Word: meccas
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...time Saudi Arabia seemed to be adrift, threatening to become the new sick man of the Middle East. Its chain of adversity began with the Egyptian-Israeli peace treaty that divided the Arab world, in whose spirited leadership, at least, the Saudis, keepers of Mecca, have always felt a special role. Then came the Islamic revolution that toppled the Shah of Iran, and by implication threatened conservative Muslim regimes everywhere. At home, a fanatical band of orthodox Muslims seized the Sacred Mosque at Mecca and occupied it for two weeks before Saudi armed forces could dislodge them...
...Saudis also feel that it makes good military sense to diversify the sources of their military equipment and support, and have looked to Europe for assistance. During the Mecca uprising, France supplied antiterrorist advisers to the Saudis, and West Germany is currently training Saudis in counterterrorist tactics. Now the Saudis are especially interested in such European-produced "next generation" weaponry as Leopard tanks from West Germany and the Super Mirage 4000s from France, and they are prepared to trade highly sweetened, long-term oil deals for them. Explains a West German defense contractor: "There's prestige in mere possession...
ISRAEL. With a so-called Mecca Declaration, named for Islam's holiest city, the delegates unanimously declared a jihad, or holy war, against Israel, using their combined "military, economic and political resources-including oil." The proclamation proposed broad new economic sanctions against Israel, along the lines of the 35-year-old Arab League boycott...
...Mecca. Conflicting cultures and conflictive lives detonate in the oppressive heat of a Marrakesh tourist resort. If one wants guidelines to the rich cross-cultural resonances in this drama, ample hints may be found in E.M. Forster's A Passage to India and the works of Paul Bowles and Graham Greene. E,A. Whitehead's play was the most neglected of the year and, conceivably, the finest...
...energy producers have been squabbling among themselves all year. Saudi Arabia and Libya broke off diplomatic relations last October when Libyan President Muammar Gaddafi urged Muslims not to make their annual pilgrimage to Mecca because he claimed that the shrine had been desecrated by U.S. radar surveillance planes flying overhead. And after the outbreak of the war between Iran and Iraq, the cartel had to cancel a gala meeting in Baghdad in November that was to have celebrated the group's 20th anniversary...