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Saudi King Returns Home As Turmoil Sweeps Region

Saudi King Returns Home As Turmoil Sweeps Region
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Τρι, 22 Φεβρουαρίου 2011 - 16:25
King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia returned to his country Tuesday after a three-month absence for medical treatment, potentially signaling he will play a more active role as the country deliberates its response to the turmoil sweeping across the Arab world.
King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia returned to his country Tuesday after a three-month absence for medical treatment, potentially signaling he will play a more active role as the country deliberates its response to the turmoil sweeping across the Arab world.

Although the oil-rich kingdom has escaped the sort of unrest unleashed in Egypt, Libya or Tunisia, there have been signs of domestic discontent over high unemployment, as well as some nervousness that Saudi Arabia's Shiite Muslim minority could be inspired by the protests of their co-religionist neighbors in Bahrain.

During the king's prolonged absence from the kingdom, analysts had voiced worries that the country's other ageing leaders--notably the defense minister Prince Sultan and the interior minister Prince Nayef--could struggle to react with agility to the regional challenges and to any big protests at home.

Since King Abdullah left in November for two operations on a herniated disc, Saudi Arabia lost a key regional ally with the toppling of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak earlier this month.

Scholars and analysts have said the royal family will be particularly worried by the protests that have shaken Bahrain --the only member of the oil-rich Gulf Cooperation Council so far to have been affected by the regional unrest. The tiny island kingdom is linked to Saudi Arabia by a 16-mile causeway and has a majority Shiite population who are ruled by a Sunni royal family.

Although Saudi Arabia is mostly Sunni, its own Shia minority mainly live in the oil-rich east of the country adjacent to Bahrain and historically have shared some of their neighbors' anger over religious discrimination and lack of opportunities.

Bahrain last week agreed to negotiate with the opposition after reversing a brief crackdown designed to force demonstrators off the streets.

That conciliatory position stands in some contrast to the full-throated support offered to Bahrain 's ruling Al Khalifa family by Saudi Arabia . On Sunday Prince Nayef, the kingdom's interior minister who analysts believe is third-in-line to the throne, said Saudi Arabia "stands united with Bahrain against any threat jeopardizing its security, stability and unity".

Saudi Arabia supports Bahrain 's economy by supplying crude oil to its oil refinery and by sharing the proceeds of the offshore Abu Safa oilfield. The economic support gives Saudi Arabia some leverage over the smaller country's response to the crisis.

King Abdullah has also voiced passionate support for the embattled rulers of moderate Arab states--both in public comments and phone conversations with U.S. President Barack Obama. He ordered Saudi Arabia to grant asylum to Tunisia 's deposed president Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali and condemned the protesters who ousted Egypt 's long-time President Hosni Mubarak as being motivated by "destructive hatred".

Analysts and diplomats familiar with Saudi Arabia say its rulers are also acutely sensitive to the possibility of domestic unrest, and have already reacted to discontent with a police presence and strategic deployment of some of its vast oil wealth.

Since Tunisia 's popular uprising last month, the Saudi kingdom has seen street protests in Jeddah over inadequate flood defenses, small demonstrations in Riyadh for increased women's rights and social-networking posts demanding more democracy. These follow some small-scale sectarian clashes that broke out last year between Sunni and Shiite Muslims.

While recuperating in Morocco , the king ordered the disbursal of millions of dollars to poor families and cancelled repayment to the state of money by the families of people who died in debt.

Yet despite the kingdom's near-total lack of democracy and high rate of youth unemployment--two factors that weighed heavily in Egypt and Tunisia --few people believe Saudi Arabia is ripe for the sort of turmoil that has blazed through other parts of the Arab world.

The Middle East 's largest economy has no sustained history of opposition politics. The royal family is backed by both conservative clerics and political reformers, and Saudis enjoy much higher incomes than most other Arabs.

The Gulf Cooperation Council groups Saudi Arabia , Bahrain , the United Arab Emirates , Qatar , Kuwait and Oman .

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