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Cruel, intolerant, culturally backward, violent Saudi Arabia to get nuclear weapons?

Religious pilgrimage turns into nightmare The Age Maris Beck and Daniel Flitton December 8, 2011 ” ….. Mansor Almaribe, a father of five, who was last month charged with blasphemy while on a pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia, has been sentenced to a year in prison and 500 lashes. The Shepparton family said it was a death sentence. Mr Almaribe has diabetes, heart disease and was almost crippled in a 2004 car accident that broke his back in five places. “He won’t make 50 lashes,” son Mohammad, 16, told The Age….

..Mr Almaribe, a Shiite Muslim who was travelling in the majority Sunni kingdom, was found guilty of cursing two companions of the prophet Mohammed aloud in a public place…. a radical had reported Mr Almaribe to police after recognising him as Shiite from the green turban he wore. “He was just praying and reading the Koran to himself in an area known to be frequented by Shiites.”… http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/religious-pilgrimage-turns-into-nightmare-20111207-1ojbc.html#ixzz1g0DiYVsM

Prince Hints Saudi Arabia May Join Nuclear Arms RaceNYT, December 6, 2011 DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — A Saudi prince, in a remark designed to send chills through the Obama administration and its allies, suggested that the kingdom might consider producing nuclear weapons if it found itself between atomic arsenals in Iran and Israel. The prince, Turki al-Faisal, who has served as the Saudi intelligence chief and as ambassador to the United States, made the comment on Monday at a Persian Gulf security forum in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The remark confirmed Western fears about the potential for an arms race in the Middle East if Iran moves to produce a nuclear weapon…..

Prince Turki said at the forum on Monday that an Iranian quest for nuclear weapons and Israel’s presumed nuclear arsenal might force Saudi Arabia to follow suit. Most defense analysts believe that Israel has nuclear weapons, but it has refused to confirm or deny their existence.

“It is our duty toward our nation and people to consider all possible options, including the possession of these weapons,” Prince Turki was quoted as saying…http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/07/world/middleeast/saudi-arabia-may-seek-nuclear-weapons-prince-says.html

December 8, 2011 Posted by | Saudi Arabia, weapons and war | Leave a comment

Wikileaks reveal Saudi Arabia’s fears about Iran’s nuclear plant

Plumbing WikiLeaks: Saudi Arabia Fears Iranian Nuclear Meltdown and Potential Terrorism to Desalination, Circle of Blue, By Brett Walton, 28 OCTOBER 2011  Classified cables show that Saudi and U.S. officials believe water supplies along the Persian Gulf are at high-risk for terrorist attacks and possible contamination from nearby nuclear plants. This is the first of a new series that will analyze the water-related U.S. embassy cables published by WikiLeaks.

“The location is so dangerous,” said Prince Turki Al-Kabeer, the undersecretary for multilateral affairs from the Saudi Ministry of Foreign Affairs. “Not just to us, but to the world economy!”

Ostensibly, Prince Turki was meeting with the Netherlands ambassador, the Russian ambassador, and a political/military counselor from the American embassy to discuss an initiative against nuclear terrorism. But — according to a classified American embassy cable from 2009 that has since been published by WikiLeaks — the conversation turned to Iran’s nuclear program and the Russian-built reactor at Bushehr, a site less than 300 kilometers (186 miles) from Saudi shores on Iran’s Persian Gulf coast.

Prince Turki went on to say that Russia should “use its influence” to persuade Iran to relocate the reactor to the Caspian Sea, where there would be sufficient water for cooling, and, the cable’s author makes clear, isolation from Saudi territory, if a nuclear accident were to occur.

At risk, according to both Saudi and U.S. officials, are the desalination plants supplying much of Saudi Arabia’s drinking water, and the Persian Gulf waterway that conveys a large portion of the world’s oil exports — 6.6 million barrels per day… http://www.circleofblue.org/waternews/2011/world/plumbing-wikileaks-saudi-arabia-fears-iranian-nuclear-meltdown-and-potential-terrorism-to-desalination/

October 29, 2011 Posted by | politics international, Saudi Arabia, water | Leave a comment

USA to sell nukes to Saudi Arabia, despite its weapons ambitions?

The White House’s decision is already facing opposition from members of Congress who worry about sharing nuclear technologies with countries in today’s increasingly unstable Middle East. The concerns were further fueled by recent comments made by a senior member of the Saudi royal family that their country would seek to develop nuclear weapons if Iran did.

U.S., Saudis to Discuss Nuclear Agreement, WSJ, JULY 29, 2011,By JAY SOLOMON,WASHINGTON—The Obama administration plans to resume talks with Saudi Arabia about nuclear cooperation, according to senior U.S. officials, in a move aimed at boxing in Iran and keeping an eye on Riyadh’s strategic ambitions. Continue reading

July 30, 2011 Posted by | politics international, Saudi Arabia | Leave a comment

Saudi Arabia planning to enrich uranium?

Kingdom may enrich uranium for nuclear plants By AMENA BAKR | REUTERS Arab News, Jun 17, 2010 DUBAI: Saudi Arabia may mine and enrich uranium to fuel power plants if it embarks on a civilian nuclear energy program, a consultant preparing a draft nuclear strategy for the Kingdom said on Wednesday….

Saudi Arabia and the United States signed a nuclear cooperation deal in 2008. France said in 2009 it was close to finalizing a civilian nuclear agreement. The Kingdom has also talked to Russia about nuclear cooperation.   Any program would likely be similar in value and size to the UAE’s plan, Elkuch said. Kingdom may enrich uranium for nuclear plants – Arab News

June 17, 2010 Posted by | politics, Saudi Arabia | , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Solar energy, rather than nuclear, holds promise for Saudi Arabia

The fact is Saudi Arabia can generate enough power form the sun to take care of its and others’ energy needs….Minister of Petroleum, Ali Al-Naimi, said: “Saudi Arabia aspires to export as much solar energy in the future as it exports oil now.”

Alternatives to nuclear energy under focus – Arab News 7 June 2010, …………..Official studies from the German government has shown that the risk of getting cancer significantly increased in children growing up in the neighborhood of a nuclear power station, particularly leukemia. Other disadvantages have to do with nuclear waste. The EIA has shown that a typical nuclear reactor produces 20-30 tons or waste per year that can’t be disposed of with Plutonium 239 remaining dangerous for as much as 10,000 years and radioactive for 240,000 years. Most countries reuse nuclear waste to create energy but this just creates more waste while others utilize the waste through their national defense departments…. Continue reading

June 7, 2010 Posted by | renewable, Saudi Arabia | , , , , | Leave a comment

‘Pakistan nukes are also Saudi nukes’

Exposed: Saudi Arabia’s secret nuke stash World Net Daily Riyadh ‘confident’ it has an atomic option  January 26, 20101 By Aaron Klein
JERUSALEM – Pakistan’s nuclear weapons project was partially financed by Saudi Arabia, with the two countries sharing nuclear technology, a senior Egyptian security official told WND. Continue reading

January 26, 2010 Posted by | Saudi Arabia, weapons and war | , , , | Leave a comment

Secret nuclear agreement between Saudi Arabia and Pakistan?

DOES SAUDI ARABIA ALSO HAVE NUCLEAR WEAPONS?  Prophecy Updates and Commentary  Stephen Collins 26 jan 2010 ……….. reports that Pakistan and Saudi Arabia have a secret agreement where Pakistan, a nuclear power, will share its nuclear technology with Saudi Arabia. Continue reading

January 26, 2010 Posted by | Saudi Arabia, weapons and war | , , , | Leave a comment