Word: riyadh
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What kind of ally is a country whose leaders profess solidarity with the U.S. but whose people--apparently some of them, anyway--commit mass murder on American soil, or sit around Riyadh coffee shops applauding those who do? Answer: an uneasy one. As it moves toward military action, the U.S. remains concerned about popular unrest in Arab and Islamic states around the world, including Saudi Arabia. (It was concerned enough, in fact, that alarms went off on Saturday, when a bomb exploded outside a shop in the Saudi city of Khobar, killing two. Initial reports, however, were that the incident...
...place in Islamic history by supervising a $25 billion expansion of the holy shrines in Mecca and Medina. The King also poured cash into scores of new Islamic universities, which began churning out thousands of fresh religious activists. "But something unexpected happened," notes a former Western diplomat in Riyadh. "Instead of this wonderful utopia, where young men were attracted to academia to learn about Islam, you got thousands of religious graduates who couldn't find jobs...
...enforce Saddam's continued isolation, some 6,000 U.S. troops remain in the kingdom, and the eviction of the "Crusader" forces is one of bin Laden's oft-repeated aims. Bomb attacks at U.S. facilities in Riyadh in 1995 and at Khobar Towers in 1996 left 24 Americans dead; bin Laden's role in the blasts, if any, is sketchy. The Sept. 11 attacks in the U.S. left Saudi officials almost as stunned as they were by the roll of Saddam's tanks 11 years earlier. "What shocks me most," says a Saudi diplomat, "is why they hit America...
Caught between America and bin Laden: for Saudi rulers there could hardly be more uncomfortable terrain. Hence, the Saudis have been lobbying Washington against broad attacks on terrorist bases in the Middle East and downplaying the possible use of the state-of-the-art Prince Sultan Air Base near Riyadh for strikes. In the belief that President Bush's seeming ambivalence toward the Palestinian cause helped inflame tensions before Sept. 11, the Saudis are appealing for much stronger U.S. pressure on Israel to accept a Palestinian state. "Wake up, and look at what you are doing in the Middle East...
...rebuild the sacred city of Mecca, and ever since, the bin Ladens have been responsible for construction in Mecca and Medina. After Mohammed's death in a plane crash in 1967, his sons built Saudi BinLaden Group into a multibillion-dollar enterprise. Recent ventures include building a freeway around Riyadh, expanding King Khaled Airport and constructing a base for U.S. troops. According to the Wall Street Journal, the family has invested $2 million in an investment fund run by the Carlyle Group, a merchant bank specializing in buyouts of defense companies. Former President Bush and Secretary of State James Baker...