SHAFAQNA

SHAFAQNA (Shia International News Association) –Saudi protesters have once again taken to the streets in Riyadh, calling for the release of prisoners detained during anti-regime demonstrations. The demonstrators chanted slogans against the excessive use of force by Saudi forces in quelling anti-regime protests and condemned the Al Saud regime’s suppressive actions against dissidents.  According to Human Rights Watch, the Saudi regime “routinely represses expression critical of the government.”  According to Saudi activists, most of the detained political thinkers are being…

SHAFAQNA (Shia International News Association) – This Marc Lynch post on America’s Saudi problem is worth reading for its discussion of how our uncritical support for Saudi Arabia undermines our efforts in the Middle East. America’s alliance with Saudi Arabia remains the greatest contradiction inherent in its attempt to align itself with popular aspirations for change in the region. A Saudi exception certainly makes things such as coordinating the containment of Iran easier for diplomats on a daily basis. But it…

SHAFAQNA (Shia International News Association) – Sri Lanka will gradually stop allowing women to work as housemaids in Saudi Arabia after a Sri Lankan was executed in the country over the death of an infant in her care, the Colombo government said. The government said it would raise the minimum age for female domestic workers to be eligible to seek employment in Saudi Arabia to 25 years from the present 21 with an eye on eventually stopping such employment altogether. "Gradual phase-out is the idea," government…

SHAFAQNA (Shia International News Association) – In Riyadh last week, where I was speaking to a small private workshop, Prince Turki al-Faisal, a former head of Saudi intelligence and ambassador to the United States, introduced me by readingseveral excerpts from my recent FP column: "Bahrain crushed its opposition with impunity," he read. And then: "Obama chose to rely on the Gulf monarchies against Iran, which made it exceptionally difficult for him to meaningfully pressure them to reform or to block their…

SHAFAQNA (Shia International News Association) – A leaked internal memo shows how Saudi officials commuted 1,200 death row inmates under the condition they go and fight against Assad in Syria, according to the Assyrian International News Agency. From the memo: We have reached an agreement with them that they will be exempted from the death sentence and given a monthly salary to their families and loved ones, who will be prevented from traveling outside Saudi Arabia in return for rehabilitation of the accused…

SHAFAQNA (Shia International News Association)-President Mohamed Morsy's office said Tuesday that it expects to soon begin a joint project with Saudi Arabia to build a bridge between the two countries across the Gulf of Aqaba. Saudi officials expressed a desire to begin implementing the project during Morsy's visit to the country early this week, presidential spokesperson Yasser Ali told reporters on Tuesday. The King Abdullah Bridge was first proposed in the 1980s but but has since been shelved. The ambitious…

SHAFAQNA (Shia International News Association) -- www.shafaqna.com/English

SHAFAQNA (Shia International News Association) – Rights groups claim that Saudi authorities are increasingly targeting human rights activists. Accusations include vague charges such as instigating chaos, gathering illegally, harming the reputation of the kingdom, talking to foreigners and the media. Mohammed Al-Qahtani is one of those activists being targeted. He hopes that some day his daughter will be able to walk somewhere without a male guardian or drive a car without being arrested. He said: "Maybe I'm dreaming. My newborn…

SHAFAQNA (Shia International News Association) – The gathering was small, but activists say its impact is potentially huge. On January 5, in the ultraconservative heartland of Saudi Arabia, a small group of women held a demonstration calling for the release of detained family members. Their arrest, a short time later, caused great outrage and inspired even more people to take to the streets. It was in the town of Buraida, where activists say mothers, daughters, sisters and wives -- many who…

SHAFAQNA (Shia International News Association) – When it comes to the US "foreign policy community", few if any people are more representative of it than Bruce Riedel. A 30-year CIA officer and adviser to the last four US presidents, he is now a senior fellow at the wing of the Brookings Institution funded by entertainment mogul Haim Saban (whom the New York Times described as "a tireless cheerleader for Israel" and who described himself this way: "I'm a one-issue guy and…