdb.com
Subject = Saudi Arabia
End of file.