State Dept. Spokesperson's Loooong Pause To Saudi Question

[mr wonder]

You Tube

You Tube

U.S. State Dept apparatchik can't answer a strait question that points out the U.S. govt's M.E. democracy double standard.

Why because the truth doesn't fit either the establishment left or the right's B.S. narratives. And it exposes how the U.S. is really just in the M.E. and the rest of the world for the $$$ and Resources. As a corporate tool.

[saltwn]

pretty damning but too many people don't read and that is America's biggest problem imho

[mr wonder]

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You Tube

[waltky]

Sweep of arrests marks a change...

With Saudi Arrests, Crown Prince Shows He Can Force Change. But It's Not Democracy
November 6, 2017 • The weekend's arrests don't mean Saudi Arabia is opening up to democracy. The rulers are unelected monarchs with a record of jailing critics and minorities. But the sweep of arrests marks a change.

The Saudi prince behind the weekend's unprecedented arrest of high-level Saudi officials and businessmen is known as young and brash, and has even been called reckless. He is also known to be in tune with Saudi Arabia's youth; those under 25 make up a majority of the country's population. The prince's latest high-risk move has gotten rave reviews from Saudis on Twitter, the country's most popular social media outlet. Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman, or MBS, as the 32-year-old leader is known, is gambling that he can modernize the ultra-conservative kingdom by consolidating power and mobilizing a generation of young people, say Saudi analysts inside and outside the kingdom. "Did MBS just pull a red wedding?" asked one supporter on Twitter, comparing the weekend's purge to a bloody family massacre on Game of Thrones.

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman attends the Future Investment Initiative conference in Riyadh last month. "We are returning to what we were before — a country of moderate Islam that is open to all religions and to the world," he said at the economic forum.

Arrests began on Saturday, hours after the prince was named to head a new anti-corruption commission. The roundup included 11 princes, sitting and former cabinet officials and one high-profile businessman — billionaire Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, one of the world's richest men, who has extensive investments in Western companies including Twitter, Apple and the Four Seasons hotel chain. The detentions were headline news on Al Arabiya, a Saudi-owned news channel. These high-profile targets were previously considered untouchable in the Saudi kingdom and follow other controversial moves, including a royal decree allowing women to drive and limits on the power of the religious police.

It does not mean Saudi Arabia is opening up to democracy. The country's rulers are unelected monarchs with a record of jailing critics and members of the Shiite minority. And the purge — action taken by a single leader — is very much in keeping with Saudi royal tradition. But the sweep of arrests marks a change. "It is unprecedented, more for the speed and the scale," says H.A. Hellyer, a fellow at the Royal United Services Institute in London and the Atlantic Council. Mohammed bin Salman is sending a message, he says: "This guy is in charge and nobody is off the table."

Saudi billionaire Prince Alwaleed bin Talal waves in the West Bank city of Ramallah in 2014. He is among dozens of Saudi princes and former government ministers arrested over the weekend as part of a sweeping anti-corruption probe, further cementing King Salman and his crown prince son's control of the kingdom.

The crown prince is a Saudi-educated son of the current King Salman bin Abdul-Aziz Al Saud Salman. In a surprise move, he was elevated in June to become next in the succession, replacing his older cousin. "His position is already secure. It's not like he was being challenged. Everyone suspects he will be announced as the new king. But you can always consolidate more," says Hellyer. In one of his first TV interviews after his June promotion, Mohammed bin Salman pledged to tackle endemic corruption in the kingdom. "No one who got involved in a corruption case will escape, regardless if he was a minister or a prince," he warned. It turned out to be no idle threat. "Many of them have been known as deeply corrupt," said a Saudi official who supports the crown prince and requested anonymity to discuss the arrest list — which includes former CEOs of Saudi Telecom and Saudi Airlines, four sitting cabinet ministers and high-profile business leaders from Jeddah, Saudi Arabia's business capital on the Red Sea coast. Some had close personal relations to the crown prince.

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[waltky]

Mebbe `cause dey was the most corrupt...

Why did Saudi Arabia target billionaire media tycoons in its purge?
November 16,`17 - On Nov. 5, Saudi authorities arrested dozens of the kingdom’s royal, political and business elite. Security forces sequestered princes, cabinet ministers and billionaires in Riyadh’s Ritz-Carlton, as the city’s private airport was shut down to prevent escape by private jet. The detainees face various charges of corruption issued by an all-powerful commission decreed by King Salman mere hours before the arrests and headed by his son, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

Among the detainees was Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, founder and owner of Kingdom Holding, global businessman, media mogul and one of the world’s wealthiest individuals. Alwaleed was joined in detention by Saleh Kamel, billionaire and owner of Dallah al-Baraka, and Walid al-Ibrahim, brother-in-law of the late King Fahd. Since the Arab satellite revolution began in 1991, Saudi Arabia has increasingly dominated Arab television, radio, cinema, music and publishing. This month’s developments have serious implications for an already highly consolidated Arab media sphere.

Who are these Saudi media tycoons?

The influence of this troika of Saudi moguls on the Arab media industry cannot be overstated. Together they founded the pioneering companies that have grown into today’s media behemoths, often in partnership with one another. When Ibrahim started the Middle East Broadcasting Center (MBC) in London in 1991, Kamel was one of his chief investors. When Kamel founded Arab Radio and Television (ART) in Italy in 1994, Alwaleed, who owned the Rotana music label, was put in charge of ART’s music channels. In the 1990s, a pivotal decade in Arab media development, few important transactions in the sector occurred without the involvement of at least one, often two, and occasionally all three of these men.

Saudi Arabia’s billionaire Prince Alwaleed bin Talal in 2015. Alwaleed is one of dozens of the kingdom’s royal, political and business elite currently held by security forces.

Since then, these barons have reigned supreme over media empires that provide news and entertainment to not only most Saudis, but also a large majority of Arabs. Hailing from a family whose business was to guide pilgrims visiting Mecca for the annual pilgrimage or, hajj, Kamel defines himself a pious man. In 1998, he launched Iqraa, with moderate religious and social programming. Ibrahim fancied himself a cautious modernizer, and in 2003, set up the news network al-Arabiya, Saudi Arabia’s answer to Al Jazeera and a comparatively “liberal” voice on Saudi social issues.

Alwaleed is the son of Talal Bin Abdulaziz, the “Red Prince” known for rebelling against the monarchy in the 1960s. Alwaleed is a larger-than-life “liberal” figure, who hobnobs with Australian media tycoon Rupert Murdoch and has spoken out in favor of lifting the ban on women driving and incorporating women fully in the Saudi workforce.

Why target these moguls?