Saudi Arabia Tensions - Press Tv News Analysis - 04Oct2011 - English
The Arab revolt is gathering steam in Saudi Arabia and Riyadh is responding with full force.
In this edition of News Analysis we ask how serious...
The Arab revolt is gathering steam in Saudi Arabia and Riyadh is responding with full force.
In this edition of News Analysis we ask how serious the protests have become and whether Saudi Arabia's western allies are prepared to stay at its side in the face of the storm.
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[29 July 2012] Saudi monarchy unable to curb uprising - English
[29 July 2012] Saudi monarchy unable to curb uprising - English
Saudi anti-regime protesters have held fresh demonstrations across Riyadh as well...
[29 July 2012] Saudi monarchy unable to curb uprising - English
Saudi anti-regime protesters have held fresh demonstrations across Riyadh as well as the holy city of Mecca to protest against the arrest of political prisoners.
Interview with Kamel Wazni, political analyst
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Saudi Prince Bandar - UK bribery disgrace in trade with Saudi Arabia -...
Latest News: 15th May 2008
Saudi-Israeli plot against Hezbollah
Thu, 15 May 2008 16:36:28
Prince Bandar bin Sultan (L), Ehud Olmert...
Latest News: 15th May 2008
Saudi-Israeli plot against Hezbollah
Thu, 15 May 2008 16:36:28
Prince Bandar bin Sultan (L), Ehud Olmert
Former Saudi Ambassador to the US Prince Bandar bin Sultan asks Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert to move against Hezbollah.
Saudi's Prince Bandar bin Sultan has formally requested Olmert to move the Zionist regime's military forces in the north of the Occupied Lands on the border with Lebanon as a threat against Hezbollah if the latter did not stop attacking government of Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora, Filkka - Israel website revealed Wednesday.
Bandar bin Sultan arrived in the Occupied Territories in his private plane directly from Jeddah airport to Lod Airport in Tel Aviv.
Bin Sultan asked Olmert to do what is necessary to support PM Siniora, offering to bear all the financial costs of any Israeli war against Hezbollah.
Israeli prime minister, Ehud Olmert who is under investigation in a bribe case, said that he could not do so now, assuring his guest that he could not wage a war on behalf of Saudi Arabia, but he will discuss the issue with the Israeli officials in order to carry out military maneuvers in the south of Lebanon.
Old News
UK bribery disgrace in trade with Saudi Arabia: Former Saudi Ambassador to the US, Prince Bandar bin Sultan received hundreds of millions of pounds in secret payments from Britain's top defence manufacturer with the knowledge of Prime Minister Tony Blair's government, according to the BBC.
The payments made by BAE Systems were actually a conduit to Bandar for his role in the multi-billion al-Yamamah arms agreement, Britain's biggest ever export deal signed in 1985, the state-funded broadcaster said it had learned Thursday.
The alleged bribes were said to have been discovered during a year-long inquiry conducted by Britain's Serious Fraud Office (SFO), but which was abruptly halted last December after Blair said the investigation was a threat to national security.
The dropping of the investigation also came amid concerns that it might jeopardize a new multi-billion arms deal with Saudi Arabia to supply Eurofighters.
The BBC said that the payments, believed to total more than Pnds one billion (Dlrs 1.9 bn), were sent to two Saudi embassy accounts in Washington, were written into the government-to-government arms deal contract in secret annexes.
Allegations previously made in the British press have also suggested that Mark Thatcher, son of the British prime minister at the time, was also involved in the deal.
The al-Yamamah deal included the supply of more than 100 Tornado aircraft and is estimated to have been worth over Pnds 40 billion (Dlrs 78 bn) over more than a decade.
The new claims, to be made in the BBC's current affairs Panorama programme next Monday prompted the head of parliament's committee which investigates strategic exports, Labour MP Roger Berry, to call for a proper investigation into the allegations.
Liberal Democrat Treasury spokesman Vince Cable said that if ministers in either the present or previous governments were involved there should be a "major parliamentary inquiry".
"It is one thing for a company to have engaged in alleged corruption overseas. It is another thing if British government ministers have approved it," Cable said
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[30 May 13] The Debate: Crackdown on Bahraini people continues - English
Targeting of activists, who demand freedom and change, continues by the authorities in Bahrain. Scores of people remaining in prison or detained...
Targeting of activists, who demand freedom and change, continues by the authorities in Bahrain. Scores of people remaining in prison or detained for opposing the government, including prisoners of conscience and people sentenced after unfair trials.
Human rights defenders and other activists harassed and imprisoned. And people dying from inhaling teargas fired by Saudi-backed regime forces.
In a fresh sign of its unrelenting crackdown, Bahrain\\\'s regime forces attack the funeral procession of a 31-year old man, Omran al-Seyed, who died after inhaling tear gas in the village of Karzakan. Regime forces tried to disperse mourners by firing tear gas and stun grenades.
Bahrainis have been protesting against the Al Khalifah regime for over two years now. Manama has responded with an iron fist. Scores have been killed and many injured or arrested during the crackdown. The U.S. and its allies have turned a blind eye to the atrocity which has been facilitated by Saudi Arabia\\\'s intervention in Bahrain.
In this edition of the Debate, we\\\'ll discuss Bahrain, including new developments, such as UK\\\'s arms sale, and why the international bodies and countries who promote democracy have failed to do anything about the cries coming from this tiny Persian Gulf Kingdom.
23m:51s
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Selling arms to ME will backfire on US - 1 Jan 2012 - English
The United States arms sales to the Middle Eastern countries will eventually boomerang on the US, a political analyst tells Press TV.
His...
The United States arms sales to the Middle Eastern countries will eventually boomerang on the US, a political analyst tells Press TV.
His comment comes as the US has recently finalized a 30-billion-dollar deal with Saudi Arabia as part of a 60-billion-dollar contract, first unveiled in October 2010.
The US has also signed a deal to sell about USD 3.5 billion worth of arms to the United Arab Emirates.
“The sales of such high technology to unstable regimes in the Middle East region such as Saudi Arabia or United Arab Emirates, is something that is going to backfire on the United States,” said Nader Mokhtari political commentator and journalist.
“You have to take into account that these countries are not run via political operatives like other countries,” the Tehran-based analyst said, adding that they are run 'like family-run businesses.'
The US has demonstrated support for popular uprisings in the Middle East while at the same time propping up their authoritarian regimes by selling them billions of dollars worth of various types of weaponry.
In its Yearbook 2010, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) stated that the US accounts for 43 percent of world military spending and 30 percent of global arms exports, making it the world's leader in both categories.
US arms sales to the Persian Gulf countries has reached USD 123 billion, with a USD 67.8 billion package for Saudi Arabia, USD 35.6 billion for the United Arab Emirates, USD 12.3 billion for Oman and USD 7.1 billion for Kuwait.
4m:20s
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[21 May 13] Britain\'s arms export to Saudi Arabia - English
Over the past 4 years the British government has approved arms exports of up to 4,000,000 pounds to Saudi Arabia despites great human rights...
Over the past 4 years the British government has approved arms exports of up to 4,000,000 pounds to Saudi Arabia despites great human rights violation in the kingdom.
4m:57s
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[03 July 2012] Saudi Arabia invested in Syria crisis - English
[03 July 2012] Saudi Arabia invested in Syria crisis - English
UN human rights chief Navi Pillay says the flow of arms into Syria is "fueling...
[03 July 2012] Saudi Arabia invested in Syria crisis - English
UN human rights chief Navi Pillay says the flow of arms into Syria is "fueling the violence" in the Arab country, calling for an end to the militarization of the ongoing conflict.
Pillay did not specify where the arms are coming from, but UN diplomats believe that Saudi Arabia and Qatar have been supplying weapons to the armed Syrian rebels.
The UN official claimed that the situation in Syria is "a non-international internal armed conflict," the legal term for a civil war, saying "there is a risk of escalation."
While the West and the Syrian opposition say the government is responsible for the killings, Damascus blames "outlaws, saboteurs and armed terrorist groups" for the unrest, insisting that it is being orchestrated from abroad.
Press TV has conducted an interview with Hisham Jaber, director, Middle East Studies Center, to further discuss the issue.
7m:51s
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