Veiled protesters pose unique challenge to Saudi rule

Yusuf Dhia-Allah / Crescent

Almost everything about Saudi Arabia is different from neighboring countries, starting with its opaque politics and secretive decision-making and the manner in which it treats people, especially women and foreigners.

The desert kingdom, the largest producer of oil in the Organization of Oil Producing Countries (OPEC), claims that the Qur’an and the Sunnah are its constitution — but this constitution stipulates that the form of government would be a monarchy and kingship would pass to the next brother in line.

Critics have asked, where in the Qur’an does it say that monarchy is permissible or that the brother (or even the son) can succeed brother or father to the throne? Such arguments, however, are discouraged by Saudi court ‘ulama insisting any opposition to the ruler, regardless of how low his character or policies, amounts to “sedition” and is not permitted. Again, no evidence is offered from the Qur’an for such assertions.

In recent weeks, however, the Islamic awakening sweeping the region has also affected the desert kingdom but in its own peculiar ways. There were attempts in mid-March to organize protests demanding reforms and more say in the political process.

Unlike other countries, these were quickly put down. Suppression of dissent was accompanied by bribes to people amounting to $37 billion. The aged and ailing king, Abdullah ibn Abdul Aziz (left), upon his return last February after back surgery in the US announced the package to “help” people.

The handout package has since been increased by several billion. This is a huge sum but when the kingdom’s earnings from oil at $200 billion annually are taken into account, this does not appear extraordinary.

Even so, these billions can buy a lot of loyalty. And they have, although compared to the hundreds of billions handed out to the army of princes, according to WikiLeaks cables from the US Embassy in Riyadh (Reuters, February 28, 2011), the bakhsheesh for people is chicken feed.

Protests against the regime have been sporadic and largely tame affairs in comparison with other countries. There is no public gathering place like Tahrir Square in Egypt or the now demolished Pearl Square in Bahrain.

The central square outside the main mosque in Riyadh is often used for public beheadings of foreign workers — mainly Pakistani, Indian or Sri Lankan — accused of petty crimes. The royal thieves get away scot free with their multi-billion dollar grand larcenies or habitual dalliances.
Saudi Arabia also carries another, self-imposed burden: as guarantor of regional stability.

With Hosni Mubarak driven from power, not without strong protests from the Saudi rulers, the House of Saud is left alone to carry the burden. This is a role it is not familiar with. While Riyadh rushed 1,000 heavily armed troops to Bahrain to prop up the corrupt Al-Khalifa family in power, it is having a much harder time controlling events in neighboring Yemen.

Ali Abdullah Saleh, wounded in a bomb blast on June 3 had faced months of protests that had descended into tribal warfare. Uncertainty on Saudi Arabia’s southern border greatly worries the Saudi rulers. They pushed a plan through the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) to try and ease Saleh out of power but he proved a slippery customer. Badly injured in the blast, he is now being treated in a Riyadh hospital.

Reports about his condition vary; some say he suffered burns to 40% of his body and there is shrapnel lodged in his body just below the heart. Others insist he is making speedy recovery and will soon return to Sana‘a.

The Saudis are caught on the horns of a dilemma: they fear instability in Yemen will spill over into the kingdom and it has no capacity to curb such protests but at the same time, they do not wish to dictate to Saleh who is not only stubborn but his family — son, nephew, etc. — still exercise considerable control in the country by virtue of controlling elite troops.

While these external problems give the Saudi rulers sleepless nights, they are facing a challenge from an unlikely source within the kingdom: veiled female drivers. Barred from driving cars, a group of Saudi women used Facebook, Twitter and YouTube to organize a mass mobile protest on June 17 defying the kingdom’s ban on women drivers.

They argued, with impeccable logic, that if women could ride camels at the time of the Prophet, why could they not drive cars today? The regime understands the gravity of the challenge. It is even more acute in the case of the muttawwas, the ubiquitous religious police, whose views are so extreme that they make most Muslims cringe. Despite this, the overwhelming majority of Muslims appear powerless in the face of Saudi petrodollars that are dished out to buy loyalty globally.

There is basically a symbiotic relationship between the religious establishment and the regime. By allowing the religious establishment a free hand to preach and implement their extremist interpretations on social mores, the regime gets a stamp of approval for its rule that acts as a deterrent for most Saudis to stage an uprising.

The women of Saudi Arabia are the victims of such narrow obscurantist interpretations. In the face of such restrictions, how do Saudi women get around? Their blood relatives — husband, son, brother or other close relative — must drive them around. This is not always possible and often unlikely. Saudi men are busy elsewhere — in their offices where they do little or no work, chasing business deals or even women in foreign countries, mostly Europe and Southeast Asia.

The irony is that while Saudi women are locked up in their homes or behind the veil (portable house, according to one commentator), they must be chauffeur-driven or ride in a taxi driven by a complete stranger if they have to go out.

Chauffeur driven cars are the most common means of transportation for Saudi women. There are 750,000 chauffeurs in the kingdom; most are employed by rich Saudis to drive their wives and daughters around. This practice itself is contrary to Islamic injunctions because a Muslim woman cannot be alone with a stranger to whom she is not related by blood or marriage.

This has resulted in illicit relations between Saudi women and their chauffeurs, leading the poor chauffeurs, often poor Pakistanis or Indians, to the public beheading square. There are no known instances of Saudi men being beheaded much less any members of the royal family.

When the issue of female drivers came to a head last year, one Saudi court preacher came up with a strange solution to the problem: that Saudi women should breast-feed their chauffeurs; they would then be considered their sons and could go around with them without arousing concern.

This scandalous suggestion led to heated debate in the kingdom and much derision everywhere. Such questions as to whether a woman had to milk her breasts before the chauffeur would consume it or he would draw milk directly from her breasts were asked. While this appalling suggestion made rounds in the media and on talk shows (naturally not in the desert kingdom), one Saudi woman asked: why women cannot be allowed to drive rather than going through such convoluted arguments? The religious establishment had no answer to this simple question but it did little to end the archaic practice of ban on female drivers.

This episode, by no means rare, is at the heart of Saudi men’s anxiety over women’s unrestrained mobility. The muttawwas insist that public space — streets, cars, malls etc. — and the right to enter and leave them at will — belong exclusively to men. A woman can only enter accompanied by a male relative. Women that trespass are regarded either as sinful “street-walkers” or expected to cover themselves completely in an abaya including their face.

Interestingly, many Saudi women, whether accompanied or not, discard such dress when they go abroad. Perhaps, once they are out of reach of the muttawwas’ glaring eyes they can do what they like. How ludicrous — and dangerous — the muttawwas can get, can be gleaned from an incident in March 1992. A fire broke out in a girls’ school in Makkah. When the girls tried to escape the burning inferno, the muttawwas prevented them from doing so on the grounds that they were “not properly covered.” They even prevented firefighters from entering the school building because it would have violated the muttawwas’ insistence on separating men and women that are unrelated. At least 14 girls were burned alive and some 50 others suffered serious burns to their bodies.

While the Saudi rulers and their muttawwas have made their society the most gender-segregated in the world, it has created other problems as well.

For instance, stores that sell women’s clothing and lingerie are staffed exclusively by men. How does one advertise women’s products, whether for clothing or hygiene using men is a question the Saudis do not wish to address. Under pressure from women’s groups, King Abdullah announced on June 12 that such stores should have female staff to serve female customers.

The muttawwa-imposed practices have even affected Hajj pilgrims and how they are dealt with. Upon arrival at Jeddah’s Hajj terminal, men and women are separated from each other even if they are related by blood — mothers, sisters or daughters — or by marriage — wives. Saudi officials insist on separating them for immigration processing. In many instances, the women may not even be able to fill out forms that are handed out to them by male Saudi officials. Similarly, only male officials handle passport and visa formalities for women pilgrims but insist these women cannot stand in the same line with their male relatives!

The gender apartheid policy apart, Saudi Arabia is now facing a new challenge: jobs even for men. Traditionally lazy and unaccustomed to work, they are brought up to believe that they can have whatever they want because expatriate workers are there to serve them. There are an estimated eight million foreign workers who are poorly paid and often mistreated.

The mistreatment of domestic workers, mostly Filipino, Indonesian or Sri Lankan women, is well documented. A 22-year-old Sri Lankan maid, Rizana Nafeek, was sentenced to death, allegedly for strangling a four-month old infant while she was taking care of him in Dawadmi city.

The incident occurred five years ago when Nafeek, barely 17 and just arrived from Sri Lanka, was assigned to look after the infant son of Naif Jiziyan Khalaf Al-Otaibi, in addition to her other daily chores — cleaning the house, washing dishes and clothes and be available on demand for ladies of the house to give them water or whatever else they needed.

While bottle-feeding him milk, the baby started to choke. Nafeek shouted for help but on the way to hospital, the baby died. She was accused of murder and sentenced to death by the court that finally ended with appeal to King Abdullah for mercy.

What kind of justice system would condemn a poor frightened girl — and that is what Nafeek was at the time — to death because an infant choked on his milk bottle? And why would a system force her to plead for mercy from a mere mortal even if he calls himself king, when only Allah is the Mercy-Giving and Merciful?

On June 18, Ruyati binti Sapubi (in photo carried by relative, left), a 54-year old Indonesian maid, was beheaded without notifying her relatives or the Indonesian government after she was sentenced to death for killing her abusive employer.

Amid such scandalous mistreatment of domestic workers whose plight is seldom mentioned in Western media outlets or by other Western do-gooders, such as the myriad human rights organizations that are quick to point fingers at governments or rulers they do not approve of, the regime in Riyadh is now faced with a growing list of unemployed Saudis, many of them university graduates.

The regime has embarked on a policy of 'nitaqat' or zones. This applies to companies that are graded based on what percentage of Saudis they must employ. Companies whose employees’ list consists of 70% Saudis are placed in the green zone. Those under this percentage are placed in the yellow zone and companies with less than 30% Saudi employees are categorized in the red zone. The yellow and red zone companies cannot hire foreign workers until they meet the 70% quota.

Saudi unemployment stands officially at 6.9% but this is deceptive. In the critical 15 to 25-year age group, unemployment is 39%. The number of unemployed currently stands at 448,000. Concerned by these high figures, King Abdullah announced on June 12 that 66,000 new jobs should be created in the health and education sectors.

He also said that 39,000 jobs in health sector should be reserved for Saudi women and 13,000 for men. For the 8 million foreign workers, the regime has announced that those employed for six years cannot get their visa extended. Foreigners are not granted citizenship so the regime is trying to blame them for mismanaging the economy where corruption is so widespread, especially among the hordes of princes. Despite the hundreds of billions of dollars in oil revenues, there are millions of people living in poverty.

The Saudis’ abysmal human rights record was also brought up in the British House of Lords by Lord Nazir Ahmed on March 30 when he asked the British Foreign Office minister, Lord Howell of Guildford whether he was “aware that thousands of detainees are held in Saudi prisons, without any charge, trial or representation — some for more than seven years, and a few for more than 13 years?”

Lord Ahmed (left) also asked if the government had made sure that British arms sales to Saudi Arabia were not being used for internal repression. The minister’s reply was less than satisfactory. He merely stated that the policy was under review but such tactics have not resulted in any restrictions on arms sales to the Saudis.

In fact, only weeks after this question was raised in the House of Lords, Britain announced an arms deal worth $40 billion. This is in addition to the Yamamah project under which $80 billion worth of arms were sold to the Saudi regime, weapons systems that the Saudi armed forces appear incompetent to use against any external aggressor but will willingly use against peaceful protesters in the kingdom.

Interestingly, the Saudis’ propensity to get fatwas from court ‘ulama to denounce anything they disapprove of was also brought up in the House of Lords by Baroness Falkner of Margravine. Addressing Lord Howell she said “my noble friend will no doubt be aware that the Saudi rulers have requested their clergy to issue a fatwa, stating that all democratic peaceful protests are un-Islamic.

Does he agree that turning democracy into a religious issue sends a message to 1.5 billion Muslims that democracy is not an option open to them if they wish to adhere to their religion? Does he think that Saudi Arabia, given that attitude towards freedom, can any longer be trusted to pursue peace and stability in the Middle East?” This question was also deflected by the good lord on behalf of her majesty’s government because billions in arms sales were involved.

Saudi women demonstrating for the right to drive are beginning to challenge long-entrenched views of their role in society. By their protest, they have forced the establishment on the defensive. While the women may not succeed immediately, the issue has been thrust into the public domain even if Western media outlets refuse to give them the coverage they deserve.

Had this been a women’s protest in Iran, it is certain, there would be screaming headlines in the newspapers and hours of air time allocated on television to berate the Islamic government in Iran. When it comes to the rulers of Saudi Arabia, they are treated with kid gloves. In the infamous words of one presidential advisor to Dwight Eisenhower, “Mr. President, they are our SoBs.”

http://en.harakahdaily.net/index.php/articles/analysis-a-opinion/3122-veiled-protesters-pose-unique-challenge-to-saudi-rule.html

Konflik pembantu rumah Indonesia

SUSUNAN MAZLINA ABDUL MAJID
mazlina.majid@kosmo.com.my

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“SAYA Sumiati berumur 23 tahun, bekerja sebagai pembantu rumah tangga di Arab Saudi. Majikan saya tidak puas hati dengan saya mungkin disebabkan saya lambat menyesuaikan diri dan bahasa Arab saya tidak lancar.

“Tak mengapa kalau saya dianggap tidak bagus tapi tak perlulah pukul, diseterika dan tak perlu hentam saya dengan besi sampai hilang bibir saya, kaki saya juga hampir lumpuh.”

Demikian luahan perasaan yang diiringi dengan titisan air mata oleh Sumiati Salan Mustafa kepada wartawan media Indonesia, Wahyu Adi Putra Ginting saat diminta menceritakan detik-detik malangnya ketika didera oleh majikannya di Madinah, Arab Saudi.

Peristiwa malang yang menimpa remaja dari Nusa Tenggara Barat itu menghangatkan bahang hubungan dua hala Indonesia dan Arab Saudi. Tindakan majikan dari Asia Barat yang menggunting bibir wanita Indonesia itu mendapat kecaman di seluruh masyarakat dunia. Mereka menyifatkan ia satu perbuatan di luar perikemanusiaan.

Detik ngeri itu terjadi pada November tahun lalu. Bagaimanapun, darjah kepanasan antara kedua-dua buah negara bertambah kritikal apabila seorang lagi pembantu rumah republik itu, Ruyati Satubi dijatuhi hukuman pancung tanpa pembelaan yang sewajarnya.

Wanita itu telah dihukum pancung pada 18 Jun lalu di Mekah atas kesalahan membunuh isteri majikannya.

Bertitik tolak daripada itu, rakyat dan pertubuhan bukan kerajaan (NGO) Indonesia bangkit dan meluahkan rasa tidak puas hati ke atas hukuman yang dikenakan ke atas janda beranak tiga berusia 54 tahun itu.

IRWAN SETIAWAN (kanan) bersama adiknya, Evi Kurniati, menunjukkan gambar ibu mereka, Ruyati Sapubi, di rumah mereka di Bekasi, Jawa Barat.

Malah, Presiden Indonesia, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono yang sebelum ini hanya berdiam diri daripada mengulas isu itu tampil dengan menuduh Riyadh telah melanggar norma dan adab perhubungan antarabangsa.

Jakarta dikatakan panas hati dengan sikap pemerintah Arab Saudi, Raja Abdullah Abdul Aziz yang gagal memaklumkan kepada mereka bahawa Ruyati akan menjalani hukuman pancung. Gagal mengawal amarah, lima hari selepas musibah itu, Susilo mengisytiharkan bahawa republik itu membekukan penghantaran pekerja ke Arab Saudi berkuat kuasa 1 Ogos 2011. Itu dilakukan sebagai menunjukkan tanda protes terhadap tindakan Arab Saudi memancung rakyatnya.

Melihat kekhilafan daripada pihak mereka, Duta Arab Saudi di Indonesia, Abdurrahman Mohammed Al-Khayyat telah mengeluarkan kenyataan memohon maaf. Namun, isu itu masih belum reda.

Pada 30 Jun lalu, Jawatankuasa Pengambilan Nasional Majlis Dewan Perusahaan dan Perindustrian Arab Saudi telah mengumumkan satu perkara yang tidak diduga. Negara Arab itu mengambil kata putus untuk menghentikan permit kerja pembantu rumah dari Indonesia dan Filipina bermula 2 Julai lalu.

“Keputusan kementerian itu diambil serentak dengan usaha yang ditingkatkan bagi membuka saluran baharu untuk membawa pembantu rumah daripada sumber lain,” kata jurucakap Kementerian Buruhnya, Hattab bin Saleh al-Anzi.

Selain itu, Hattab berkata, alasan utama pemerintah berbuat demikian kerana syarat-syarat pengambilan yang diumumkan oleh kedua-dua negara terbabit tidak dapat dipenuhi oleh Arab Saudi.

Membalas dendam

Bagaimanapun, ramai berpendapat, pengumuman drastik negara yang kaya dengan hasil minyak itu umpama membalas dendam terhadap tindakan Jakarta sebelum itu. Media-media antarabangsa banyak melaporkan bahawa Arab Saudi sebenarnya cukup bengang dengan sikap pengamal media Indonesia yang disifatkan keterlaluan dalam melaporkan isu penderaan pembantu rumahnya.

Hal itu kemudiannya diakui oleh Pengerusi Jawatankuasa Pengambilan Nasional Majlis Dewan Perusahaan dan Perindustrian Arab Saudi, Yahya Hassan Al-Maqbool.

Tambah beliau, terdapat pandangan yang berbeza antara pihak berkuasa Riyadh dan Jakarta mengenai bayaran pengambilan dan gaji untuk pembantu rumah dan pemandu Indonesia. Dua pekerjaan itu merupakan kategori utama tenaga kerja yang diimport dari negara di Asia Tenggara itu.

Bagi Filipina, pihak pemerintah dikatakan enggan patuh kepada kehendak Manila yang ingin mewujudkan peraturan sendiri dalam memberi perlindungan kepada tenaga kerja rakyatnya di negara berkenaan.

MESKIPUN Arab Saudi membekukan pengambilan pembantu rumah dari Indonesia, namun rakyat negara itu masih berminat berhijrah ke sana kerana gaji yang lumayan.

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Dalam pada itu, Arab News melaporkan, Arab Saudi tidak gusar dengan kata putus yang dibuat. Hattab yang mewakili kerajaan Arab Saudi menguar-uarkan bahawa negara-negara miskin seperti Bangladesh, Ethiopia, India, Nepal, Eritrea, Sri Lanka, Mali dan Kenya sudah menyatakan kesediaan untuk menghantar pekerja di negaranya.

Dalam pada itu, menurut aktivis Indonesia, Wahyu Susilo, kira-kira 40 peratus kes penyeksaan dan kematian buruh imigran yang berasal dari Indonesia berlaku di Arab Saudi. Pada tahun 2010 saja, lebih daripada 5,000 kes penyeksaan dan perlakuan tidak wajar dilakukan. Mengapakah hal itu terjadi?

Diseksa majikan

Menurut pakar sosiologi Lembaga Pengajian Islam dan Kebudayaan Jakarta, Fahrurozy yang pernah menyambung pengajian di negara Arab itu, sebahagian masyarakat Arab menganggap pembantu rumah sebagai budak.

“Akibatnya, banyak dalam kalangan pembantu rumah diseksa oleh majikan dan diperlakukan sesuka hati,” katanya.

Cerita bekas pembantu rumah di negara tersebut yang hanya mahu dikenali sebagai Imas, 22, membuktikan kenyataan Fahrurozy. “Kami diperlakukan seperti budak-budak, dianiaya dan diperkosa berulang-kali oleh majikan dan keluarganya, dijual dan diperas ejen-ejen,” kata Imas.

Untuk rekod, terdapat lebih 9 juta pekerja asing di Arab Saudi. Sebahagian besarnya iaitu kira-kira 1.5 juta datang dari Indonesia.

Berdasarkan perkiraan pemerintah Filipina pula, terdapat lebih daripada 1.2 juta rakyatnya bekerja di Arab Saudi, 15 peratus adalah pekerja domestik seperti pembantu rumah dan pemandu.

Baru-baru ini seramai 325 banduan Indonesia termasuk pembantu rumah diberi pengampunan diraja oleh kerajaan Arab Saudi. Namun, agensi berita Republika melaporkan masih terdapat 28 pembantu rumah menanti perlaksaan hukuman mati di negara itu, manakala 1,000 yang lain masih ditahan di penjara atas pelbagai kesalahan.

BAGI sesetengah besar masyarakat Asia Barat, pembantu rumah diumpamakan seperti budak yang boleh diperlakukan sesuka hati.

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Melihat fenomena yang tidak berkesudahan itu, Jakarta kini giat menyelamatkan rakyatnya yang dijatuhi hukuman mati di Arab Saudi. Terkini, mereka telah menyelamatkan pembantu rumah, Darsem Dawud dengan membayar RM1.6 juta wang pampasan kepada Arab Saudi.

Harus diakui, kadar gaji yang ditawarkan untuk seorang pembantu rumah di Arab Saudi sememangnya lumayan. Pada masa yang sama, walaupun pelbagai cerita mengerikan kedengaran, sebilangan warga Indonesia masih menaruh minat untuk berhijrah ke sana.

Seperti harapan rakan-rakan senegara yang lain, Hariyanti, 29, berkata: “Apa saja yang terjadi pada seseorang bergantung kepada nasib, saya tetap bertekad untuk berangkat, kerana kita ingin mengubah nasib.”

http://www.kosmo.com.my/kosmo/content.asp?y=2011&dt=0708&pub=Kosmo&sec=Rencana_Utama&pg=ru_01.htm

Wanita Saudi tak dibenar undi

RIYADH: Wanita Arab Saudi tidak akan dibenarkan untuk mengundi dalam pilihan raya majlis tempatan yang sudah sekian lama tertangguh, September ini.

Kerajaan mengumumkan minggu lalu, ia akan mengadakan pilihan raya berkenaan, tolak ansur pertama politik sejak tunjuk perasaan yang melanda dunia Arab turut memberi kesan kepada negara itu.

“Tidak ada yang boleh menghentikan penyertaan wanita tetapi ia memerlukan persiapan dan kami tidak boleh membuat persiapan itu di semua wilayah negara ini,” menurut kenyataan yang dikeluarkan Suruhanjaya Pilihan Raya.

Pendaftaran pengundian ditetapkan pada 23 April dan pilihan raya akan diadakan pada 22 September.

Parti politik diharamkan di Arab Saudi dan sehingga ini tidak ada anggota Parlimen yang dipilih menerusi pilihan raya. - Reuters

http://www.hmetro.com.my/myMetro/articles/WanitaSauditakdibenarundi/Article/index_html

Kebangkitan rakyat masuki pusingan baru

Suhaimi Mokhtar

Revolusi kebangkitan rakyat di Bahrain memasuki pusingan baru apabila tentera Saudi Arabia berjumlah 1,000 orang anggota yang lengkap dengan kenderaan tentera termasuk kereta perisai dan lain-lain kelengkapan ketenteraan dan peralatan perang memasuki Manama, ibu kota Bahrain Isnin lalu bersama dengan 500 orang pegawai dan tentera Emariah Arab Bersatu (UEA).

Kehadiran ketumbukan tentera seramai 1,500 orang anggota itu adalah atas jemputan Raja Bahrian sebagai sebahagian dari bantuan ketenteraan dari negara anggota Majlis Negara-Negara Teluk (GCC) untuk menyelamatkan regim Bahrain yang sedang menghadapi revolusi kebangkitan rakyat.

Rakyat mendesak dilakukan reformasi politik,ekonomi dan sosial meliputi soal kebebasan, ketelusan, menentang rasuah dan akhirnya menukar regim beraja yang memerintah Bahrain beratus-ratus tahun lamanya.

Dari satu kebangkitan masyarakat sivil rakyat secara aman menyarupai kebangkitan di Tunisia dan Mesir, kebangkitan di Bahrain bertukar menjadi ganas apabila regim diraja terus mempertahankan kelangsungan regimnya.

Kebangkitan rakyat telah berlangsung sejak berminggu-minggu lalu dan konsesi yang ditawarkan oleh regim Bahrain untuk berdailog dan melakukan reformasi telah tidak disahut oleh penganjur-penganjur demonstrasi yang mahu menukar regim yang ada.

Sebaik sahaja tentera Saudi dan UEA memasuki Bahrain, regim beraja Bahrain melakukan penggelidahan dan pembersihan terhadap para demonstran dan menyuraikan mereka yang berkumpul di Bulatan Mutiara dengan kekerasan. Ramai yang terkorban dan cedera dalam kempen kekerasan yang dilakukan.

Bahrain sebuah negara kecil bukan sahaja dari segi saiznya, tetapi juga penduduknya. Ia unik kerana raja pemerintah adalah dari kalangan sunni sementara 70 peratus penduduknya terdiri dari penduduk Syiah. Pihak Amerika Syarikat (AS) dan barat meuar-uarkan bahawa kebangkitan ini adalah kebangkitan rakyat syiah yang tidak berpuashati kerana mereka sentiasa dipinggirkan termasuk dalam penentuan dasar negara.

Bagaimana pun mereka yang berdemonstrasi terdiri dari kalangan Syiah dan Sunni. Tidak terdapat pertentangan terbuka antara kedua kalangan itu yang telah hidup saling mengerti selama ini.

Kandatipun demikian,kebangkitan di Bahrain ini berbeza sedikit dengan kebangkitan di jazerah Arab yang lain seperti di Yaman, Libya dan di wilayah-wilayah lain termasuk di Tunisia dan Mesir yang menyaksikan tumbangnya dua regim diktator Ben Ali di Tunisia dan Hosni Mubarak di Mesir.

Perbezaan nya kerana di Bahrain majoriti rakyat adalah penganut syiah walaupun dinegara-negara Arab dan Teluk yang lain penganut syiah juga ramai,tetapi Bahrain dalam konteks Saudi adalah negara penimbal bagi Saudi Arabia. Saudi tidak mahu melihat kebangkitan yang melanda jazerah Arab ini tiba di Riyadh dan kehadiran tentera Saudi adalah dalam usaha untuk membendungnya.

Di Bahrain terdapat pengkalan tentera laut AS dan di Saudi Arabia pula terdapat kem tentera AS. Kehadiran tentera AS ini adalah dalam skima lebih besar dan luas dalam percaturan dirantau Timur Tengah dan Asia Barat itu.

Negara Repablik Islam Iran selepas revolusi 1979 yang menyaksikan kejatuhan dinesti Shah Pahlavi dianggap sebagai satu ancaman kepada negara-negara serantau. Sehingga kini Iran dianggap sebagai negara musuh oleh AS dan barat.

Percaturan untuk berebut menjadi kuasa serantau antara Iran dan Saudi Arabia berterusan sejak revolusi Iran sehingga kini dan dalam konteks itulah tentera Saudi dan UEA memasuki Bahrain bagi membendung pengaruh Iran kerana majoriti rakyat Bahrain terdiri dari penganut Syiah. Jika sekiranya berlaku konflik antara Sunni dan Syiah yang memang diadu-domba oleh AS dan barat,rantau yang bergolak itu akan menyaksikan konflik yang berskala besar. Diharapkan tidak akan berlaku pertembungan sia-sia ini.

Kehadiran tentera Saudi di Bahrain telah mendapat persetujuan AS dan barat. AS mensifatkan kehadiran tentera Saudi bukanlah satu penaklukan atau penjajahan. Ia menepati kerjasama negara anggota GCC. Iran telah membantah kehadiran tentera Saudi di Bahrain yang bertujuan untuk membendung kebangkitan rakyat Bahrain. Iran menafikan penglibatan negara itu dimana-mana jua, walaupun rakyat Bahrain dan kebanyakan negara Arab lain termasuk Iraq mempunyai penduduk majoriti penganut Syiah.

Saudi dan UAE menjadi proksi AS dan barat dalam menyelamatkan regim Bahrain. AS mempunyai kepentingan yang besar dirantau itu dengan kehadiran armada keenamnya. AS tidak berupaya membiarkan kebangkitan di Bahrain berterusan,walaupun retorik AS sentiasa menyatakan rakyat dinegara-negara Arab berhak untuk berdemonstrasi secara aman; mendesak dilakukan reformasi politik dan menyokong kebangkitan pro demokrasi.

Dengan bantuan ketenteraan Saudi yang disokong oleh AS dan barat, kebangkitan rakyat di Bahrain dijangka akan dibendung dengan cara kekerasaan, tetapi rakyat yang bangkit menyatakan iltizam mereka untuk meneruskan kebangkitan. Kini kebangkitan di Bahrain telah memakan korban lebih ramai.

Bagi Saudi membendung dan sekaligus menumpaskan kebangkitan di Bahrain berkait rapat dengan menumpaskan kebangkitan yang mula mengambil tempat di timur Saudi yang juga majoriti penduduknya merupakan penganut Syiah. Setakat ini Saudi dengan kerasnya dapat membendung kebangkitan di timur negaranya,tetapi apakah ia mampu menumpaskannya sekaligus.

Pendekatan regim-regim yang dilanda kebangkitan revolusi rakyat berbeza antara satu negara dengan satu negara yang lain. Selepas kejatuhan Ben Ali dan Mubarak, regim-regim ini mengambil pendekatan untuk berdepan dan menghadapi kebangkitan dengan kekerasan dengan menggunakan tentera dan pasukan keselamatan, menyebabkan ramai rakyat yang berdemonstrasi secara aman terkorban.

Regim-regim diktator ini tidak menyerah kalah kepada tuntutan kebangkitan rakyat. Mereka tidak mahu mengikut jejak Ben Ali dan Hosni Mubarak yang dijatuhkan dengan penuh penghinaan sekali.

Pemimpin Libya, Muammar Gaddafi telah mengambil pendekatan memerangi rakyatnya sendiri dan kini dikatakan mulai memenangi semula wilayah-wilayah yang dikuasai oleh revolusi kebangkitan rakyat yang menamakan diri mereka sebagai majlis nasional Libya yang telahpun diiktiraf oleh Peranchis dan Britain.

Gaddafi telah menggunakan kekuatan udaranya untuk menyerang dan membebaskan wilayah yang dikuasai oleh kebangkitan rakyat dan kini dilaporkan sedang menuju ke Banghazi yang menjadi kubu kuat kebangkitan rakyat.

Bagi menyelamatkan Benghazi Majlis Keselamatan PBB telah meluluskan larangan penerbangan di langit Libya bagi menyelamatkan rakyat Libya dari serangan udara oleh jet-jet pejuang tentera udara yang pro Ghadafi. Resolusi majlis Keselamatan itu disokong oleh sepuluh negara sementara lima negara termasuk dua negara anggota tetap China dan Russia berkecuali. Tiga lagi negara anggota tetap, iaitu AS, Britain dan Peranchis menyokong.

Resolusi larangan penerbangan ini adalah campurtangan langsung negara kuasa AS,Britain dan Peranchis terhadap konflik perang saudara di Libya. Bagi memberikan kesan kepada larangan penerbangan, keupayaan udara yang dimiliki Gaddafi mesti disasarkan bagi melumpuhkan keupayaan udara yang dimiliki tentera udara pro Gaddafi.

Dalam konteks Libya, dimensi dari satu revolusi kebangkitan rakyat bertukar wajah menjadi perang saudara dan kini menerjah kepada satu keadaan yang akan mengheret kepada arena perang yang lebih besar, semata-mata kerana keengganan dan kedegilan Ghadafi tunduk kepada tuntutan rakyat.

Di Yaman pula,keadaan yang hampir serupa sedang mengambil tempat. Regim Ali Abdullah Salleh yang enggan tunduk kepada tuntutan kebangkitan rakyat mula menggunakan kekerasan terhadap penunjuk perasaan. Regim-regim ini mahu menggagalkan kebangkitan rakyat.

Kebangkitan rakyat di Bahrain akan digagalkan dengan bantuan Saudi yang disokong oleh AS dan barat. Di Libya larangan penerbangan memberi ruang kepada AS dan sekutunya untuk campurtangan dalam konflik perang saudara di Libya,sementara di Yaman, regim Ali Abdullah Salleh mahu berdepan dengan kekerasan terhadap para demonstran yang menggerakkan kebangkitan rakyat.

Pengakhiran kebangkitan rakyat dibeberapa buah negara ini berada dalam keadaan tidak menentu. Penyelesaian nya tidak lagi antara rakyat yang bangkit dengan regim masing-masing tetapi mengheret kuasa AS barat dan proksi mereka dalam kancah dan pergolakan yang dijangka akan berpanjangan.

Sewajarnya penyelesaian dari revolusi kebangkitan rakyat ini di selesaikan oleh rakyat sendiri tanpa campurtangan asing seperti yang berlaku di Tunsia dan Mesir.

http://www.harakahdaily.net/v2/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=31498:kebangkitan-rakyat-masuki-pusingan-baru-&catid=94:global2&Itemid=135

Apabila rakyat Saudi bangkit

Suhaimi Mokhtar

Momentum arus revolusi kebangkitan rakyat kini melimpah menuju ke Saudi Arabia. Di sebelah timur negara itu yang mempunyai penduduk majoriti Syiah rakyat telah bangkit berdemonstrasi di jalanraya beberapa hari lalu dan bertekad untuk mengadakannya secara besar-besaran pada hari Jumaat selepas solat Jumaat.

Demonstrasi yang diadakan setakat ini telah dapat dipatahkan oleh pihak berkuasa Saudi Arabia, tetapi ia tidak mematahkan semangat penganjur-penganjur yang mahu meneruskan tunjuk perasaan setelah mendapat inspirasi dari revolusi di Tunisia, Mesir, Libya, Yaman dan seluruh Negara di Jazerah Arab yang lain.

Tiada sebuah negarapun yang akan terkecuali dari menerima bahana, tempias, bahang percikan api revolusi rakyat yang melanda seluruh jazerah Arab ini. Jika Saudi Arabia tidak terkecuali dari menerima percikan revolusi rakyat ini, maka tiada negara jazerah Arab lagi yang mampu membendungnya.

Kebangkitan rakyat di Saudi Arabia ,walaupun bermula di sebelah timur negara itu, tetapi ia mempunyai kepentingan tertentu kerana Saudi Arabia merupakan negara di mana terdapatnya dua kota suci umat Islam, Makkah dan Madinah yang menjadi destinasi kunjungan umat islam seluruh dunia sepanjang tahun untuk melakukan ibadah umrah dan mengerjakan ibadah haji setiap tahun pada musim haji.

Sebarang kebangkitan revolusi rakyat di Saudi Arabia tetap melibatkan umat Islam seluruh dunia kerana kedudukan stratijik Saudi Arabia sebagai yang sering diuar-uarkan oleh pemerintah Saudi Arabia bahawa mereka adalah pengawal haramain atau ‘dua tempat suci umat Islam’.

Di samping implikasi kebangkitan di Saudi Arabia melibatkan umat Islam seluruh dunia ia juga boleh dianggap mempunyai implikasi melibatkan dunia seluruh kerana Saudi Arabia merupakan negara pengeluar dan pembekal minyak yang terbesar didunia yang mengeksport petrolnya ke Amerika Syarikat (AS) dan ke negara-negara Eropah.

Di Saudi Arabia juga terdapatnya pengkalan tentera AS yang terbesar. Semua ini membawa implikasi apabila berlaku kebangkitan rakyat di negara yang kaya dengan minyak dan negara yang menjadi pengawal dua tempat suci umat Islam itu.

Kebangkitan rakyat yang bermula di sebelah timur negara itu tidak akan terhenti di wilayah itu sahaja. Ia menunggu masa sahaja untuk melimpah ruah seperti air banjir, merebak ke wilayah-wilayah lain tidak terkecuali Mekkah dan Madinah, dua tempat suci yang menyentuh hati nurani umat Islam. Perlu diingat Mekkah pernah mengalami kebangkitan beberapa dekad lalu, dalam peristiwa berdarah rampasan Masjidul Haram yang terdapat di tengah-tengahnya, Kaabah, kiblat solat umat Islam seluruh dunia, tetapi ia telah dapat dipatahkan dengan segera oleh pemerintah Saudi Arabia.

Tetapi kebangkitan kali ini amat berbeza dari kebangkitan beberapa dekad lalu. Kali ini ia adalah kebangkitan rakyat yang mendapat ilham dari kebangkitan yang melanda seluruh jazerah Arab.

Bukan setakat kebangkitan di Saudi Arabia sahaja yang membawa implikasi besar terhadap umat Islam di seluruh dunia, tetapi sebenarnya kebangkitan revolusi rakyat yang bermula di Tunisia dan kemudian diikuti di Mesir turut mempengaruhi lanskap politik negara umat islam seluruh dunia dimana sahaja mereka berada.

Revolusi rakyat di Tunisia dan Mesir walaupun telah berjaya menumbangkan Ben Ali dan Hosni Mubarak, dua rejim diktator yang zalim dan menindas rakyat, tetapi ia belum lagi selesai sepenuhnya. Reformasi yang didesak oleh rakyat belum lagi dipenuhi sepenuhnya dan banyak pihak kelihatan sedang cuba menghajick revolusi rakyat di kedua negara berkenaan.

AS dan sekutu baratnya cuba memilih calun yang dapat mewarisi pimpinan Ben Ali dan Mubarak supaya kesinambungan polisi berlaku di negara-negara itu untuk kepentingan survival rejim zionis Yahudi sebagaimana yang dipertahankan oleh Ben Ali dan Mubarak.

Kini muncul nama-nama calun presiden yang bakal bertanding dalam pilihanraya Mesir ,iaitu Amr Musa, Setiausaha Agong Liga Arab, Muhammad El-Baradie, bekas pengarah IAEA di bawah PBB yang menyelia projek nuklear negara anggota termasuk Iran. Kedua mereka ini dikenali di AS dan barat, mereka rapat dengan kepimpinan AS dan barat dewasa ini. Walaupun dijangkakan jika mereka ditakdirkan menarajui Mesir, mereka tidak akan memimpin sekejam Mubarak, kerana Mesir selepas Mubarak akan lebih demokratik dengan reformasi politik yang sedang berlangsung. Tetapi AS dan barat lebih senang dan aman berkerjasama dengan tokoh-tokoh yang mereka kenali.

Bagaimana pun,Mesir pasca Mubarak tetap tidak sama lagi seperti sebelumnya. Dalam perubahan lanskap politik baru Mesir, akan muncul tenaga Islam dalam kalangan kepimpinan Ikhwan Muslimin untuk menyertai pilihanraya demokratik yang akan menjadi kuasa penentu bagi politik Mesir. Inilah yang dibimbangi washinton dan kota-kota barat lain. Keadaan yang sama juga akan mengambil tempat di Tunisia. Nama Rachid Ghanuchi yang baru pulang dari buangan di London dijangkakan akan menyertai pilihanraya dan menjadi tenaga politik baru di Tunisia.

Belum pun revolusi rakyat di Mesir dan Tunisia mencapai matlamat sepenuhnya, kini revolusi rakyat di Libya sedang menghadapi ujian pahit apabila pemimpin Libya enggan tunduk kepada kuasa rakyat yang mengakibatkan huru-hara perang saudara berterusan hingga kini.

Ghadafi mendakwa Al-Qaeda menimbulkan kebangkitan rakyat di Libya,tetapi setakat ini tidak sepatah pun kenyataan yang keluar dari Osama Ben Ladin tentang penglibatan Al-Qaeda. Tangkapan terhadap beberapa orang yang dikatakan operator Al-Qaeda yang membuat pengesahan penglibatan mereka melalui media tidak boleh digunapakai kerana mereka mungkin diupah dalam perang saraf dan propaganda yang sedang berlangsung sekarang antara kumpulan pro dan anti Ghadafi.

Campurtangan AS dan kuasa barat terutama Peranchis dan Britain yang akan mencadangkan kepada Majlis Keselamatan PBB, zon larangan penerbangan di langit Libya akan memberi Ghadafi senjata yang dimahukannya untuk menyeret bahawa kuasa-kuasa ini terlibat dalam menim bulkan kebangkitan rakyat di Libya. Ini sementelah lagi apabila Peranchis dan Britain telah mengiktiraf Majlis Nasional di Benghazi yang anti Ghadafi sebagai pemerintah baru Libya.

Perang saudara yang makin meluas diLibya sekarang menyebabkan kebangkitan revolusi rakyat di Yaman, Bahrian, Jordan, Oman, Algeria, Maghribi dan lain-lain negara tenggelam dipintas oleh apa yang sedang berlaku di Libya.

Hakikatnya kebangkitan yang berlaku di bumi-bumi umat Islam berkenaan tidak kurang panas dan gentingnya, apabila rakyat yang bangkit menolak percubaan pihak berkuasa negara-negara berkenaan yang cuba bertolak ansor dengan memenuhi beberapa tuntutan revolusi rakyat.

Di Yaman, kebangkitan rakyat menolak reformasi yang cuba diperkenalkan oleh Presiden Ali Abdullah Salleh untuk mengadakan pilihanraya parlimen yang nanti bakal menentukan presiden repablik itu. Mereka menyatakan konsesi itu terlalu kecil dan telah terlambat. Mereka mahukan Ali Abdullah meletakkan jawatan dan mereka tidak akan berkompromi dari tuntutan itu. Desakan dan agitasi yang serupa dihadapkan kepada pemerintah Bahrian dan beberapa negara lain yang sedang bergolak.

Ketika konflik perang saudara terus berlangsung di Libya, kebangkitan rakyat di negara-negara persekitaran jazerah Arab itu akan berterusan apabila pemerintah-pemerintah ini mempertahankan pemerintahan masing-masing dan menolak agitasi rakyat.

Di Saudi Arabia pakej rangsangan dan bantuan ekonomi berjumlah berbilion dollar untuk rakyat dan kenaikan gaji tidak dapat membendung kemarahan rakyat terhadap pemerintahan keluarga di raja Saudi Arabia. Tetapi pemerintah Saudi Arabia telah memberi amaran untuk bertindak tegas terhadap sebarang percubaan untuk membangkitkan revolusi rakyat di Saudi Arabia.

Mampukah pemerintah Saudi Arabia menanggani dan sekaligus membendung kebangkitan? Saudi Arabia dijangka akan bertindak keras dan tegas terhadap sebarang kebangkitan rakyat dan amaran untuk memotong jari-jari mereka yang cuba menimbulkan kebangkitan telah dikeluarkan oleh Menteri Luar Saudi, Putera Suad Al-Faisal baru-baru ini.

Pemerintah Saudi Arabia memang mengharamkan sebarang tunjuk perasaan di negara beraja itu dan baru-baru ini pemerintah negara itu mengeluarkan kenyataan keras menolak sebarang campurtangan asing dinegara itu. Kenyataan itu dikatakan ditujukan kepada Iran dan bagi menjawab kenyataan Setiausaha Luar AS, Hillary Clinton yang menegaskan bahawa rakyat Saudi berhak untuk menyuarakan haknya melalui demonstrasi aman.

Lihat nanti bagaimana Saudi Arabia menanggani kebangkitan rakyatnya dan bagaimana pula sikap AS dan barat terhadap tindakan keras dan tegas sekutu kuatnya dalam membendung kebangkitan rakyat Saudi yang mahukan reformasi di semua bidang termasuk politik, ekonomi, kebebasan dan hak rakyat untuk bersuara.

http://www.harakahdaily.net/v2/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=31394:apabila-rakyat-saudi-bangkit-&catid=94:global2&Itemid=135

Saudis panic amid unrest in the Islamic East

Zafar Bangash / Crescent International

Nowhere is there more concern — and panic — about the rapidly escalating protests in North Africa and the Islamic East than inside the marbled, air-conditioned palaces of Saudi Arabia.

While the House of Saud faces no imminent threat like despots in Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, Yemen or Bahrain, the fear in Riyadh is genuine.

Saudis stage a protest in the oil-producing eastern province, March 7

The Saudis know their rule is illegitimate. It was the British that installed them in power by carving out a kingdom from the ruins of the Ottoman Khilafah to serve British colonial interests. Now the Americans are protecting them because the Saudis continue to pump oil to satiate the Americans’ addiction to black gold.

But America has lost its clout on the global stage, thanks to its wars of aggression in Afghanistan and Iraq. The US and its Arabian lickspittle can no longer dictate to the world.

The Saudis’ real concern is not only America’s loss of clout; their worry is that Uncle Sam ditched a long-time trusted ally Hosni Mubarak so casually. The Saudis may be cowards but they are not fools. They understand what is afoot.

If the Americans can discard Mubarak whose regime was a major bulwark against the rising tide of Islam and loyal ally of the Zionist State of Israel, what chance do the pleasure-loving Saudis have if protests erupt in the kingdom? The Americans might abandon them just as quickly, oil or no oil. Further, the Saudis now feel alone in standing against the emerging power of Islam.

While there is little prospect of a Tunisian, Egyptian or Libyan style uprising in Saudi Arabia — most Saudis are bone lazy — it is the possibility of a palace intrigue that the Saudis worry about. True, a protest is planned for March 11 in Riyadh but it is unrealistic to assume anything significant would come out of it.

Saudi society is far too tightly controlled and the religious establishment has been completely compromised to offer an alternative to the corrupt and decrepit monarchy.

It is, however, developments elsewhere, especially in Egypt, Yemen and Bahrain that worry the Saudis so much. With Mubarak gone, the Saudis feel dangerously exposed. And to this end, to placate any hint of frustration in the people, the Saudi King on his return from a convalescense holiday in Morocco has offered up over $10 billion to his people in various economic concessions like the government of Algeria and Syria. The ailing and aged King Abdullah (he is 87 and suffering from multiple ailments) feels the Americans have betrayed their Arabian allies.

Uprisings in Yemen and Bahrain also have a direct bearing on Saudi Arabia. The kingdom shares borders with both. With Yemen, it is 1,100 miles long and many Yemenis — including the Bin Ladens — hail from there. Instability in Yemen can easily spill over into the kingdom. This explains the Saudis’ attack on the Houthis last year in one of the Forbidden Months, even if it was badly bungled, and exposed the Saudi military’s incompetence.

Bahrain is even more problematic. The tiny Gulf State has a Shi‘i majority ruled by a Sunni minority. Bahrain is linked to the kingdom by a 15-mile causeway that is used by the Saudis not merely to drive across and enjoy Bahrain’s nightlife, but for a more serious purpose: in case of unrest the Saudis would rush in troops to Bahrain to contain it. It is better to fight their battle for survival in the streets of Manama than in Riyadh or Jeddah.

Further, any success by the Bahraini majority may encourage similar protests in the Eastern provinces of Saudi Arabia that have long been suppressed by the Nejdi tribe from Dar‘iyah. This in turn may spread to the rest of the kingdom and undermine the House of Saud.

Far from welcoming the people’s aspirations for dignified existence, the Saudi rulers stand completely exposed as the enemies of Islam and the Islamic movement. Saudi-linked and financed Islamic organizations should take note: the blood of innocent people killed in Tunisia, Egypt, Bahrain, Libya, Morocco and Yemen would be on their hands as well if they fail to sever links with the corrupt Saudi royals.

The Saudis view any challenge to the status quo as a direct threat to their survival. In fact, changes in the region are viewed as a gain for Islamic Iran, and its allies: Syria, Hizbullah and Hamas.

People in the Peninsula must grasp the opportunity offered by the uprisings elsewhere. They must also rise above sectarianism to establish a system based on the pristine principles of Islam.

History will render a very harsh judgement if they fail to rise to the occasion. The choice is theirs.

http://en.harakahdaily.net/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=2448:saudis-panic-amid-unrest-in-the-islamic-east&catid=38:analysis-and-opinion-&Itemid=72

As protests near Saudi borders, king offers money

AP – Members of an Islamic human rights group hold a poster that shows Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah decorating …

• Slideshow:Saudi Arabia

By DIAA HADID, Associated Press Diaa Hadid, Associated Press – 2 hrs 25 mins ago

CAIRO – Saudi Arabia's king promised a multibillion dollar package of reforms, raises, cash, loans and apartments on Friday in what appeared to be the Arab world's most expensive attempt to appease residents inspired by the unrest that has swept two leaders from power.

He also announced 60,000 new jobs in the security forces — a move that would employ huge numbers of otherwise jobless young men, while bolstering his kingdom's ability to snuff out protests.

The ailing 86-year-old King Abdullah, his soft voice trembling, rarely looked up from his notes in the speech broadcast live on Saudi television.

Though protests in Sunni-dominated Saudi Arabia have been tiny and were swiftly quelled, the monarchy apparently fears they could escalate as have others around the Arab world — particularly in the neighboring island of Bahrain, where Saudi troops lead a 1,500-strong Gulf military force against Shiite demonstrators.

Saudi demonstrators have mostly come from the Shiite-dominated eastern quarter of the kingdom. They share similar grievances as their Shiite brethren in the nearby island monarchy, and the Sunni powers fear their unrest will give an opening for Shiite Iran to expand its influence on the Arab side of the Gulf.

But the changes announced by Abdullah did not loosen the tribal monarchy's tight hold on power — a key demand of Saudi opposition figures. The gesture also overlooked requests by intellectuals to release political prisoners and reform the country's decision-making process.

Abdullah thanked residents and security forces and asked them to remember him in their prayers.

"You are the shields of this homeland and the beating hand of those who dare challenge its security and stability. May God bless you and your actions," the king said in the three-minute speech.

King Abdullah is popular, though critics protest the closed, autocratic system he heads.

News readers — not the king — read the series of royal decrees promising a minimum wage increase, cash gifts and an anti-corruption drive. No total cost was given for the package.

The sweeteners include an additional two months' wages for all government workers and two extra payments for university students worth around $500. He raised the monthly minimum wage to $800 and announced a monthly payment of around $260 to the country's unemployed. The king set aside around $70 billion to build 500,000 apartments for low-income residents. He promised millions more capital for the government's housing loan fund and raised the maximum loan for homes to around $130,000.

The king vowed to fight corruption with the creation of a new body answerable directly to him. He promised billions for the health sector — announcing new research centers around the country, homes for medics and thousands of new hospital beds. He also promised an extra $40 million for private hospitals.

In a boon to the country's conservatives, he vowed around $130 million to build and renovate mosques and around $50 million each for Islamic centers that teach the Muslim holy book and to build offices for the country's religious police.

Starkly absent from the promises were any funds for the country's education system. The King vowed to pressure private businesses to employ more Saudi residents and said he would crack down on merchants who raised the prices of basic goods.

The new swath of promises were the second series of sweeteners offered to Saudi residents. Earlier this month, the King ordered roughly $37 billion to be pumped into various programs targeting the oil kingdom's lower income population.

And the oil-rich country also promised to fund part of a $20 billion in financial aid package earlier this month to the Gulf states of Bahrain and Oman in attempts there to quell demonstrations in both countries with promises of more cash.

It remains to be seen if the sweeteners will placate residents weary of the tribal monarchy's tight grip on power.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110318/ap_on_bi_ge/ml_saudi_protests

Saudis protest outside Interior Ministry

– Sun Mar 13, 11:26 am ET

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates – More than 200 Saudis were allowed to protest outside the Interior Ministry on Sunday to demand the release of detainees in the largest demonstration in the capital since the regional outbreak of pro-democracy unrest.

Saudi authorities ban demonstrations and are increasingly determined to prevent the unrest, particularly Shiite protests in neighboring Bahrain, from spreading to the oil-rich Kingdom.

A massive show of force snuffed out a Facebook-based effort to stage unprecedented pro-democracy protests in Riyadh on Friday. But in heavily Shiite eastern Saudi Arabia, hundreds of protesters marched in at least four different locations, calling for the release of political prisoners and demanding reform. Saudi police opened fire to disperse one of the protests, wounding at least one man.

The protesters Sunday demanded information on the fate of mostly Sunni detainees held on security and terrorism-related charges, and their immediate release.

"My brother is 18, he has beein in detention for four years and until now we don't know anything about his fate or even the charges against him," said Ahmed Ali, one of the protesters.

Another said his 70-year-old father suffers from cancer of the colon and has been in detention for 10 years without receiving medical attention or a trial. He spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of retribution.

The protesters asked to meet with the interior minister, Prince Nayef, but their request was turned down and they were not allowed to go inside the building.

Eyewitnesses said cameras were set up above the Interior Ministry building to film the sit-in, which some of the protesters said was to intimidate the protesters and possibly arrest them in the next days.

Activists have set up Facebook groups calling for protests in Riyadh and one group garnered more than 30,000 supporters of its demands for free elections.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110313/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_saudi_protest

As protests roil neighbors, Saudis quash rallies

AP – An anti-government protestor reacts during a demonstration demanding the resignation of Yemeni President …

• Slideshow:Saudi Arabia

By HASSAN AMMAR and AHMED AL-HAJ, Associated Press Hassan Ammar And Ahmed Al-haj, Associated Press – Fri Mar 11, 4:35 pm ET

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia – A massive show of force by Saudi Arabia's government snuffed out a Facebook-based effort to stage unprecedented pro-democracy protests in the capital on Friday, but political unrest and sectarian tensions roiled neighboring Yemen and Bahrain.

Yemen's largest demonstrations in a month were met by police gunfire that left at least six protesters injured and seemed certain to fuel more anger against the deeply unpopular U.S.-allied president.

In Bahrain, a conflict deepened between the island kingdom's Shiite majority and its Sunni Muslim royal family, whose security forces and pro-government mobs attacked demonstrators with tear gas, rocks and swords. U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates visited the tiny country, the home of the U.S. Navy's 5th Fleet, to reassure its rulers of unwavering U.S. support, officials said.

With uprisings threatening allies on its eastern and southern flanks, the Sunni Saudi monarchy appeared to be taking no chances in its effort to keep the popular push for democracy in the Arab world from spreading to the world's largest crude oil exporter.

In the heavily Shiite eastern Saudi province, hundreds of protesters marched in at least four different locations, calling for the release of political prisoners and demanding reform.

In the city of Qatif, not far from Bahrain, armored personnel carriers and dozens of officers in riot gear surrounded several hundred demonstrators shouting calls for reforms and equality between the sects. Police opened fire in the city to disperse a protest late Thursday in an incident that left three protesters and one officer wounded, but there was no repeat of that violence.

In a video posted on social networking websites, a helicopter hovered over a few hundreds male protesters in a small street in the town of al-Ahsa in the Eastern Province. Protesters chanted: "The people want justice and equality." It was not possible to independently confirm the footage.

Yemen's president of 32 years appeared to be one of the Arab leaders most threatened by the regional unrest inspired by pro-democracy revolts in Egypt and Tunisia.

Hundreds of thousands of protesters gathered in Yemen's four largest provinces, ripping down and burning President Ali Abdullah Saleh's portraits in Sheikh Othman, the most populated district in the southern port city of Aden, witnesses said.

Security forces hurled tear gas into crowds close to a stadium and then opened fire, using machine guns mounted on vehicles, said eyewitness Sind Abdullah, 25.

In the conservative capital, Sanaa, thousands of women participated in demonstrations — a startling move in a deeply tribal society where women are expected to stay out of sight.

Demonstrators demanded jobs and greater political freedom and decried Saleh's proposal Thursday that the government create a new constitution guaranteeing the independence of parliament and the judiciary, calling it too little and too late.

The autocratic leader is also an ally in the Obama adminstration's push to eliminate the local branch of al-Qaida, which has attempted to attack the United States. He has also worked closely with the Saudis to quash his own Shiite uprising in the north.

In the Saudi capital, security forces who took up positions on corners and intersections as at least one helicopter buzzed overhead. Police blocked roads and set up random checkpoints, searching residents and vehicles around a central mosque as large numbers of people gathered for Friday prayers.

Government minders escorted journalists around the city, where they were shown a man, who gave his name as Khaled al-Juhni, standing outside a government building, shouting calls for more freedoms.

Police and journalists watched as the man criticized the regime as a "police state" and "a big prison" before he got in his car and left.

A government official said security measures around state-run oil giant Saudi Aramco and its oil facilities in the east were beefed up protectively in case of any violence. The company is based in the Dhahran district on the kingdom's eastern coast.

Investors are sensitive to any sign of upheaval in Saudi Arabia because the OPEC leader has been using its spare capacity to make up for output lost amid the violent uprising against Libya's government. When news broke that Saudi Arabian police fired shots to break up the protest Thursday, prices soared $3 in just 12 minutes.

Shiites make up 10 percent of the kingdom's 23 million citizens and have long complained of discrimination, saying they are barred from key positions in the military and government and are not given an equal share of the country's wealth.

Last month, the ultraconservative Saudi government announced an unprecedented economic package worth an estimated $36 billion that will give Saudis interest-free home loans, unemployment assistance and debt forgiveness.

At the same time, it reiterated that demonstrations are forbidden in the kingdom.

So far, any demonstrations have been small, concentrated in the east among Shiites demanding the release of detainees. But activists set up Facebook groups calling for protests in Riyadh and one group garnered more than 30,000 supporters of its demands for free elections.

___

Al-Haj reported from Sanaa, Yemen. Diaa Hadid, Zeina Karam and Michael Weissenstein in Cairo contributed to this report.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110311/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_saudi_protests

Raja Saudi tidak tergugat

WASHINGTON: Di sebalik banyak faktor persamaan Arab Saudi dengan negara Timur Tengah lain, penganalisis yakin kerajaan monarki itu tidak berdepan dengan gerakan menggulingkan kerajaan.

Tanpa menafikan wujud rasa kurang senang orang ramai dan pengaruh golongan muda dalam masyarakat, mereka berpendapat, pendekatan diambil Riyadh selama ini boleh menyelamatkan kerajaan daripada menerima nasib sama seperti Tunisia, Mesir dan Libya.

Tambahan pula konflik di negara pengeluar minyak terbesar dunia itu hanya akan menyebabkan kesan meluas kepada ekonomi global.

Penganalisis Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Christopher Boucek, berkata rasa marah dan tidak puas hati rakyat tertumpu kepada dasar kerajaan, bukannya keluarga bangsawan.

“Setakat ini tiada mana-mana pihak menyeru diadakan revolusi di Arab Saudi,” katanya.

Seperti Mesir dan Tunisia, Arab Saudi memang memiliki golongan muda yang ramai apabila data Agensi Perisikan Pusat (CIA) menunjukkan 38 peratus daripada penduduk negara itu berusia 14 tahun atau lebih muda.

Golongan muda juga semakin cenderung memilih laman sesawang sosial untuk menyatakan protes.

Melalui Facebook, mereka cuba mengadakan bantahan Hari Kemarahan hari ini.

Kekayaan petroleum pula tidak diagihkan secara adil menyebabkan kira-kira 40 peratus populasi boleh dianggap hidup dalam kemiskinan.

Tidak cukup dengan itu, mereka juga terhimpit dengan masalah kenaikan harga barang dan makanan.

Pandangan Boucek dikongsi penganalisis Pusat Kajian Strategik dan Antarabangsa, Anthony Cordesman.

Katanya, memang Arab Saudi dibelenggu banyak masalah, termasuk ketegangan di antara Syiah dan Sunni, salah urus jemaah haji dan skandal di kalangan keluarga diraja.

Pada masa sama, katanya, keluarga diraja berusaha menggembirakan rakyat seperti pengumuman Raja Abdullah memberikan lebih RM109 bilion bagi mengurangkan kemarahan orang ramai.

“Ia bukan dilakukan secara tiba-tiba, tetapi sejak berdekad lalu, keluarga diraja membelanjakan wang yang banyak untuk meningkatkan tahap sosial dan merangsang industri,” katanya. - AFP

http://www.hmetro.com.my/myMetro/articles/RajaSauditidaktergugat/Article/index_html

Protests hit eastern Saudi Arabia, calm in capital

AP – Saudi policemen form a check point inspecting cars near the site where a demonstration is expected to …

• Slideshow:Saudi Arabia

By HASSAN AMMAR, Associated Press Hassan Ammar, Associated Press – 1 hr 41 mins ago

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia – Several hundred people protested in heavily Shiite eastern Saudi Arabia Friday but hundreds of police prevented protests in the capital calling for democratic reforms inspired by the wave of unrest sweeping the Arab world.

Police blocked roads and set up random checkpoints in Riyadh, searching residents and vehicles around a central mosque as large numbers of people gathered for Friday prayers. Witnesses said groups of policemen manned street corners and intersections and a helicopter flew over the city.

By midday, no protesters had showed up in the capital and the police presence significantly decreased.

In the eastern city of Qatif and nearby areas where the country's minority Shiites live, several hundred people staged protests, shouting slogans calling for reforms and equality between Shiites and Sunnis. In Qatif, the protesters were surrounded by armored personnel carriers and dozens of riot police in full gear.

On Thursday, violence broke out at another protest in Qatif, when Saudi police opened fire to disperse demonstrators. At least three protesters and one police officer were wounded. Friday's protest was largely peaceful.

Although protests have so far been confined to small rallies in the east, activists have been emboldened by other uprisings in the region that have toppled longtime rulers of Tunisia and Egypt. The Saudi activists have set up online groups calling for protests in Riyadh on Friday.

Any violence at Friday's planned protests could reverberate through the world's markets because of the importance of Saudi oil exports.

Security officials on Friday said security measures around state-run oil giant Saudi Aramco and its oil facilities in the east were beefed up protectively, in case of any violence. The company is based in Dhahran district on the kingdom's eastern coast.

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the subject, said the new measures were "considered normal under the current circumstances," referring to the online call for protests in the area.

Investors are sensitive to any sign of upheaval in Saudi Arabia because the OPEC leader has been using its spare capacity to make up for output lost amid the violent uprising against Libya's government. When news broke that Saudi Arabian police fired shots to break up the protest Thursday, prices soared $3 in just 12 minutes.

Discord is common between Saudi authorities and the country's Shiites, who make up 10 percent of the kingdom's 23 million citizens. The Shiites have long complained of discrimination, saying they are barred from key positions in the military and government and are not given an equal share of the country's wealth.

The pro-Western monarchy is concerned protests could open footholds for Shiite powerhouse Iran and has accused foreigners of stoking the protests, which are officially forbidden.

In Riyadh, the Interior Ministry organized a tour for a few journalists who were escorted by police around the city Friday. At one point in front of a government building, the journalists encountered a man, Khaled al-Juhni, standing outside a government building, shouting calls for more freedoms.

Police and journalists watched as the man criticized the regime as a "police state" and "a big prison" before he got in his car and left.

Despite the ban on demonstrations and a warning that security forces will act against them, protesters demanding the release of political prisoners took to the streets Thursday for a second day in the eastern city of Qatif. Several hundred protesters, some wearing masks to avoid being identified, marched after dark asking for "Freedom for prisoners."

Police, who were lined up opposite the protesters, fired percussion bombs followed by gunfire, causing the crowd to scatter, a witness said. Other witnesses said the protesters threw Molotov cocktails and stones from rooftops on the security troops.

Mainly Sunni Saudi Arabia has struggled to stay ahead of the unrest that has led to the ouster of the Egyptian and Tunisian leaders in recent weeks.

Last month, the ultraconservative Saudi government announced an unprecedented economic package worth an estimated $36 billion that will give Saudis interest-free home loans, unemployment assistance and debt forgiveness.

At the same time, it reiterated that demonstrations are forbidden in the kingdom because they contradict Islamic laws and society's values and said security forces were authorized to act against anyone violating the ban.

So far the demonstrations have been small, concentrated in the east among Shiites demanding the release of detainees. But activists have been emboldened by other uprisings have set up Facebook groups calling for protests in the capital, Riyadh, on Friday to demand democratic reforms.

One such group garnered more than 30,000 supporters. The group called the "Honein Revolution March 11" has listed a number of mosques in 17 Saudi cities for protesters to rally.

The group says it strives to have elected officials in Saudi Arabia, including the ruler.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110311/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_saudi_protests

Education and women's employment in Saudi Arabia

Diana al-Jassem / Arab News

The challenges women face in the Saudi job market continue to rise. One of the more poignant challenges they face involves not finding jobs in the fields that they studied when at university.

Saudi telephone operators work at the International Medical Center in Jeddah

Saudi women are confined to study certain majors such as education, health, business, computer science, literature and Islamic studies. They are not accepted for other subjects such as law, aviation, security, journalism and other engineering specialties.

Two private women colleges have recently opened in the Kingdom. They both offer new majors such as information systems, interior design and special education. However, not all female students in Saudi Arabia can study these fields, as women’s rights to study and work is dependent on their guardians.

Despite difficulties facing women in the labor market, there are many who are studying in private colleges subjects for which there are no jobs available for women. Such is the case that after graduation many of these women find it impossible to find jobs in their actual fields of study.

“I graduated with a degree in graphic design from Umm Al-Qura University in Makkah two years ago. For the past two years, I have been searching for a job in my field. I’ve not found anything in the government sector because my major is not listed in the list of government job openings. I am disappointed because this means I will never get an opportunity to work in the public sector,” said Rana Ramadan, an unemployed Saudi girl.

“When I decided to search for a job in the private sector, I was looking for a job that suits my field and ambition. I joined a private company as an advertisement designer for SR1,500 a month. After joining there, they gave me additional duties such as accounting and secretarial work… I was given these additional duties without a salary rise,” she said.

Ramadan now prefers to stay at home than be forced to work in a field for which she did not study at university.

Al-Anoud Fakhani, a young Saudi girl who graduated in psychology at Effat University eight years ago, was also unable to find a job in her field. As a result, she decided to take a job outside the field of specialty.

“I studied child psychology at Effat University in Jeddah. After graduation, I couldn’t find a specialist center that focuses on child psychology. Because of that, I spent about one year without a job,” she said. “Recently, my father persuaded me to try another field, which I did. I joined a private medical center and worked as a marketing coordinator. It was difficult to understand the issues at the beginning, but after a few months I became proficient in this,” she added.

Manal Shaker, a Palestinian interior designer who studied at Dar Al-Hekma College in Jeddah, decided to abandon her dream to become an interior designer and opted to sit at home to raise her children.

“I was concerned about my future after graduation. I realized that entering the interior design field would not be easy. Such work requires one to work in offices. Unfortunately, these companies prefer male staff and do not hire women designers,” said Shaker.

To avoid unemployment, Shaker decided to work as an English teacher at a private school in Jeddah. “I worked at a private school as an English teacher. They hired me to teach the first three grades for SR2,000 a month because I didn’t have any qualifications in English,” she added.

Statistics published in a local daily by Nahed Taher, a consultant at a private bank in Saudi Arabia, confirmed that over 22,000 commercial licenses have been issued to women, many of who run their own beauty, furniture and fashion businesses.

According to the statistics, women are beginning to realize the importance of investments. Women own nearly 20 percent of mutual funds, while it is believed about SR15 billion (RM15 billion) of cash assets are owned by women and stored in current accounts.

Dr. Haifa Jamalallail, president of Effat University, confirmed that the university is still finding it difficult to find jobs for female graduates in fields such as architecture.

“Although we don’t have many graduates from the Architecture College, we’re still unable to find job opportunities for them. So far we’ve only had five batches of graduates in architecture. Each batch contains about six to 10 girls,” she said.

“We are targeting foreign companies that exist in Saudi Arabia to try getting them to accept some of our Saudi female workers and engineers. We’re still in the preparation stage when it comes to Saudi companies,” she added.

Jamalallail said that Effat University has spoken to a number of electricity and phone companies such as STC and Mobily asking them if they could create job opportunities for female graduates.

“They’ve said they will try to establish a working environment suitable for our female graduates,” she said, adding that only three foreign companies have established specialized centers for women engineers.

http://en.harakahdaily.net/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=2412:education-and-womens-employment-in-saudi-arabia&catid=47:edu-spective&Itemid=90

Gaji minimum pembantu rumah Indonesia di Arab Saudi RM4,800

RIYADH: Bagi melindungi kebajikan warga Indonesia di Arab Saudi, Jakarta mengenakan syarat lebih ketat bagi mana-mana agensi mahu mendapatkan perkhidmatan rakyat negara itu.

Jurucakap Kedutaan Indonesia di Arab Saudi, Wishnu Krisnamurthi, berkata walaupun kerajaannya masih membenarkan pembantu rumah pergi bekerja di negara itu, jumlahnya merosot dengan ketara.

Antara langkah diambil adalah mewajibkan majikan menyatakan tugas yang mesti dilaksanakan dan jumlah ahli keluarga mereka.

Selain itu, gambar dan butiran peribadi majikan turut diambil untuk memudahkan sebarang tindakan jika perlu.

Pembantu rumah pula mesti diberi gaji minimum RM4,800, manakala pemandu RM6,500 sebulan. - SG

http://www.hmetro.com.my/myMetro/articles/GajiminimumpembanturumahIndonesiadiArabSaudiRM4_800/Article/index_html

Kempen tuntut naik gaji

JEDDAH: Pekerja sektor swasta di Arab Saudi semalam melancarkan kempen menerusi Facebook untuk menuntut kenaikan gaji selaras dengan kenaikan 15 peratus yang diumumkan oleh kerajaan untuk pekerja sektor awam.

Mereka mendakwa peningkatan gaji itu amat penting berikutan kenaikan harga barang keperluan. Mereka juga meminta Raja Abdullah campur tangan supaya tuntutan itu dapat dilaksanakan.

Kempen itu yang bertemakan ‘Kami juga rakyat Arab Saudi’ menggesa kerajaan membayar wang yang mereka sumbangkan kepada Pertubuhan Untuk Insurans Sosial (GOSI) yang berjumlah sembilan peratus daripada pendapatan bulanan mereka. Kempen itu turut mendesak syarikat swasta mengambil lebih ramai rakyat Saudi yang menganggur untuk bekerja di syarikat mereka.

“Kebanyakan kakitangan kerajaan kini sudah menerima kenaikan sebanyak 30 peratus. Jika kerajaan menanggung sembilan peratus bayaran untuk Gosi, ia akan melegakan rakyat yang bekerja di syarikat swasta,” kata kakitangan sebuah syarikat swasta, Nasser Al-Gharbi.

Seorang lagi kakitangan swasta, Salim Al-Harbi juga menggesa majikan menaikkan gaji sebanyak 30 peratus, seperti yang diperoleh pekerja awam. Menurutnya, gaji minimum pekerja Saudi sepatutnya ditetapkan sebanyak SR4,000 (RM3,240).

Fahd Al-Jabri pula berkata, kehidupannya terjejas akibat peningkatan harga barang keperluan.

“Terdapat lebih 800,000 rakyat Saudi bekerja dalam sektor swasta dan menanggung keluarga mereka yang berjumlah kira-kira 2.2 juta orang.

“Kerajaan perlu bertindak untuk menaikkan gaji mereka sebanyak 30 peratus,” katanya.

Seorang daripada penganjur kempen, Fahd Al-Anazi berkata, dia bekerja dengan sebuah syarikat kereta dengan gaji sebanyak SR2,500 (RM2,025).

“Ia tidak cukup untuk menanggung keluarga saya, lebih-lebih lagi dengan kenaikan harga barang keperluan.” Katanya, mereka yang berpengaruh saja boleh mendapat pekerjaan di sektor awam. - AN

http://www.hmetro.com.my/myMetro/articles/Kempentuntutnaikgaji/Article/index_html

Amah haram jadi pilihan

MAKKAH: Permintaan terhadap pembantu rumah haram dari Indonesia meningkat dengan ketara selepas pengambilan pekerja dari negara itu digantung baru-baru ini.

Penduduk tempatan dipercayai berurusan dengan beberapa wanita Indonesia yang aktif bertindak sebagai orang tengah dengan mengeksploitasi keadaan berkenaan.

Menurut sumber, mana-mana majikan yang ingin mendapatkan pembantu rumah dari Indonesia terpaksa membayar gaji bulanan sebanyak RM1,220, selain RM400 kepada ejen haram.

Katanya, sebelum ini, kadar gaji bulanan untuk pembantu rumah warga Indonesia hanya di antara RM733 dan RM815, manakala upah ejen tidak lebih daripada RM165.

“Permintaan terhadap pembantu rumah itu lebih meningkat ketika Ramadan dan musim haji,” katanya.

Kerajaan membekukan pengambilan pekerja Indonesia sejak 14 Februari lalu dan Dewan Perdagangan dan Perindustrian Arab Saudi menasihati ejen pekerja asing tidak memproses visa untuk mereka.

Antara lain, keputusan itu dibuat kerana Persekutuan Buruh Indonesia gagal mematuhi syarat dan peraturan dipersetujui dengan pihak Arab Saudi sebelum ini.

Sumber berkata, sesetengah wanita Indonesia yang tinggal di Makkah menawarkan pembantu rumah untuk disewa dengan syarat tertentu.

Kegiatan itu dikesan selepas pihak berkuasa menyerbu kawasan penempatan di al-Oteibiya baru-baru ini.

Pegawai Jabatan Pasport Arab Saudi berkata, 33 pendatang tanpa izin, termasuk dari India dan Indonesia, ditahan.

“Seorang daripada wanita itu mengaku menjadi orang tengah membekalkan pembantu rumah Indonesia kepada penduduk tempatan,” katanya. - AN

http://www.hmetro.com.my/myMetro/articles/Amahharamjadipilihan/Article/index_html

FB makin popular

JEDDAH: Peningkatan pengguna laman sosial di Arab Saudi mendorong rakyat negara itu berkongsi pandangan bagi memerangi rasuah dan menggesa ketelusan pentadbiran dan hak wanita.

Laman Twitter dan Facebook (FB) bukan saja menjadi medium bagi rakyat Saudi menyokong warga Tunisia, Mesir dan Libya tetapi turut menyuarakan hak mereka.

Menurut kajian mengenai demografi Facebook di negara Timur Tengah dan Afrika Utara dilakukan Carrington Malin daripada Pusat Perhubungan Awam, pada 2010 terdapat 15 juta pengguna Facebook di rantau itu dengan separuh daripadanya menggunakan bahasa Inggeris sebagai bahasa utama mereka. Lima negara paling banyak menggunakan Facebook ialah Mesir, Maghribi, Tunisia, Arab Saudi dan emiriah Arab Bersatu. Negara anggota Majlis Kerjasama Teluk (Arab Saudi, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, Emiriah Arab Bersatu dan Oman) mempunyai lima juta pengguna Facebook dengan Arab Saudi dan Emiriah Arab Bersatu mewakili 45 peratus.

http://www.hmetro.com.my/myMetro/articles/FBmakinpopular/Article/index_html

Wanita Saudi enggan naik teksi warga tempatan

JEDDAH: Pemandu teksi warga Arab Saudi terkejut kerana golongan wanita cuba mengelak daripada menaiki teksi mereka kerana bimbang dicabul. Kebanyakan wanita negara itu hanya akan menaiki teksi yang dipandu lelaki warga asing.

Sebilangan wanita diwawancara Arab News tidak menyembunyikan kebimbangan mereka.

Suri rumah, Wajida Abdullah berkata, dia lebih menggemari pemandu asing daripada pemandu tempatan.

“Pemandu teksi Saudi mengenakan bayaran yang tinggi. Pemandu warga asing akan memandu perlahan jika ditegur tetapi tidak dengan pemandu teksi Saudi yang tidak akan mempedulikan teguran,” katanya.

http://www.hmetro.com.my/myMetro/articles/WanitaSaudienggannaikteksiwargatempatan/Article/index_html

Next: Saudis planning protest

PressTV

RIYADH, Feb 25: People in Saudi Arabia's eastern Qatif region are planning to hold a rally in support of the Libyan revolution and the uprising in Bahrain.

The organizers have called on people to come out on Friday at around noon to show solidarity with the people of Bahrain and Libya.

They have also urged government forces to avoid any provocation on the day of the protests.

Eyewitnesses say security forces have entered Qatif region to stop any possible pro-democracy protest.

Thousands of people have said they are prepared to attend the protests after Saudi youths named March 11th the Day of Rage on social networking website facebook.

On Wednesday, Saudi King Abdullah suddenly announced a series of benefits for his citizens following revolutions in Tunisia and Egypt.

King Abdullah introduced a package of social and economic overhaul amounting to USD 10.7 billion.

He also granted pardon to some prisoners indicted in financial crimes and ordered the implementation of a 15-percent pay hike for state employees as well as an increase in the cash available for Saudi housing loans.

Analysts believe the huge hike in benefits introduced by the Saudi King is actually intended to avert an uprising in the country.

In recent weeks, a wave of revolutions and pro-democracy uprising has spread in the Arab world.

http://en.harakahdaily.net/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=2345:next-saudis-planning-protest&catid=37:world&Itemid=59