Saudi Arabia

 25% of the world’s oil  90% from 5 oil fields  Discovered in 1930s  Arab oil embargo (1970s oil shortage)  Birth place of Islam  15 of 19 hijackers were Saudi  Wahabi (Strict version of Islam)

 Power controlled by al-Saud family  Royal palaces give feel of unlimited wealth  While per capita income cut in half  Comparable to Mexico  95% of country is desert  90-95% of revenue from oil

 Tension from 1970s oil embargo  ,000 troops sent to remove Saddam  Persian Gulf War  Saudi Beliefs  US self interest  Protect oil & Israel

 Mohamed Ibn Abdul-Wahab signed a pact with Mohammed bin Saud in 1744  House of Saud gets wealth & power  Wahabi clerics get vehicle to spread ideology  15 of 19 hijackers were Saudi

 King Abdullah ranked 7 th worst dictator  7) King Abdullah, Saudi Arabia. Age 82. In power since Last year’s rank: 5 In Saudi Arabia, phone calls are recorded and mobile phones with cameras are banned. It is illegal for public employees “to engage in dialogue with local and foreign media.” By law, all Saudi citizens must be Muslims. According to Amnesty International, police in Saudi Arabia routinely use torture to extract “confessions.” Saudi women may not appear in public with a man who isn’t a relative, must cover their bodies and faces in public and may not drive. The strict suppression of women is not voluntary, and Saudi women who would like to live a freer life are not allowed to do so.

 Mutawaeen (State religious police)  1. A 39-year-old Indian woman (whose name has not been given) is currently under sentence of death by stoning for alleged adultery, apparently following a process during which she had no legal representation.  3. Sabri Bogday is a Turkish man who had moved to Jeddah to run a barbershop. Sabri was arrested after his Egyptian neighbor accused him of “cursing the name of Allah.” Saudi authorities have condemned him to death.  6. Six Somalis were publicly beheaded on 4 April The six had been arrested in 1999, convicted for robberies and sentenced to five years' imprisonment and flogging. The Interior Ministry accused the men of robbery and piracy but the Saudi government has not produced any hard evidence. The young men were denied legal representation. Neither they nor their relatives had been aware that they would receive a death sentences until the morning of their execution.