oh my, whatabout those Wacky Saudis!

So the latest story is that the the DARK PRINCE of AMERICA is to meet with the King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia.  More bidness! More deals! More shenanigans?  What deal is this evil man making with the Saudis?  Whose agenda is he serving?  America's?  Doubt it!  After the fold please find a number of News Items from the Arab Press and others that make you go HHHHUUUUMMM?  Try check them out and see what you think?

Cheney to Meet With Saudi King Ahead of Iraq Summit - washingtonpost.com

The U.S. Has Pressed the Nation to Help With Reconstruction and to Reach Out to SunnisBy Robin Wright

Washington Post Staff Writer

Thursday, November 23, 2006; A32

Vice President Cheney will fly to Saudi Arabia tomorrow and hold talks with King Abdullah on Saturday amid a flurry of diplomatic activity over Iraq that reflects the wider scramble to shape the war-torn country's future at a critical juncture.

These are our Saudi friends, or rather George Bush and family's friends.  The way they treat women is pretty sick in this day and age.  These are the type of friendships which would not exist were it not for the oil industry and our thirst for the sticky substance.  We protect them and yet they fund and encourage terrorism against the west.

Women Asked to Leave Seminar

Raid Qusti, Arab News

RIYADH, 22 November 2006 — A presenter from King Saud University at an international medical seminar at the King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Center caused a stir yesterday when he insisted that all women — including medical and media professionals — leave the room before he would enter the room to give his presentation. Initially some women expressed consternation at the request, but later relented and left the room so the doctor and orthodox man could give his presentation about Islam and the ethics of organ donation and end-of-life issues.

What a wacky wacky world we live in eh Vern?  This is funny after coming out with an announcement that:

Work on Iraq Border Fence Starts in 2007

P.K. Abdul Ghafour, Arab News

JEDDAH, 15 November 2006 — Saudi Arabia will begin building next year a security fence along its 900-km border with Iraq in order to prevent terrorists from sneaking into the country, Interior Minister Prince Naif announced yesterday. He said the project would cost SR45 billion ($12 billion).

Now just a few days later, there is just a little ol' Arab back-tracking back-tracking.  Maybe they were feeling a little too much like Israelis.  What is that called? Smoke and mirrors?  A George Bush mistake, first he was for stay the course, then he wasn't?

Kingdom Denies Plans to Build Fence on Border With Iraq

Raid Qusti, Arab NewsRIYADH, 20 November 2006 - Deputy Interior Minister Prince Ahmed said here yesterday that there was no plan to construct a fence on the Saudi-Iraqi border.

"There is no fence... but efforts are being made to decrease the flow of illegals from Iraq to the Kingdom and vice versa," he told reporters after inaugurating the International Conference on Learning Disabilities here.

"This project will be completed in phases and within a timeframe. It will not be established along the entire border, but only in certain areas," he explained.

He said the new measures were aimed at boosting security of both countries.

Now, it looks like they have their fair share of scandals and down low stuff in the Kingdom as they say.  The following two items are a bit on the old pesky side.

Blair hit by Saudi 'bribery' threat - Sunday Times - Times Online

David Leppard

SAUDI ARABIA is threatening to suspend diplomatic ties with Britain unless Downing Street intervenes to block an investigation into a £60m “slush fund” allegedly set up for some members of its royal family.

A senior Saudi diplomat in London has delivered an ultimatum to Tony Blair that unless the inquiry into an allegedly corrupt defence deal is dropped, diplomatic links between Britain and Saudi Arabia will be severed, a defence source has disclosed.

The Saudis, key allies in the Middle East, have also threatened to cut intelligence co-operation with Britain over Al-Qaeda.

Sex.  Did I mention sex scandals.  Sex slavery.  The Phillipines most exportable product appears to be it's women.  This last item is reported in the Pakistani press about Dubai, not Saudi Arabia, but I understand that this is a common problem in all the oil rich Arab States.

Khaleej Times Online - Bid to curb trafficking of Filipinas with the help of travel agents

By Criselda E. Diala

12 November 2006

DUBAI — The Philippine embassy in Abu Dhabi has been coordinating with travel agencies in the UAE to curb sex trafficking involving Filipinas and keep an eye on ‘brokers’, according to Libran Cabactulan, Ambassador of the Philippines.