Saudi Arabia’s king appoints women to advisory council for 1st time
Bloomberg News: King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia has appointed female members to the Consultative Council for the first time, naming 30 women to the 150-member advisory body.
The appointments, reported by the official Saudi Press Agency, came after Abdullah issued a decree requiring at least 20 percent of members should be women. It says they must observe Islamic law and be properly covered, and will enjoy full rights in the council, have a separate entrance to the chamber and sit in a special section apart from men.Photo: King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz al-Saud of Saudi Arabia (Hassan Ammar / AP, file)
This is a huge step for that region. Curious to see where things go from here.
Crown Prince Nayef, the hard-line interior minister who spearheaded Saudi Arabia’s fierce crackdown crushing al-Qaida’s branch in the country after the 9/11 attacks in the United States and then rose to become next in line to the throne, has died. He was in his late 70s.
Nayef’s death unexpectedly reopens the question of succession in this crucial U.S. ally and oil powerhouse for the second time in less than a year. The 88-year-old King Abdullah has now outlived two designated successors, despite ailments of his own. Now a new crown prince must be chosen from among his brothers and half-brothers, all the sons of Saudi Arabia’s founder, Abdul-Aziz.
The figure believed most likely to be tapped as the new heir is Prince Salman, the current defense minister who previously served for decades in the powerful post of governor of Riyadh, the capital. The crown prince will be chosen by the Allegiance Council, an assembly of Abdul-Aziz’s sons and some of his grandchildren.
Big news of the morning.
(Source: joshsternberg)
Saudi Arabia’s intelligence agency, working closely with the CIA, used an informant to pose as a would-be suicide bomber. His job was to convince the Al Qaeda franchise in Yemen to give him a new kind of non-metallic bomb that the militants were designing to easily pass through airport security.
But the double agent instead arranged to deliver the explosive device to U.S. and other intelligence authorities waiting in another country, officials said Tuesday. The agent is now safely outside Yemen and is being debriefed.
To be clear, though: The guy helped intercept an underwear bomb, which is a fairly positive development.
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Today in side effects that say more about the devices than the outage itself. Gives new meaning to the phrase “Research in Motion.” (via Percolate)
His socks would not match. He was always losing his keys and his cellphone. He was not capable of carrying out this plan.Tom Hosseini • Discussing his friend and former college roommate, Mansour Arbabsiar, considered the mastermind behind the the assassination plot that’s landed Iran in hot water with the U.S. While Arbabsiar did have some supporters among those who knew him from his days in Texas, many more weren’t so kind towards him, calling him “worthless” or “very creepy.” On top of this, he had a bit of a rep for being a somewhat shady/unsuccessful businessman. So, the real question: How did this guy get mixed up in this plot? source (via • follow)
The U.S. has something it’s trying to sell to the world. In case you’re wondering what that is, it’s that Iran is a very bad country — particularly in the wake of an assassination plot involving a Saudi diplomat —and we need to make sure they know it. ”It’s critically important that we unite the world in the isolation of and dealing with the Iranians,” Vice President Joe Biden said today. “That’s the surest way to be able to get results.” He suggests that down the line, actions could go beyond sanctions, even, though we’re not at that point yet. He’s not alone. Here’s Secretary of State Hillary Clinton: “This really, in the minds of many diplomats and government officials, crosses a line that Iran needs to be held to account for.” You get the feeling from reading these that the U.S. has been waiting for a moment like this for a while. source
The United States is committed to holding Iran accountable for its actions.Eric Holder, holding a press conference where he held Iran in low regard; he wasn’t holding back a story that would have a strong hold on the press for the rest of the day: That the U.S. held two Iranian suspects in their custody, who the U.S. believes hold the key to an assassination plot involving a Saudi diplomat, as well as a number of related plots. Hold the phone!
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» For the first time, the Arab League has condemned the al-Assad regime’s violent assaults on the protesters, and Saudi Arabia has withdrawn its ambassador to Syria. Saudi King Abdullah strongly denounced the violence, calling for “an end to the death machine and bloodshed.”
What these women are doing is brave and what they are seeking is right, but the effort belongs to them. I am moved by it and I support them, but I want to underscore the fact that this is not coming from outside of their country. This is the women themselves, seeking to be recognized.Secretary of State Hillary Clinton • Speaking about last week’s protest in Saudi Arabia, where many women took to automobiles to violate one of the country’s sexist laws, which prohibits female drivers. Clinton is clearly stressing the internal origin of the protests, as the claim of foreign interference is one that Saudi Arabia could potentially get a lot of mileage out of. Regardless, she’s voiced her support, and we feel nothing but pleased about it — protests against laws like these just need support, pure and simple. source (via • follow)
This may be it in Yemen. Al Jazeera English’s Abdurahman Warsame puts the Saleh situation like so: “What a painful, humiliating and dramatic exit for Ali Abdullah Saleh. Even if he wanted to come back Saudi won’t let him.” He notes that the nature of Saleh’s injuries aren’t life-threatening but do require immediate medical attention. Now’s a good time to remind everyone that Saleh had a chance for a peaceful transition but rejected it.
Due to the ongoing circumstances in Bahrain … King Hamad has announced a state of national emergency as of Tuesday for three months.An announcement on Bahraini state television • Announcing a “national state of emergency” in the country. The announcement comes a day after troops from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates entered the country to help quell the protests. The U.S. government has called for restraint in the wake of fresh military action. source (via • follow)
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