Prince Turki Al-Faisal presents his credentials to Secretary Rice

Prince Turki Al-Faisal presented his credentials as Saudi Arabia’s Ambassador to the United States to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice in New York today. During the meeting, Prince Turki said that he looks forward to working alongside Secretary Rice and the Bush administration in a manner that serves joint interests.

A Tale of Two Cities With Dickensian Poverty
Adrienne McPhail, worthington90@cybernet.it

I have a unique perspective on the tragedy that is now New Orleans, due to the fact that I lived over a decade in that city and both of my daughters are now displaced from their homes and are struggling to replace all they once had with the exception of their lives.

The 10 million annual visitors to New Orleans have been charmed by great jazz music, jambalaya, wrought iron-laced balconies adorning ancient buildings and young African-American boys tap-dancing in the streets for the quarters tourists throw at their busy feet.

Very few people stop to think just where those boys live or how they live and yet they, like so many, are the other side of New Orleans.

Adrienne McPhail, who had a column in the Arab News while she was living in Saudi Arabia, files an informed report on the city of New Orleans and the state of Louisiana. Her information should provide some serious perspective for the views currently getting major media play around the world. She provides a useful counterpoint to the type of op-eds–chiefly British–that the paper was running and which I commented upon earlier this week. As the media train rattles along, it’s clear that it’s not only international readers who need a reality check. I’m pleased that Ms McPhail–with whom I had a good working relationship–was able to get this published.

Five most-wanted suspects confirmed dead in four-day Dammam raid

The Ministry of Interior today issued details about the recent Eastern Province security operation that lasted four days. The incident began on Sunday, September 4, in front of a commercial center in the city of Dammam and ended on Wednesday evening, September 7 in a residential area. In the ongoing exchange of fire, five members of the deviant group were killed. All five were Saudi nationals, and on the list of 36 most-wanted published on June 28, 2005: Zaid Saad Zaid Alsammari, 31; Salih Mansour Mohsin Alfiraidi Alharbi, 22; Sultan Salih Hosan Alhasri, 26; Naif Farhan Jalal Aljihaishi Alshammari, 24; and Mohammed Abdulrahman Alsuwailmi, 23. Four security officers were killed; many others were wounded, most of them later discharged from hospital.

Security forces had been alerted to the fact that certain members of the deviant group had used forged documents to rent a house in the densely-populated district of Al-Mubarakiya in the city of Dammam in the Eastern Province. When asked to surrender, the militants resisted. Taking the necessary measures to ensure the safety of the residents of the six units in the area, the security forces surrounded the building in which the suspects were hiding.

Found at the site were ammunition, explosives and weapons, including machine guns, pistols, hand grenades, and pipe bombs, as well as a truck, telecommunication and photography equipment, and forged documents. A total of eleven persons of various nationalities were arrested under suspicion of involvement in the incident.

In its statement, the Interior Ministry expressed appreciation for the cooperation of citizens and residents at the site of the incident, commenting that the cooperation and sense of responsibility shown ensured their safety and enabled the security forces to successfully confront the deviant group.

This press release from the Saudi Embassy in Washington notes that the five killed in the raid were all on the current most-wanted list of 36. To see how well the Saudis are doing in tracking down the ones they have identified as terrorists (or Al-Qaeda “deviants” in the local vernacular), see the graphic at Security Watchtower. (Thanks to Winds of Change for the pointer.)

The Arab News, provides further details in identifying those killed, including what activities got them on the most-wanted list in the first place.

Terrorists Wiped Out in Dammam
Samir Al-Saadi & Ahmed Al-Abki, Arab News

JEDDAH/DAMMAM, 7 September 2005 — Saudi security forces stormed a major Al-Qaeda hide-out in the eastern city of Damman yesterday, killing all terrorists inside. Four security men were also killed in the operation.

In a brief statement, the Interior Ministry said security forces had “ended their operations,” which began Sunday in the main city of Eastern Province, losing four men, in addition to 10 wounded.

Police are purging the site (of the siege) where “charred remains” were found, the ministry said without giving the number of suspected militants killed. The reference to “charred remains” suggested some of the militants had blown themselves up.

The siege in Dammam is over, with all terrorists killed. Arab News also has an editorial on the issue:

Editorial: War on Evil

THE siege is over. The security forces deserve the heartfelt thanks of the whole country for dealing with another group of brainwashed devotees to Al-Qaeda’s death cult who, if they had not been stopped in Dammam, would certainly have brought terror and destruction on a massive scale to somewhere or other in Saudi Arabia. We all need to be thankful because everyone in this country — Saudi, expatriate, Muslim, non-Muslim, rich, poor, male, female, old, young — is a potential victim. The terrorists do not care who they kill. That has been evident throughout their campaign of shootings and bombings.

It took three days before the building in which the extremists had holed up in could be stormed. It could have been earlier had those in charge thrown caution to the wind and everything in their armory at the building. But that would have caused great damage to the area. More importantly, it would have robbed the security forces of the best weapon they have in defeating these deviants — intelligence. It is information, gleaned from a variety of sources — from a shocked and sickened public, from the interrogation of suspects, from high-tech eavesdropping — that has helped the authorities to slowly gain the upper hand in the war against Al-Qaeda’s followers in the Kingdom…

The Arab News has been unfortunately providing a home for Bush- and America-bashers, mostly of the British persuasion, since the hurricane hit the southeastern United States. Delightful pieces of pomposity like Rupert Cornwall’s “Sanctimonious, White-Run America Will Live On,” or The Guardian piece, “Accusing Gazes Focusing on the White House” have tended to get many column-inches.

Today’s issue features a piece of inanity from the inane Jasmin Alibhai-Brown entitled, “Britain Has No Lessons to Learn From America.” Within, she deconstructs the American disaster as a manifestation of America’s unresolved race problems. She even goes back to Gunnar Myrdal’s 1944 Race in America, as though that book, seminal for its time, had much to say about race in America today. She pulls no punches:

Of course it is about race. And class. Do you really think there would have been this torpor and indifference if a natural calamity had hit, say, the white middle class residents of Texas? This is a ruthlessly capitalistic system which rejects social democratic interventions and it is also a country of white privilege which feels entitled to use weaponry in order to keep the status quo.

Based on a couple of visits to New Orleans, she feels competent to explain America. Based on her being a “person of color,” she claims authority to speak for American Blacks. Based on faulty brain wiring, she cannot help herself from marching out the socialist banner.

Even more silly, because it pretends to be based on facts rather than the philosophy, is an item by Linda Heard, the completely estimable scribbler. She says:

The authorities clearly forewarned of the disaster’s potential scope, critics are naturally asking: “Where were the buses to carry the poor, the sick and the elderly to safety prior to the anticipated flood and why did it take those buses five days to arrive after the event?”

FEMA is heaping the blame on state and local officials, especially Louisiana Governor Kathleen Blanco for failing to request its involvement from the get-go. The White House spin machine, striving to protect the administration’s collective back, is eager to concur.

There’s a simple answer to her question about the buses (Scroll to find satellite pictures–and thanks to Junkyard Blog for the photos) though I’m sure it will not please her…

Over 250 school buses and over 350 city transit buses, all belonging to New Orleans, all within the authority of the Mayor of New Orleans, are right where the Mayor left them: in their parking lots. Six hundred buses, with an average capacity of, say, 50, means 30,000 people without transportation could have been evacuated in one trip. Had the buses made, reasonably three trips–there were, after all, 30 hours between the order to evacuate and the storm’s arrival–90,000 people could have been moved out of harm’s way.

Ninety thousand people. That’s the same number as is being quoted for the number of people trapped in the city.

Worse, the city’s Emergency Preparedness Plan explicity states that buses–both school and transit–are to be used for evacuation.

There have been many studies noting New Orlean’s vulnerability to major storms. Those studies have been carried out for at least 40 years. Even 200 years ago, the sanity of the promoter of land sales to create the city was questioned because the location was so wrong. No surprises about what might happen.

What was surprising was that the disaster did happen the way it did. When the storm turned eastward and lessened in strength, everyone heaved a sigh of relief: New Orleans had dodged the bullet. The disaster happened after the storm had apparently passed as water from Lake Ponchatrain, to the north of the city, filled with rain and blown by winds, breached the levees. Overflow had been anticipated; breaches had not been expected.

One can reasonably argue that more money should have been spent on enhancing the levees. That was not the will of the taxpayers, those of New Orleans, those of Louisiana, those of the country as a whole. In 2001, in fact, The New York Times wrote:

But it is no surrender to recognize, as many Midwesterners have done, that there is something profoundly elemental in the spring rising of the Mississippi and its tributaries, an adherence to a law that is still greater than almost anything the Army Corps of Engineers can throw in its way.

In April of this year, 2005, The New York Times also opined:

“Anyone who cares about responsible budgeting and the health of America’s rivers and wetlands should pay attention to a bill now before the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works. The bill would shovel $17 billion at the Army Corps of Engineers for flood control and other water-related projects — this at a time when President Bush is asking for major cuts in Medicaid and other important domestic programs. Among these projects is a $2.7 billion boondoggle on the Mississippi River that has twice flunked inspection by the National Academy of Sciences…

“This is a bad piece of legislation.”

Presidents from Jimmy Carter onward have had the opportunity to do something about the levees of New Orleans. So have Congresses, the state legislature of Louisiana, the city government of New Orleans. They chose what they chose based on their perceptions of costs and benefits. They have, all of them, made the wrong choice, as is obvious in hindsight.

Certainly, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), now a part of the Department of Homeland Security, might have done a better job. They are paid to not be suprised. But they do not have a stock of magic wands in their inventory.

Certainly, the citizens of New Orleans should have taken the warning more seriously. Absolutely, the Mayor and his staff should have done more with what they had, while they had the time to do it. But until the story of the buses is resolved, I think blame should be placed where it is due: on the failed city government of the city of New Orleans.

Standoff With Terrorists in Dammam Continues; 4 Die
Samir Al-Saadi & Ahmed Al-Abki, Arab News

JEDDAH/DAMMAM, 6 September 2005 — A Saudi police officer was killed yesterday in an exchange of fire as the siege by Saudi security forces of suspected Al-Qaeda terrorists entered its second day.

An officer shot in the siege yesterday has since died of his wounds. The militant who was shot and wounded yesterday outside a supermarket early on in the incident has also died.

Unconfirmed reports said the two militants shot in Dammam on Sunday had figured on a list of 36 most wanted terrorists. They identified the pair as Zaid Saad Al-Samari, 31, and Walid Mutlaq Al-Radadi, 21, who died in the shootout with security forces outside a supermarket on Muhammad ibn Fahd Street on Sunday.

The siege of a building holding terrorists in Dammam is continuing, and at a high peak. It’s also likely the first time Saudi citizens have seen their security personnel firing rocket-propelled grenades into a structure. As the fighting continues, the U.S. Consulate General in Dhahran announced a temporary closure.

Saudi authorities moved against terrorism on both coasts today, killing one of their most-wanted terrorists in Dammam, on the Arabian/Persian Gulf coast, while in Jeddah, on the Red Sea, they raided a house, made arrests, and found explosives, police uniforms, and numerous passports.

In Dammam:

Saudi Security Forces Gun Down Terrorist in Dammam Shootout
Samir Al-Saadi & Ahmed Al-Abki, Arab News

JEDDAH, 5 September 2005 — Security forces killed a wanted terrorist and wounded another following a gunbattle with the pair in the eastern city of Dammam.

Eyewitnesses told Arab News that security forces were also besieging a building in the city where three suspects were trapped. Heavy gunfire was heard after residents of nearby buildings were evacuated.

Asharq Alawsat newspaper has further details.

In Jeddah:

Explosives, Uniforms Snagged in Jeddah Dragnet
Samir Al-Saadi, Arab News

JEDDAH, 5 September 2005 — Two men residents called well-known “well-digging contractors” were arrested early yesterday with a cache of explosives during massive security raids in Jeddah that also netted more than 600 overstayers.

Arab News was there when two other men were arrested on charges of possession of police clothing and forged passports. The suspects denied ownership of the items when confronted by police. Investigations are ongoing. However, police confirmed that the explosives seized were meant for digging wells.

Saudi Arabia and the U.S. Sign Bilateral Free Trade Agreement
Zayid bin Qami — Asharq Alawsat

Riyadh, Asharq Al-Awsat- A member of the Saudi delegation negotiating the Kingdom’s entry into the World Trade Organization (WTO) told Asharq Al Awsat his government and the United States had signed a bilateral free trade agreement and expected the U.S Congress to make an announcement on the subject next week following its ratification.

The Saudi official predicted the official signing ceremony would take place during the Kingdom’s Foreign Minister, Saud al Faisal, forthcoming visit to Washington D.C, in September. The bilateral agreement had been one of the thorniest problems facing Riyadh in the last few years as the stalemate had lasted for several years.

He added that after the ratification, Saudi Arabia would officially announce its ascension to the WTO during the international body’s 6 th Ministerial Conference to be held in Hong Kong between 13 and 18 December 2005, after the Kingdom joins the WTO General Council which will convene in Geneva on 19 October 2005.

With the signing of this bilateral agreement, Saudi Arabia has taken the penultimate step in joining the World Trade Organization as a full member. Getting this far has been difficult for both governments. On the US side, there are some members of Congress who wish to penalize Saudi Arabia, on general principles. On the Saudi side, some businesses–particularly those with monopoly positions–are going to lose as competition becomes required and transparent. The issue of transparency itself has caused problems in a society where people don’t expect what they see as private dealings to be matters of public interest. And then, of course, there are those who feared that, by joining the WTO, Saudi Arabia would be required to import religiously forbidden items like pork or alcohol.

Why Pakistan Engages the Jewish Congress
Nasim Zehra, nasimzehra@hotmail.com

Why now? This is the question everybody asks after Pakistan President Musharraf accepted the invitation of the American Jewish Conference to address them in New York on Sept. 17. That Washington would be pleased about one of the most important and the only Muslim nuclear power engaging with the Jewish Congress and by extension with the State of Israel is obvious, but it would be highly simplistic to conclude it as the primary cause for Pakistan’s engagement.

This is a pretty amazing article to find in a Saudi paper (here, the Arab News). It’s worth reading the whole op-ed. It reads a bit like a Pakistani government press release, but what it says makes the source rather immaterial. That it appears in a Saudi paper makes it something important.

Pakistan, according to another news item, has taken a major step by having its Foreign Minister, Khurshid Mahmud Kasuri, meet with his Israeli counterpart. This op-ed goes into detail about previous Pakistani steps (or at least statements) toward rapprochement in the relations between the two countries. Its presence in the Arab News is pointing out that a state of war, de facto or de jure, need not define relationships for all time. Pakistan, home of a major segment of the world’s Muslim population, is recognizing a reality that most Arab states have not: Israel exists and needs to be dealt with in reality, not just as an abstract entity.

Do read the whole piece.

Saudi Radio Gets First Woman News Anchor
Ebtihal Mubarak, Arab News

JEDDAH, 2 September 2005 — “The news is read to you by Najwa Moemena.” That announcement broadcast last Monday by the Jeddah radio station marked the first time a woman served as a news anchor in Saudi Arabia. Moemena has presented numerous radio programs discussing social and political issues.

Here’s another incrementally small, but still important step for women. By having a Saudi woman as an anchor on Saudi Radio, Saudi women take a small move toward empowerment. Up to now, the women whose voices one heard on local radio were Syrians, Jordanian, Palestinians, Sudanese.

By having a Saudi woman’s voice speaking authoritatively, Saudi women do gain a certain measure of authority. It becomes no longer strange to hear a woman speaking on matters that had been considered “Men’s affairs.”

It’s an incredibly tiny step, but it does matter.