Timeline Saudi Arabia

Timeline Saudi Arabia

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Travel Docs: http://www.traveldocs.com/sa/index.htm
USLC: http://www.loc.gov/collections/country-studies/?q=saudi+arabia

Some 5,000 princes controlled all power and resources.
�� (WSJ, 11/12/03, p.A18)
Saudi Arabia holds the Koran as its constitution.
�� (Econ, 6/23/07, p.56)
The capital is Riyadh. Sunni Muslims comprise the majority and Shiite Muslims are the minority and live mostly in impoverished villages in the oil-rich eastern part of the country.
�� (WSJ, 10/14/95, p.A-11)
Religious purity called for deceased non-Muslims to be sent abroad for internment.
�� (WSJ, 4/9/02, p.A1)
Saudi Arabia is about 1/5 the size of the US.
�� (SSFC, 10/9/05, Par p.27)

c1AD�� Nabatean masons carved tombs into solid rock in Madain Salah near Madinah.
�� (NW, 11/26/01, p.SAS)

500-600�� Arabs about this time brought back home from India the numerals we refer to as Arabic numbers.
�� (SFEC, 1/23/00, Z1 p.2)
500-600�� The Arabian city of Ubar, disappeared in the early 6th century. The event was later cited by Muhammad in the Quran. In 1992 a team of investigators announced the discovery of the long lost Arabian city of Ubar. George Hedges (1952-2009), a Hollywood litigator, and filmmaker Nicholas Clapp, participated in the find. Clapp later authored �The Road to Ubar: Finding the Atlantis of the Sands� (1999).
�� (WSJ, 3/20/09, p.A12)

570�� Jan 19, Mohammed (d.632), "The Prophet", founder of Islam and speaker in the �Koran,� was born into the Quraysh tribe in Makkah. He was orphaned at an early age and found work in a trade caravan. He married a wealthy widow and this gave him the freedom to visit Mount Hira each year to think. His birthday is observed on the 12th day of Rabi ul'Awwal, the 3rd month of the lunar calendar, in a festival known as Mawlid-al-Nabi. The Koran was probably not fixed for the 1st two centuries after the emergence of Islam.
�� (ATC, p.59)(SFC, 7/6/98, p.A14)(WSJ, 11/15/01, p.A16)(Econ, 4/28/07, p.97)

610�� Apr 6, Lailat-ul Qadar: The night that the Koran descended to Earth. Muhammad is believed by his followers to have had a vision of Gabriel. The angel told him to recite in the name of God. Other visions are supposed to have Gabriel lead Muhammad to heaven to meet God, and to Jerusalem to meet Abraham, Moses and Jesus. These visions convinced Mohammad that he was a messenger of God.
�� (ATC, p.59)(MC, 4/6/02)

620�� Aug 22, This day corresponds to the 27th day of Rajab, 1427, in the Islamic calendar. It commemorates to the night flight of Muhammad on the winged horse Buraq to the farthest mosque, usually identified with Jerusalem, and then to heaven and back.
�� (WSJ, 8/8/06, p.A10)(www.atheists.org/Islam/mohammedanism.html)

620�� Mohammad gained about a hundred converts including some wealthy Meccan families. This made other Meccans hostile. Mohammad in this year dreamed of being transported from Mecca to the Rock of Mariah in Jerusalem, from which he ascended into heaven and received instructions from God for himself and his followers.
�� (ATC, p.59)(ON, 7/03, p.6)

622�� Jul 16, Islamic Era began. Mahomet began his flight from Mecca to Medina (Hegira).
�� (MC, 7/16/02)

622�� Sep 20, Prophet Mohammed Abu Bakr arrived in Jathrib (Medina).
�� (MC, 9/20/01)

622AD�� Sep 24, In the Hegira Muhammed left Mecca for Medina (aka Yathrib) with 75 followers. This event marked the beginning of the Islamic lunar calendar. The new faith was called "Islam," which means submission to Allah. Believers in Islam are called Muslims-- "Those who submit to Allah's will." In Medina Mohammad tried to unite the Jews and Arabs and initially faced Jerusalem to pray. The Jewish leaders did not accept Mohammad as a prophet and so Mohammad expelled from the city the Jews who opposed him. From then on he commanded the Muslims to face the Kaaba in Mecca when praying.
�� (V.D.-H.K.p.19)(ATC, p.60)

622�� The Constitution of Medina was drafted by the Islamic prophet Muhammad about this time. It constituted a formal agreement between Muhammad and all of the significant tribes and families of Yathrib (later known as Medina), including Muslims, Jews, and pagans.
�� (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constitution_of_Medina)

624�� Muslims engaged non-believers for the 1st time at the Battle of Badr.
�� (www.islaam.com/Article.aspx?id=128)

624-628�� Several Jewish clans in the Arabian peninsula joined forces with an Arab tribe, the Quraysh, to make war on a renegade Qurayshi named Mohammad, who claimed he was a prophet of God.
�� (Econ, 8/14/10, p.68)

630�� Mohammad raised an army of 10,000 and took over Mecca (Makkah). He immediately set out to destroy all the idols at Kaaba. The black stone remained embedded in the corner. The area around became the first mosque, or Muslim house of worship. Mohammad returned from Madinah and began the Islamic conquest of Arabia.
�� (ATC, p.60)(WSJ, 11/15/01, p.A16)

632�� Jun 8, Mohammed, the founder of Islam and unifier of Arabia, died. Iqra, which means read in Arabic, was reportedly the first word that the archangel Gabriel spoke to Mohammed. His companions compiled his words and deeds in a work called the Sunna. Here are contained the rules for Islam. The most basic are The Five Pillars of Islam. These are: 1) profession of faith 2) daily prayer 3) giving alms 4) ritual fast during Ramadan 5) Hajj, the pilgrimage to Mecca. The Sunna also calls for �jihad.� The term means struggle, i.e. to do one�s best to resist temptation and overcome evil. Four contenders stood out to succeed Mohammad. They were Abu Bakr, his trusted father-in-law. Umar and Uthman, long-time friends and advisers, and Ali, a cousin and blood relative. Ali was Mohammad�s son-in-law and the father of Mohammad�s grandsons. Abu Bakr was chosen as caliph i.e. successor. In 2001 Minou Reeves, Iranian-born scholar, authored �Muhammad in Europe: A Thousand Years of Western Myth-Making.� In 2013 Lesley Hazleton authored �The First Muslim: The Story of Muhammad.�
�� (ATC, p.60,63)(SFC, 12/15/98, p.A7)(AP, 6/8/03)(SFC, 10/22/98, p.C5)(WSJ, 12/12/01, p.A15)(SSFC, 1/27/13, p.F1)

632-661�� The Rashidun Caliphate, also known as the Rightly Guided Caliphate, comprising the first four caliphs in Islam's history, was founded after Muhammad's death. At its height, the Caliphate extended from the Arabian Peninsula, to the Levant, Caucasus and North Africa in the west, to the Iranian highlands and Central Asia in the east. It was the one of the largest empires in history up until that time.
�� (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rashidun_Caliphate)

634�� Aug 22, Abu Bekr Abd Allah (61), [al-Siddik], successor of Mohammed, died. He was a friend, an Arabic merchant, Mohammed�s father-in-law and the first Caliph. Before his death he appointed Mohammed's adviser Omar (Umar) as his successor.
�� (ATC, p.66)(PC, 1992, p.61)

644�� Nov 3, Umar of Arabia, the 2nd Caliph of Islam, was stabbed by Abu Lulu while leading the morning prayers at Medina. He died 4 days later on Nov 7. On his deathbed Umar named a council to choose the next caliph. The council appointed Uthman. Uthman continued to expand the Muslim empire.
�� (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Umar)

656�� In Saudi Arabia Uthman (Othman), the 3rd caliph, was murdered. Under his rule a full, standard text of the Quran was compiled. He had appointed members of his own family as regional governors and caused bitter jealousy among other families. This caused an angry mob of 500 to murder him. This gave Ali an opportunity to claim power. Some claim that Ali plotted Uthman�s murder. Civil war broke out. Muawija, Uthman�s cousin and governor of Syria, challenged Ali�s right to rule. Ali prepared for war but was murdered by an angry former supporter. The followers of Ali became known as Shiites from the Arabic meaning "the party of Ali." Those who believe that the election of the first three caliphs was valid and who claim to follow the Sunna reject the Shiite idea of the Imam, and are called the Sunnis.
�� (ATC, p.67-68)(WSJ, 1/12/08, p.A6)
656�� The Imam Ali mosque in Najaf marks the grave of Ali, the son-in-law of Mohammed and a central figure in Shiite Islam.
�� (SFC, 4/23/98, p.A16)

661�� Jan 24, Ali ibn Abu Talib, caliph of Islam (656-61), was murdered. Caliph Ali, son-in-law of Mohammed, was assassinated and his followers (Shiites) broke from the majority Muslim group.
�� (SFC, 3/16/02, p.A14)(MC, 1/24/02)

855�� Ahmad ibn Hanbal (b.780), Muslim scholar, died in Iraq. He is considered the founder of the 4th school of Sunni Islam. The four schools of Sunni Islam include: a) The Hanafi school, named after Imam Abu Hanifa, predominates in the territories formerly under the Ottoman Empire and in Muslim India and Pakistan; it relies heavily on consensus and analogical reasoning in addition to the Quran and sunna. B) The Maliki school, named after Malik ibn Anas, is dominant in upper Egypt and West Africa; developed in Medina, it emphasizes use of hadith (sayings or acts) that were current in the Prophet's city. C) The school of Muhammad ibn Idris ash Shafii, prevailing in Indonesia, stresses reasoning by analogy. D) The fourth legal school is that of Ahmad ibn Hanbal, which is the school adhered to in Saudi Arabia.
�� (http://countrystudies.us/saudi-arabia/26.htm)

1174�� Nureddin, the ruler of Syria died. Saladin, the vizier of Egypt, married Nureddin�s widow and assumed control of both state. The Ayyubids under Saladin spent the next decade launching conquests throughout the region and by 1183, the territories under their control included Egypt, Syria, northern Mesopotamia, Hejaz, Yemen, and the North African coast up to the borders of modern-day Tunisia.
�� (ON, 6/07, p.5)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ayyubid_dynasty)

1324-1325�� Mansa Musa, king of Mali, made the 3,500 mile pilgrimage to Mecca. He traveled with a very large retinue that included 80 camels and 500 slaves. An Arab chronicler said he was surrounded by over 10,000 of his subjects.
�� (ATC, p.119)(WSJ, 1/11/99, p.R6)

1400s�� The Saud dynasty was founded near Riyadh.
�� (WSJ, 11/13/01, p.A14)

1511�� In Mecca, Arabia, there was an attempt to ban coffee.
�� (Econ, 12/20/03, p.90)

1517�� Jan 22, Turks conquered Cairo. Cairo and Mecca were captured by the Turks and Arabia came under Turkish rule.
�� (TL-MB, 1988, p.11)(MC, 1/22/02)

1703�� Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab (d.1792), Islamic theologian and founder of Wahhabism, was born in Arabia. He set out his ideas in �The Book of Unity� (1736). Wahhabism, a puritan branch of Sunni Islam, was founded by al-Wahhab in a poor part of Arabia called Najd. Saudi armies helped to spread Wahhabi Islamic reform. A Salafi, from the Arabic word Salaf (literally meaning predecessors or early generations), is an adherent of a contemporary movement in Sunni Islam that is sometimes called Salafism or Wahhabism. Salafis themselves insist that their beliefs are simply pure Islam as practiced by the first three generations of Muslims and that they should not be regarded as a sect. [see 1744]
�� (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salafi)(www.concise.britannica.com)(WSJ, 11/13/01, p.A14)

1710�� Muhammad Ibn Saud was born.
�� (NW, 11/26/01, p.SAS)

1742-1765�� In Arabia Muhammad bin Saud Al Saud allied with Wahhabists and expanded the family domain.
�� (Econ, 1/7/06, Survey p.6)

1744�� In Arabia Muhammad Ibn Saud, local ruler of Ad-Dar'ia forged a political and family alliance with Muslim scholar and reformer Muhammad ibn Abd al Wahhab. Abdul Aziz, the son of Ibn Saud, married the daughter of Imam Muhammad.
�� (NW, 11/26/01, p.SAS)

1773�� Riyadh fell to Abdul Aziz.
�� (NW, 11/26/01, p.SAS)

1780�� The Ottomans build the al-Ajyad Castle in Mecca to protect the city and its Muslim shrines from invaders. The castle was torn down by the Saudis in 2001 to make way for a trade center and hotel complex. Turkey called this a "cultural massacre."
�� (SFC, 1/8/02, p.A6)

1792�� Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab (b.1703), conservative Islamic theologian, died. He founded Wahhabism and set out his ideas in �The Book of Unity� (1736). In 2004 Natana J. Delong-Bas authored �Wahhabi Islam: From Revival and Reform to Global Jihad.�
�� (www.concise.britannica.com)(WSJ, 7/20/04, p.D8)

1801�� Apr 21, Saudi Arabs led Sunni raids into Karbala, Iraq, killing about 5,000 people.
�� (Econ, 10/11/08, p.65)(http://tinyurl.com/5qdnf3)

1803�� Saud ibn Abdul Aziz, son of Abdul Aziz, captured the Holy City of Makkah.
�� (NW, 11/26/01, p.SAS)

1804�� The Wahhabis captured Medina, Arabia.
�� (NW, 9/30/02, p.33)

1806�� Apr 21, Saudi Arabs led Sunni raids into Najaf, Iraq, killing about 5,000 people.
�� (Econ, 10/11/08, p.65)(http://tinyurl.com/5qdnf3)

1807�� Saud al-Saud invaded Karbala, Iraq, for the second time in 1807, but he could not occupy it.
�� (www.islamicsupremecouncil.org/CMS/Topics/Wahhabism/118121372002.htm)

1811�� The Turks dispatched Egyptian ruler Muhammad Ali to overthrow the Wahhabis and reinstate Ottoman sovereignty in Arabia.
�� (NW, 9/30/02, p.33)

1813�� The Wahhabis were driven from Mecca. They returned a century later as rulers of the new state of Saudi Arabia.
�� (WSJ, 7/20/04, p.D8)

1814�� Saud ibn Abdul Aziz died. Prior to his death Muhammad Ali Ottoman Viceroy of Egypt, retook Hijaz, captured the son of Saud ibn Abdul Aziz and executed him in Istanbul.
�� (NW, 11/26/01, p.SAS)

1815�� Britain took action against pirate sheikhs protected by the Wahhabis, later rulers of Saudi Arabia, because ships of the East India Company were attacked in int'l. waters. Britain allied with the ruler of Muscat and Oman and Mohamed Ali of Egypt.
�� (WSJ, 10/9/01, p.A22)

1824�� The Saud family established a new capital at Riyadh.
�� (WSJ, 11/13/01, p.A14)

1837�� Sayyid Muhammad ibn Ali as-Senussi (1787-1860), an Algeria-born mendicant founded the Sanusi, a Sufi order, in Mecca. Beida, Libya, later became the seat of the Sanusi.
�� (Econ, 2/26/11, p.27)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Senussi)

1860s-1890s�� The Saud family moved to exile in Kuwait when the Ottoman Empire conquered much of Arabia.
�� (WSJ, 11/13/01, p.A14)

1865�� Faisal bin Turki, the successor of Turki, died. He won control of most of Nejd and Hasa by the time of his death.
�� (NW, 11/26/01, p.SAS)

1880�� Sadiq Bey, an Egyptian army colonel, took the first known photographs of Mecca and Medina. He traveled extensively between 1860-1880 and kept itineraries of his travels. The photos were sold to the Saudi government in 1998.
�� (WSJ, 6/19/98, p.W12)

1883�� May 20, Faisal ibn Husayn (d.1933), the 3rd son of the grand sherif of Mecca, was born in Mecca. He later became 1st king of Syria (1920) and Iraq (1921).
�� (www.wordiq.com/definition/Faisal_I_of_Iraq)

1891�� Muhammad bin Rashid, a tribal leader in Hail, captured Riyadh. Rashid had already taken much of Saud territory and concluded a pact with Turkey. Abdul Rahman bin Faisal, leader of the Al Saud family, was forced to leave.
�� (NW, 11/26/01, p.SAS)

1901�� Dec, Abdul Aziz (Ibn Saud) left Kuwait with some 40 friends with plans to attack Riyadh.
�� (NW, 11/26/01, p.SAS)

1902�� Jan, Abdul Aziz (Ibn Saud) made an assault on Masmak fort and recaptured Riyadh.
�� (WSJ, 11/13/01, p.A14)(NW, 11/26/01, p.SAS)

1902�� Saud ibn Abdul-Aziz, son of ibn-Saud and brother of Faisal was born. He ruled Saudi Arabia from 1953-1964.
�� (www.geocities.com/saudhouse_p/alsaudf.htm)

1904�� Faisal ibn Abd al-Aziz (d.1975) later king Saudi Arabia, was born.
�� (www.geocities.com/saudhouse_p/alsaudf.htm)

1906�� Abdul Aziz regained control of the Nejd region.
�� (NW, 11/26/01, p.SAS)

1906-1926�� Saudi forces captured the Al Hasa, Asir and Al Hijaz regions, unifying much of Arabia under Saudi rule.
�� (WSJ, 11/13/01, p.A14)

1906�� Abdul Aziz regained control of the Hasa region.
�� (NW, 11/26/01, p.SAS)

1908�� Sep 1, The first railway in modern Saudi Arabia, the Hejaz railway from Jordan's border to Medina, reached Medina. This narrow gauge railway was shut down in 1915.
�� (AP, 6/27/12)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saudi_Railways_Organization)

1908�� Hussein (1854-1931) became Emir of Mecca and continued to 1917 when he proclaimed himself King of Hejaz, which received international recognition. He initiated the Arab Revolt in 1916 against the increasingly nationalistic Ottoman Empire during the course of the First World War.
�� (Econ, 3/19/11, p.93)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hussein_bin_Ali,_Sharif_of_Mecca)

1916� �� May 9, The Sykes-Picot Agreement was a secret understanding between the governments of Britain and France defining their respective spheres of post-World War I influence and control in the Middle East. The boundaries of this agreement still remains in much of the common border between Syria and Iraq. Britain and France carved up the Levant into an assortment of monarchies, mandates and emirates. The agreement enshrined Anglo-French imperialist ambitions at the end of WW II. Syria and Lebanon were put into the French orbit, while Britain claimed Jordan, Iraq, the Gulf states and the Palestinian Mandate. Sir Mark Sykes (d.1919 at age 39) and Francois Picot made the deal.
�� (WSJ, 2/27/00, p.A17)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sykes-Picot_Agreement)

1916�� Jun 10, Mecca, under control of the Turks, fell to the Arabs during the Great Arab Revolt. Sharif Hussein, Arab Emir of Mecca, led the revolt.
�� (HN, 6/10/98)(ON, 10/05, p.7)

1916�� Oct, T.E. Lawrence (of Arabia) met with Feisal Hussain for the 1st time.
�� (http://tinyurl.com/3rd3h)

1916�� Nov, T.E. Lawrence was assigned as the British liaison to Arab Prince Feisal Hussain.
�� (http://tinyurl.com/3rd3h)

1917�� Jul 2, An Arab army led by Feisal Hussein and Bedouin chief Auda Abu Taiya fought Turkish forces at Aqaba killing 300 and capturing 160 Turkish soldiers.
�� (ON, 10/05, p.8)

1917�� Jul 6, During World War I, Arab forces led by T.E. Lawrence and Auda Abu Tayi captured the port of Aqaba from the Turks.
�� (AP, 7/6/08)

1918�� Sep 27, Arab forces attacked and seized Deraa (Jordan).
�� (ON, 10/05, p.8)

1918�� Oct 1, The main Arab force entered Damascus (Syria).
�� (ON, 10/05, p.9)

1918�� Arab Prince Feisal took control of Syria.
�� (ON, 10/05, p.9)

1918�� Lawrence of Arabia blew up the Hijaz railway line in Saudi Arabia.
�� (Econ, 4/25/09, p.70)

1921�� The Ikhwan fighters under Abdul Aziz took the Jebelshammar region.
�� (NW, 11/26/01, p.SAS)(WSJ, 1/7/02, p.A10)

1921�� Winston Churchill and T.E. Lawrence promoted "the sherifian solution," under which the Hashemite family- Hussein, the sherif of Mecca, and his sons, would rule over the region under Britain's eye.
�� (Econ, 7/19/03, p.69)

1921�� At the Cairo Conference Britain and France carved up Arabia and created Jordan under Emir Abdullah; his brother Faisal became King of Iraq. France was given influence over Syria and Jewish immigration was allowed into Palestine.�
�� (HNQ, 6/20/99)(SSFC, 10/14/01, p.D3)

1923�� King Fahd was born in Riyadh.
�� (WP, 6/29/96, p.A20)(NW, 11/26/01, p.SAS)

1924�� Mar 3, Kemal Ataturk forced the abolition of the Muslim caliphate through the protesting assembly and banned all Kurdish schools, publications and associations. This ended the Ottoman Empire and created the modern Middle East, though Iraq, Jordan, Syria and Saudi Arabia were still colonies of Britain and France.
�� (WSJ, 2/11/99, p.A24)(SSFC, 10/14/01, p.A3)

1924�� Oct, The Kingdom of the Hijaz (later Saudi Arabia) was short lived with King Hussain abdicating in favor of his son Ali. Hussain was exiled to Cyprus, eventually dying in Amman in 1930. Ali himself departed the Hijaz in December 1925.
�� (www.rogersstudy.co.uk/hejaz/al_nahda/al_nahda.html)

1924�� Ibn Saud, king of the Nejd, conquered Hussein's kingdom of Hijaz and launched Wahhabi rule over Saudi Arabia.
�� (Econ, 7/19/03, p.69)

1924-1926�� Abdul Aziz took Makkah, Madina and Asir.
�� (NW, 11/26/01, p.SAS)

1926�� Jan, Abdul Aziz was declared King of Hejaz and the Sultan of Nejd and its Dependencies.
�� (www.rogersstudy.co.uk/hejaz/al_nahda/al_nahda.html)

1927�� Jan, Abdul Aziz became King of Hejaz, Nejd and its Dependencies.
�� (www.rogersstudy.co.uk/hejaz/al_nahda/al_nahda.html)

1927�� May 20, Saudi Arabia became independent of Great Britain with the Treaty of Jedda.
�� (MC, 5/20/02)

1927-1928�� King Abd al-Aziz crushed an uprising be fanatical Islamist tribes of central Arabia.
�� (WSJ, 6/30/04, p.A7)

1931�� Mohammad bin Laden immigrated to Saudi Arabia from Yemen. He established a construction business and built close ties with the king.
�� (NW, 11/19/01, p.35)
1931�� Osama bin Laden was born in Jidda to a Syrian mother. He was the 17th of 51 children of Muhammad bin Laden, a baggage carrier, who left Yemen in 1931. Muhammad and his brothers were the founders of a prosperous construction company. In 2004 Jonathan Randal authored �Osama: The Making of a Terrorist.�
�� (SFC, 12/31/00, p.B9)(WSJ, 9/2/04, p.D16)

1932�� Sep 22, The government of the Kingdom of the Hejaz and Nejd officially changed its name to Saudi Arabia.
�� (www.indiana.edu/~league/1932.htm)

1932�� Sep 23, In 2005 King Abdullah established this day as the official unification date of Saudi Arabia and made it an official holiday.
�� (Econ, 10/2/10, p.49)

1932�� Nov 23, The kingdoms of Nejd and Hejaz merged to become the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia under King Abdul Aziz Ibn Saud. Abdul Aziz (d.1953) proclaimed the unified Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia was named after King Ibn Saud, founder of the Saudi dynasty. Abdul Aziz al-Saud fathered 44 sons.
�� (SFC, 9/1/96, Z1 p.2)(SFEC, 8/23/98, p.A15)(SFC, 5/26/00, p.D3)(WSJ, 11/13/01, p.A14)(AP, 11/23/02)

1932�� Dec 22, The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia was proclaimed.
�� (www.rogersstudy.co.uk/hejaz/al_nahda/al_nahda.html)

1933�� May, Saudi Arabia gave Standard Oil of California exclusive rights to explore for oil. Socal formed the California Arabian Standard Oil Co. to drill for oil in Saudi Arabia.
�� (www.chevron.com)(SFC, 10/20/04, p.C6)

1936�� Jan, Standard Oil of California found some gas and oil at their 1st Saudi Arabia test well, Damman No. 1.
�� (www.chevron.com)

1936�� Mar 3, Standard Oil of California struck oil at Damman No 7. Aramco made the first commercial oil find in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia. The English Arabist, H. St. John Philby, orchestrated the Aramco concession in Saudi Arabia.
�� (HN, 3/15/98)(WSJ, 3/8/99, p.A16)(SFEC, 6/27/99, p.T3)(www.chevron.com)

1936�� The Texas Co. joined Standard Oil in Saudi Arabia. The joint venture eventually became the Saudi oil giant Aramco.
�� (SFC, 10/20/04, p.C6)

1938�� Norman Lewis (d.2003), British travel writer, authored "Sand and Sea in Arabia."
�� (SFC, 7/26/03, p.A22)

1940�� In Saudi Arabia the Ahmad Hamad Algosaibi & Brothers Company (AHAB) was founded. AHAB branched out from its roots in pearling and farming into finance, soft-drinks bottling, tires and more.
�� (Econ., 3/21/15, p.59)

1945�� Feb 14, Saudi King Abd al-Aziz and Franklin D. Roosevelt met on a ship in the Suez Canal and reached an understanding whereby the US would protect the Saudi royal family in return for preferred access to Saudi oil. William Eddy, US minister to Saudi Arabia, arranged the meeting.
�� (WSJ, 10/4/01, p.A1)(Econ, 11/8/08, p.102)(http://tinyurl.com/5a3c49)

1945�� Mar 22, The Arab League was formed with the adoption of a charter in Cairo, Egypt. Saudi Arabia became a founding member of the UN and the Arab League.
�� (AP, 3/22/97)(WSJ, 11/13/01, p.A14)

1947�� The family-owned Olayan Group was founded in Saudi Arabia and grew to become one of the country�s largest private conglomerates.
�� (WSJ, 1/16/08, p.A10)

1948�� May 18, Arab Legion captured the fort on Mount Scopus.
�� (SC, 5/18/02)
1948�� May 18, Saudi Arabia joined the invasion of Israel.
�� (SC, 5/18/02)

1951�� Oct 20, Saudi Arabia�s modern railway was inaugurated. It was initially run by Saudi oil company, Aramco, but subsequently transferred to the state and since 1968 has been operated as a public corporation and was extended to the capital, Riyadh.
�� (AP, 6/27/12)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saudi_Railways_Organization)
1951�� Saudi Arabia put the Ghawar oil field into production. It measured 20 miles wide and 175 miles long and was the largest oil field ever found.
�� (WSJ, 5/6/08, p.A15)

1953�� Prince Fahd was appointed as the 1st Education Minister.
�� (NW, 11/26/01, p.SAS)

1953 �� King Abdul Aziz died. He was the founder of modern Saudi Arabia and fathered a total of 44 sons before his death. Aziz was succeeded by King Saud who ruled to 1964.
�� (WSJ, 1/9/96, p.A-10)(WSJ, 10/22/01, p.A18)

1953-1964 �� King Saud ruled.
�� (WSJ, 1/9/96, p.A-10)

1956�� Feb 18, The US lifted its arms ban and shipped tanks to Saudi Arabia.
�� (EWH, 1968, p.1241)

1960�� Sep 14, Iraq, Iran, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Venezuela formed OPEC. Fuad Rouhani (1907-2004) of Iran served as its 1st secretary-general. In 1964 he was succeeded by Abdul Rahman Bazzaz of Iraq.
�� (HN, 9/14/98)(WSJ, 7/28/03, p.A8)

1962�� May 3, William A, Eddy (b.1896), former US minister to Saudi Arabia (1944-1946), died. In 2008 Thomas W. Lippman authored �Arabian Knight: Colonel Bill Eddy, USMC, and the Rise of American Power in the Middle East.�
�� (Econ, 11/8/08, p.102)

1962�� Nov 6, Saudi Arabia abolished slavery.
�� (www.hrw.org/reports/1992/saudi/INTROTHR.htm)

1963�� Prince Fahd was appointed as the Interior Minister.
�� (NW, 11/26/01, p.SAS)

1964�� Nov 2, Faisal ibn Abdul Aziz Al Saud (1904-1975) succeeded his older brother Saud bin Abdul Aziz as king of Saudi Arabia.
�� (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faisal_of_Saudi_Arabia)

1964-1975 �� King Faisal ruled.
�� (WSJ, 1/9/96, p.A-10)

1965�� Prince Fahd was appointed as the 2nd Deputy Prime Minister.
�� (NW, 11/26/01, p.SAS)

1965�� Television arrive in Saudi Arabia. It caused riots until senior clerics grasped that they could use it to promote their faith.
�� (Econ, 1/7/06, Survey p.9)

1965-1966�� King Faisal bin Abd al-Aziz defied Islamist opposition and introduced women�s education and television. There were 70 female university students in Saudi Arabia. In 2001 the number reached 200,000, 54% of the student population.
�� (WSJ, 1/2/02, p.A1)(WSJ, 6/30/04, p.A7)

1966�� In Egypt Sayed Qutb (b.1906), intellectual godfather of radical Islam, was executed by Pres. Nasser. Qutb had earlier written: "A Muslim has no nationality except his belief." He denounced western hedonism and the decadence of Muslim regimes. Qutb had spent some time in the US (1948-1951) and authored the 1951 essay �The America I Have Seen.� His brother Muhammad went into exile in Saudi Arabia where he taught at King Abdul Aziz Univ. Osama bin Laden was one of his students.
�� (WSJ, 3/22/04, p.A18)(Econ, 2/4/06, p.24)(Sm, 2/06, p.100)

1967�� June 2, Three bombs, one a car bomb, went off in the Saudi seaport town of Jidda. One outside the US Embassy, one at Grove Int'l, an American construction comp., and one at the US Military Training Mission.
�� (WSJ, 12/26/95, p. A-7)

1967�� Jun 6, An Arab oil embargo began one day after the beginning of the Arab-Israeli Six-Day War, with a joint Arab decision to deter any countries from supporting Israel militarily.
�� (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1967_Oil_Embargo)

1967�� Sep 3, Muhammad Bin Laden, a Yemeni immigrant to Saudi Arabia, died in a plane crash. He left King Faisal in charge of his ~50 children.
�� (NW, 11/19/01, p.35)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muhammad_bin_Laden)

1970�� Saudi Arabia�s capital of Riyadh was home to some 300,000 people. By 2014 the city grew to some 50 miles across and numbered some 5 million people.
�� (Econ, 5/31/14, p.76)

1972�� Kamal Helbawy, a London-based Egyptian and speaker on behalf of the Muslim Brotherhood, was invited to Saudi Arabia to set up the World Assembly of Muslim Youth (WAMY).
�� (Econ, 2/4/06, p.24)

1973�� Oct 17, Arab oil-producing nations announced they would begin cutting back on oil exports to Western nations and Japan; the result was a total embargo that lasted until March 1974.
�� (WSJ, 11/4/96, p.C1)(AP, 10/17/97)

1973�� Nov 19, Saudi Arabia, Libya and other Arab states proclaimed a total ban on oil exports to the United States. Gasoline prices quadrupled from twenty-five cents per gallon to over one dollar. The New York stock market took its sharpest drop in 19 years.
�� (HN, 11/19/98)(www.bullnotbull.com/archive/market-01222006.html)

1973�� Oct 16, OPEC, the Arab oil-producing nations, announced they would begin cutting back on oil exports to Western nations and Japan. The next day, the five Arab members of the OPEC committee were joined in Kuwait by the oil ministers of Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Libya, and Syria. The result was a total embargo that lasted until March 1974 and caused oil prices to quadruple.
�� (www.harvardir.org/articles/1659/)(AP, 10/17/97)(WSJ, 7/28/03, p.A8)

1973�� The Saudi Arabian government acquired a 25% stake in Aramco, following US support for Israel during the Yom Kippur War. It increased its shareholding to 60% by 1974, and finally took full control of Aramco by 1980 by acquiring a 100% percent stake in the company.
�� (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saudi_Aramco)

1975�� Mar 25, King Faisal of Saudi Arabia was shot to death by a nephew with a history of mental illness. The nephew was beheaded the following June.
�� (AP, 3/25/00)

1963�� Prince Fahd� became Crown Prince and Deputy Prime Minister.
�� (NW, 11/26/01, p.SAS)

1975�� Mar 25, King Faisal ibn Abd al-Aziz (68) of Saudi Arabia was shot to death by a nephew with a history of mental illness. The nephew was beheaded the following June. In 2008 Joseph A. Kechichian authored �Faisal: Saudi Arabia�s King for All Seasons.� In 2013 Alexei Vassiliev authored �King Faisal of Saudi Arabia: Personality, Faith and Times.� (AP, 3/25/00)(Econ, 10/04/08, p.92)(Econ, 1/26/12, p.74)

1975�� Jun 18, Faisal Ibn Mussed Abdul Aziz, Saudi prince, was beheaded in a Riyadh shopping center parking lot for killing his uncle the king.
�� (http://tinyurl.com/47da5p)

1975�� Dec 21, There was a terrorist kidnapping of Saudi oil minister Sheik Ahmed Zaki Yamani and other ministers at the OPEC gathering in Vienna, Austria. Three people were killed and 11 taken hostage. The oil ministers were taken to North Africa in a hijacked plane in a $1 billion ransom drama. Carlos the Jackal, aka Ilich Ramirez Sanchez, later admitted to planning the attack. In 2001 Germany sentenced Hans-Joachim Klein to 9 years for his role in the attack. Klein had accused Sonja Suder of recruiting him to take part in the bloody Vienna siege. In 2013 Suder was acquitted of having helped Carlos in the OPEC attack. She was found guilty of having aided in three non-deadly explosives and arson attacks in Germany in the late 1970s.�
�� (WSJ, 12/4/95, p.B-1)(SFC,12/11/97, p.C2)(SFC, 2/16/01, p.D2)(AFP, 11/12/13)

1975�� Saudi Arabia began nationalizing foreign oil assets with full compensation.
�� (WSJ, 10/4/01, p.A1)
1975�� Jubail was designated as a site for a new industrial city by the Saudi government, and has seen rapid expansion and industrialization since.
�� (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jubail)

1975-1982 �� King Khaled ruled.
�� (WSJ, 1/9/96, p.A-10)

1977�� Feb 24, Pres. Carter announced the US was cutting off all military aid to Ethiopia because of its human rights violations. The unstated reason was the US desire to cooperate with Saudi Arabia to lure Somalia from the Soviet camp, an effort which was ultimately successful.
�� (www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Politics/africa.html)

1977�� Prince Turki al-Faisal was promoted to head of the General Intelligence Directorate. He resigned in 2001.
�� (WSJ, 10/22/01, p.A18)

1978�� Fred Dutton (1923-2005), Washington counsel and lobbyist for Saudi Arabia, helped get US congressional approval for a major arms sale to Saudi Arabia.
�� (SFC, 6/28/05, p.B5)

1979�� Apr 4, Bechtel Corp. announced that it had won a contract to manage construction of a 115-square-mile airport for Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The cost was estimated a $3 billion.
�� (SFC, 4/2/04, p.F3)

1979�� Apr 11, Idi Amin was deposed as president of Uganda as rebels and exiles backed by Tanzanian forces seized control of Kampala. Amin escaped to Libya and settled into exile in Saudi Arabia.
�� (AP, 4/11/97)(SFC, 10/15/99, p.D7)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Idi_Amin)

1979�� May 20, Helen Smith (b.1956), a British nurse, died after reportedly fall from a balcony in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. The bodies of Helen and Johannes Otten (35), a Dutch tugboat captain, were found in the street 70 feet below a sixth floor balcony. Helen was found lying in the road fully clothed and Johannes, whose underpants were around his thighs, was impaled upon the spiked railings surrounding the apartment block. Helen�s father, Ron Smith, did not allow her burial because he did not believe official Saudi and British reports that the death was an accident. He believed his daughter was murdered and that her body could provide forensic evidence to expose a cover up. In 2009 Smith and his exwife decided to cremate their daughter before they both died.
�� (AP, 11/9/09)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helen_Smith_%28nurse%29)

1979�� Nov 20, Some 200 armed men and women, Mahadiists, seized the Grand Mosque in Mecca. They denounced the monarchy and demanded an end to corrupting modernization and "foreign ways." Saudi preacher Juhayman al Uteybi (Juhayman al-Otaibi) led the radicals. French special forces shot dead all the Wahhabi extremists.
�� (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Siege_of_Mecca)(SSFC, 10/21/01, p.C3)(WSJ, 11/12/03, p.A18)(WSJ, 9/18/07, p.A8)

1979�� Dec 4, In Saudi Arabia security forces overran the Grand Mosque in Mecca, which had been seized on Nov 16. One of two African-American converts, who had participated in the takeover of the mosque, was killed. The other was later released and returned to the US. In 2007 Yaroslav Trofinov authored �The Siege of Mecca.�
�� (WSJ, 9/18/07, p.A8)

1979�� Osama bin Laden left Saudi Arabia to fight against the Soviets in Afghanistan, where he laid the groundwork for his al-Qaeda network.
�� (NW, 11/19/01, p.35)

1980�� Jan 9, Saudi Arabia beheaded 63 people in towns across the country for their roles in the November 1979 raid on the Grand Mosque in Mecca.
�� (AP, 1/9/00)(SSFC, 10/21/01, p.C3)

1980�� Aug 19, 301 people aboard a Saudi Arabian L-1011 died as the jetliner made a fiery emergency landing at the Riyadh airport.
�� (AP, 8/19/99)

1980�� Saudi Arabia completed the buy-out of the American-owned Aramco coil company.
�� (Econ., 2/21/15, p.63)

1981�� Apr 21, Pres. Reagan called for support for the sale of AWACS to Saudi Arabia. The proposed AWACS sale was just the beginning of a secret $50 billion plan to build surrogate military bases in Saudi Arabia.
�� (http://tinyurl.com/98qre)(http://eightiesclub.tripod.com/id110.htm)

1981�� May 25, Sheik Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan (1918-2004), United Arab Emirates President, urged in 5 other Arab monarchies (Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar and Saudi Arabia) to form the Gulf Cooperation Council. The unified economic agreement between the countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council was signed on 11 November 1981 in Riyadh.
�� (Econ, 11/20/04, p.90)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gulf_Cooperation_Council)

1981�� Oct 28, The US Senate voted for the sale of AWACS to Saudi Arabia. Fred Dutton (1923-2005), Washington counsel and lobbyist for Saudi Arabia, helped get US congressional approval for a 2nd major arms sale to Saudi Arabia.
�� (http://tinyurl.com/98qre)(SFC, 6/28/05, p.B5)

1981�� Prince Fahd of Saudi Arabia proposed an 8-point peace plan to end the Arab-Israeli conflict. It was adopted by the Arab League after some controversy.
�� (Econ, 8/6/05, p.71)

1982�� Jun 13, King Khalid of Saudi Arabia died at the age of 69; he was succeeded by a half brother, Crown Prince Fahd.
�� (WSJ, 1/9/96, p.A-10)(AP, 6/13/02)��

1982�� Adnan Khashoggi, an arms dealer from Saudi Arabia, settled divorce proceedings with his wife Soraya for $950 million plus property.
�� (SFC, 2/14/98, p.E6)

1983�� Nov 25, Syria and Saudi Arabia announced a cease-fire in PLO civil war in Tripoli.
�� (www.defense-update.com/2005/02/arafats-dissidents-challenge-to-abu.html)

1983�� In Saudi Arabia the King Khalid Int'l. Airport opened in Riyadh and was touted as the largest in the world. One of the terminals was mothballed at opening and remained so in 2008.
�� (WSJ, 8/20/96, p.A1)(Econ, 4/26/08, p.15)

1983�� Sulaiman Al Rajhi and his brother Saleh won permission to open Saudi Arabia�s first Islamic bank. They had begun changing money for traders and pilgrims in the 1940s. In 2007 Sulaiman Al Rajhi�s fortune was estimated at $12 billion and the Al-Rajhi Bank was the largest Islamic bank in Saudi Arabia.
�� (WSJ, 1/26/07, p.A1)

1983-2005�� Prince Bandar bin Sultan served as Saudi Arabia�s ambassador in Washington. In 2006 William Simpson authored �The Prince: The Secret Story of the World�s Most Intriguing Royal, Prince Bandar bin Sultan.�
�� (www.saudiembassy.net/Country/Government/BandarBio.asp)(Econ, 12/2/06, p.86)

1984�� Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) members (Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar and Saudi Arabia, UAR) agreed on the creation of a two-brigade (10,000 troops) Peninsula Shield Force, based in Saudi Arabia near the Kuwaiti and Iraqi borders.
�� (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peninsula_Shield)

1985�� Sep, Saudi Arabia announced a quadrupling of oil production. This led to a collapse in oil prices and helped contribute to the collapse of the Soviet Union five years later.
�� (Econ, 12/6/14, p.24)

1985�� Britain under PM Thatcher signed an $80 billion contract with Saudi Arabia to provide 120 fighter jets and other military equipment over a period of 20 years. Prince Bandar bin Sultan, Saudi Arabia�s ambassador to the US, helped negotiate the deal.
�� (SFC, 6/8/07, p.A16)

1986�� Apr 1, World oil prices dipped below $10 a barrel.
�� (MC, 4/1/02)

1987�� Jul 31, Iranian pilgrims and riot police clashed in the Muslim holy city of Mecca in Saudi Arabia. The Saudi government blamed Iranians for the resulting 402 deaths.
�� (AP, 7/31/97)(AP, 2/1/04)

1987�� Aug 1, Iranians attacked the Saudi Arabian and Kuwaiti embassies in Tehran as word spread of rioting in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, a day earlier that claimed some 400 lives, most of them Iranian pilgrims.
�� (AP, 8/1/97)

1987�� Aug 25, Saudi Arabia denounced Iran's government as a "group of terrorists," and said its forces would deal firmly with any Iranian attempts to attack the Saudis' Muslim holy places or vast oil fields.
�� (AP, 8/25/97)

1988�� Saudi-born Osama bin Laden founded al Qaida (the base), a Sunni fundamentalist operational hub for terrorist activities. The organization�s intent was to establish an Islamic caliphate throughout the world.
�� (SFC, 8/28/98, p.A3)(SSFC, 7/30/06, p.A10)

1989�� Jan 12, Idi Amin was expelled from Zaire (later CongoDRC) and forced to return to Saudi Arabia.
�� (www.moreorless.au.com/killers/amin.html)

1989�� Jul 9, Two bombs explode in Mecca, killing one pilgrim, wounding 16. Saudi authorities blame Iranian-inspired terrorists and later beheaded 16 Kuwaiti Shiite Muslims for bombings. Iran denied involvement.
�� (AP, 2/1/04)

1989�� Rafik Hariri financed a gathering of Lebanese politicians at the Saudi city of Taif to hammer out a deal to disband militias and distribute power more equitably. The Taif Agreement maintained sectarian divisions in government and led to the end of the civil war. It stipulated that Syria withdraw its troops to the border and leave within 2 years.
�� (SFC, 9/28/98, p.A10)(SFC, 4/4/02, p.A13)(Econ, 2/19/05, p.43)

1989�� The $140 million King Fahd Cultural Center was completed on the outskirts of Riyadh. It has never been opened to the public and was maintained by a fulltime staff of 180 people.
�� (SFC, 11/22/96, p.A20)

1990�� Jul 2, Some 1402 Muslim pilgrims were killed in a stampede inside a pedestrian tunnel leading to Mecca in Saudi Arabia. It was worst hajj tragedy of modern times.
�� (AP, 7/2/00)(AP, 2/1/04)

1990�� Aug 7, President Bush ordered U.S. troops and warplanes to Saudi Arabia to guard the oil-rich desert kingdom against a possible invasion by Iraq. The US Persian Gulf War began. Operation Desert Shield ended Feb 28, 1991. It cost $8.1 billion and left 383 US casualties with 458 wounded.
�� (AP, 8/7/99)(WSJ, 9/22/99, p.A8)(MC, 8/7/02)

1990�� Aug 8, As the Persian Gulf crisis deepened, American forces began taking up positions in Saudi Arabia; Iraq announced it had annexed Kuwait as its 19th province; President Bush warned Iraqi President Saddam Hussein that "a line has been drawn in the sand."
�� (AP, 8/8/00)(MC, 8/8/02)

1990�� Aug 11, Egyptian and Moroccan troops arrived in Saudi Arabia to join US forces in helping to protect the desert kingdom from possible Iraqi attack.
�� (AP, 8/11/00)

1990�� Aug, 540,000 American troops assembled to drive Iraqi forces from Kuwait.
�� (WP. 6/29/96, p.A22)

1990�� Sep 22, Saudi Arabia expelled most of the Yemeni and Jordanian envoys in Riyadh, accusing them of unspecified "activities jeopardizing the peace and security of the kingdom."
�� (AP, 9/22/00)

1990�� Nov 6, In Saudi Arabia a group of women got into cars and drove the streets of Riyadh in defiance of a government ban. The protest, which made headlines around the world, cost the 47 female drivers and passengers dearly. They were arrested, lost their jobs for 2 1/2 years, were banned from travel for a year and were condemned by the powerful clergy as harlots. The led interior minister Prince Nayef bin Abdul Aziz to ban women from driving.
�� (AP, 11/14/08)(AFP, 6/16/12)

1990�� Nov 21, President Bush arrived in Saudi Arabia, where he conferred with Saudi King Fahd and Kuwait's exiled emir.
�� (AP, 11/21/00)

1990�� Yemen�s refusal to endorse military action against Iraq after Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait so annoyed the governments of Saudi Arabia and Kuwait that they expelled a million Yemeni migrant workers, costing the country huge sums in remittances.
�� (Econ, 7/23/11, p.45)

1991�� Jan 17, On the first day of Operation Desert Storm, US-led forces hammered Iraqi targets in an effort to drive Iraq out of Kuwait. A defiant Iraqi President Saddam Hussein declared that the "mother of all battles" had begun. Iraq attacked Israel with ten Scud missiles. The US Patriot defense missile was used in battle for the first time to shoot down a Scud fired at Saudi Arabia.
�� (AP, 1/17/01)

1991�� Jan 22, During the Gulf War, Iraq fired six Scud missiles into Saudi Arabia; all were either intercepted, or fell into unpopulated areas. However, in Tel Aviv, a Scud eluded the Patriot missile defense system and struck the city, resulting in three deaths.
�� (AP, 1/22/01)

1991�� Jan 24, A brief skirmish occurred high above the Persian Gulf as a Saudi warplane shot down two Iraqi jets.
�� (AP, 1/24/01)

1991�� Jan 29, Iraqi forces attacked into Saudi Arabian town of Kafji, but were turned back by Coalition forces.
�� (HN, 1/29/99)

1991�� Jan 30, The first major ground battle of the Gulf War was fought at the frontier port of Khafji in Saudi Arabia; eleven US Marines were killed, seven of them by "friendly fire."
�� (AP, 1/30/01)

1991�� Jan 31, During the Gulf War, Army Specialist Melissa Rathbun-Nealy and Army Specialist David Lockett were captured by Iraqi forces near the Kuwaiti-Saudi border; both were eventually released. Allied forces claimed victory against Iraqi attackers at Khafji, Saudi Arabia.
�� (AP, 1/31/01)

1991�� Feb 23, French forces unofficially started the Persian Gulf ground war by crossing the Saudi-Iraqi border. Lessons learned in the savage 1972 Eastertide Offensive paid off at the Battle of Khafji in the Gulf War almost two decades later.
�� (HN, 2/23/98)

1991�� Feb 25, During the Persian Gulf War, 28 Americans were killed when an Iraqi Scud missile hit a U.S. barracks in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia.
�� (AP, 2/25/98)

1991�� Mar 24, General H. Norman Schwarzkopf, the American commander of Operation Desert Storm, told reporters in Saudi Arabia the United States was closer to establishing a permanent military headquarters on Arab soil.
�� (AP, 3/24/01)

1991�� Apr 29, US troops continued airlifting Iraqi refugees from a camp in southern Iraq to Saudi Arabia.
�� (AP, 4/29/01)

1991�� Jul 11, A Nigerian Airlines jet carrying Muslim pilgrims crashed at the Jiddah, Saudi Arabia, int'l airport, killing all 261 people on board. The plane was a Canadian-chartered DC-8.
�� (AP, 7/11/97)(WSJ, 11/13/01, p.A14)

1991�� Khalid bin Sultan was the commander of the Saudi military forces during the Gulf war. He later became the principal owner of Al-Hayat, an Arabic language daily published in London.
�� (SFC, 1/4/97, p.A3)

1991�� A Saudi businessman started the 1st independent Arabic news and entertainment channel, the London-based Middle East Broadcasting Co.
�� (WSJ, 10/25/00, p.A17)

1992�� Sep 11, President Bush announced he was approving the sale of 72 F-15 jet fighters to Saudi Arabia.
�� (AP, 9/11/97)

1992�� In Saudi Arabia King Fahd decreed a basic law that for the 1st time outlined an institutional structure for the country. A law was passed that allowed the king to name any of his brothers or nephews as a successor, and to replace him at will.
�� (WSJ, 9/25/02, p.A11)(Econ, 1/7/06, Survey p.6)

1992�� A team of investigators announced the discovery of he long lost Arabian city of Ubar, which had disappeared around the early 6th century. George Hedges (1952-2009), a Hollywood litigator, and filmmaker Nicholas Clapp, participated in the find. Clapp later authored �The Road to Ubar: Finding the Atlantis of the Sands� (1999).
�� (WSJ, 3/20/09, p.A12)

1993�� Saudi wheat production, part of a self-sufficiency program, grew from a few thousand tons on the mid 1970s to 4.5 million tons. The production was having a negative impact on water reserves and production was cut.
�� (SFC, 3/29/97, p.A10)(Econ, 5/23/09, p.62)

1994�� May 23, Some 270 pilgrims, most of them Indonesian, were killed in a stampede in Mecca as worshippers surge toward cavern for symbolic ritual of "stoning the devil."
�� (AP, 2/1/04)

1994�� The Saudis chose AT&T for a $4 billion telecommunications project.
�� (WSJ, 12/18/95, p.A-10)

1994�� The Saudi family of Osama bin Laden disowned him. The Binladin Group later invested with the Washington-based Carlyle Group, which also employed George Bush Sr.
�� (NW, 11/19/01, p.35)
1994�� In Saudi Arabia Osama Bin Laden, the scion of a wealthy Saudi family, was stripped of his Saudi citizenship. He financed a host of hardline groups from Egypt to Algeria. His fortune was estimated at $250 mil.
�� (SFC, 8/14/96, p.A10,12)
1994�� Safar al-Hawaly and Salman al-Awdeh, religious militants and critics of the government, were jailed.
�� (SFC, 8/15/96, p.C3)

1994-1996�� The BBC ran an Arabic language satellite TV service from a Saudi-backed company called Orbit. It ended after Saudi�s objected to the BBC�s programming.
�� (Econ, 10/29/05, p.57)

1995�� Nov 13, A car bomb killed 7 people, including five Americans, and injured about 60 at a military training facility in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
�� (WSJ, 10/14/95, p.A-1)(SFC, 6/27/96, p.A10)(SFEC, 11/10/96, p.T5)(AP, 11/13/00)

1995�� Crown Prince Abdullah bin Abdel-Aziz has been in charge of the 80,000 man national guard since the early 60's.
�� (WSJ, 10/14/95, p.A-11)

1995�� A record 192 people were beheaded.
�� (SFC, 8/27/96, p.A10)

1996�� May 31, Four Saudi citizens were beheaded for the bombing of a US facility last Nov 13. The explosion shattered the Saudi Arabian National Guard training center, and killed 5 Americans and 2 Indians. [the date doesn't seem to jive]
�� (SFC, 6/1/96, p.A12)

1996�� May, Osama bin Laden was driven out of Sudan under pressure from the Clinton administration. His horse, �Swift Like the Wind,� was left behind. He had lived there for some years running a construction company and allegedly recruiting and training terrorists. Abdul Rasul Sayyaf, a Saudi Arabian-backed jihadist leader, invited bin Laden back to Afghanistan and bin Laden returned.
�� (SFC, 8/21/98, p.A2)(SFC, 12/17/04, p.W4)(Econ, 9/17/05, p.40)(WSJ, 8/21/98, p.A4)

1996�� Jun 4, The Saudi debt load is already equal to about� $100 bil.
�� (WSJ, 6/4/96, p.A12)

1996�� Jun 25, At least 19 Americans were killed at a US base near Dhahran. Another 105 suffered serious injuries from a truck bomb estimated at 5,000 pounds at the Khobar Towers apartment complex adjacent to King Abdul Aziz Air Base. About 5,000 US troops served in Saudi Arabia. US, French and British aircraft resumed flying 100 missions per day over southern Iraq from Saudi Arabia. In 1997 intelligence information tied a senior Iranian intelligence officer to Hani Abd Rahim Sayegh, a man who fled Saudi Arabia shortly after the bombing. In 1999 the US threatened was set to deport Hani al-Sayegh to Saudi Arabia. Sayegh feared torture and asked for US asylum. Sayegh was deported Oct 10. In 2000 Ahmad Behbahani told a 60 Minutes journalist from a refugee camp in Turkey that he proposed the Pan Am operation and coordinated the 1996 bombing of the Khobar Towers in Saudi Arabia. In 2001 13 Saudis and one Lebanese man were indicted for the bombing that killed 19 American airmen and wounded nearly 400 others. In 2006 a US judge ruled that Iran financed the bombing and owes families of those killed $254 million.
�� (WP, 6/29/96, p.A22)(SFEC, 4/13/97, p.A14)(WSJ, 10/5/99, p.A10)(SFC, 10/12/99, p.C16)(SFC, 6/5/00, p.A9)(SFC, 6/22/01, p.A1)(WSJ, 12/23/06, p.A1)
1996�� Jun 25, Later reports said that Osama bin Laden, an exiled Saudi billionaire, bankrolled the bombing of the US base that killed 19 US servicemen. He was an advocate of strict Islamic rule and had said that he would campaign to overthrow the Saudi royal family. He had lived in the Sudan for 5 1/2 years and recently moved to Afghanistan and was accepted by the Taliban. In 1998 a senior Saudi official absolved Iran of any involvement in the bombing. In 2000 it was reported that the Bin Laden family firm was awarded the contract to rebuild the Khobar Towers.
�� (SFC, 3/7/97, p.A17)(SFC, 5/23/98, p.A12)(SFC, 11/18/00, p.A12)

1996�� Dec, Yvonne Gilford (55), an Australian nurse, was stabbed and bludgeoned to death at the King Fahd Military Medical Center in Dammam. Two other nurses, Deborah Parry (38) and Lucille McLaughlan (30) were accused of the murder. Their sentences were commuted and the accused nurses were released May 20, 1998. McLaughlan faced charges in Scotland of stealing $2,800 from a dying AIDS patient in 1996 before leaving for Saudi Arabia.
�� (SFC, 9/26/97, p.A14)(SFEC, 3/1/98, p.A19)

1996�� Dec, Abdul-Karim Naqshabandi, a foreign worker, was executed after refusing to falsely testify against another employer. His employer, a nephew of the king, demanded his death on false charges of witchcraft.
�� (SFC, 10/7/97, p.A15)

1996�� Saudi Arabia�s King Fahd (73) ceded power to his half-brother, Crown Prince Abdullah, who is considered to be more of a traditionalist.
�� (WSJ, 1/2/96, p. A-1)

1996�� The United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan recognized the Taliban after they seized the Afghan capital Kabul. All three countries cut ties with the Taliban after it sheltered al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden following the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the US.
�� (AP, 2/24/06)

1997�� Mar 2, Saudi Arab billionaire Prince al-Waleed bin Talal acquired 5% of Apple.
�� (SC, 3/2/02)

1997�� Apr 15, In Saudi Arabia at least 343 Muslim pilgrims died in a fire on a plain outside the holy city of Mecca and injured 1290. The fires stemmed from cooking gas canisters. Aid workers and diplomats said the death toll was at least 500.
�� (SFC, 4/16/97, p.A1)(WSJ, 4/16/97, p.A1)(WSJ, 4/17/97, p.A1)(AP, 4/15/98)(AP, 2/1/04)

1997�� Dec 18, It was reported the Prince Alwaleed bin Talal bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud was building a 984-foot structure called "The Kingdom Centre" in central Riyadh at a cost of $427 million.
�� (WSJ, 12/18/97, p.A1)

1998�� Mar, Saudi Arabia, Venezuela and Mexico began talking to reduce oil output. They pledged to take 2-3% of the world's oil production off the market in what came to be called the Riyadh Pact.
�� (WSJ, 6/23/98, p.A1)
��
1998�� Apr 9, In Saudi Arabia it was reported that 2.3 million Muslims made the pilgrimage, hajj, to Mecca this year. Over 150 pilgrims died at the "stoning of the devil" ritual during a stampede that occurred on the last day of the annual pilgrimage to the holy city of Mecca, Saudi Arabia.
�� (SFC, 4/9/98, p.A10)(SFC, 4/10/98, p.A14)(SFC, 2/12/03, p.A9)(AP, 4/9/08)

1998�� Jun 4, Mexico, Saudi Arabia and Venezuela agreed to cuts in oil production and exports for the 2nd time this year in order to raise prices.
�� (WSJ, 6/5/98, p.A2)

1998�� Jun, Prince Turki al Faisal of Saudi Arabia, chief of Saudi intelligence, negotiated with the Taliban in Kandahar for the ouster or custody for trial in Saudi Arabia of Osama bin Laden. Negotiations broke down after the Aug 7 US embassy bombings in Africa.
�� (SFEC, 8/8/99, p.A15)

1998�� Jul 20, Saudi Arabia attacked a Yemeni island in the Red Sea and killed 3 guards. 3 islands and parts of the Empty Quarter, a vast desert with potential for oil, were under contention.
�� (SFEC, 7/21/98, p.A7)

1998�� Saudi Arabia, in response to a massive outbreak of rift-valley fever, imposed a trade ban to prevent nomadic herders from selling sheep and goats for sacrifice during the hajj pilgrimage to Mecca. The government opted to buy more expensive Australian livestock instead.
�� (Econ, 2/3/07, p.80)

1998�� The Saudi population was about 12 million. In 2006 it reached 23 million. The forecast for 2020 was 33 million.
�� (SFC, 5/23/98, p.A12)(Econ, 1/7/06, Survey p.12)

1999�� Mar 19, Saudi Arabia permitted some 18,000 destitute Iraqis to cross the border for the annual pilgrimage to Mecca.
�� (SFC, 3/20/99, p.A8)

1999�� Jun 27, It was reported that Saudi Arabia had recently opened its borders to upscale travel groups.
�� (SFEC, 6/27/99, p.T3)

1999�� Aug 21, Prince Faisal bin Fahd, the eldest son of King Fahd, died of a heart attack at age 54. He headed the Arab Sports Federation and had just returned from the Arab Games in Jordan.
�� (SFEC, 8/22/99, p.D5)

1999�� Nov 27, Yemeni military sources reported that 2 Yemeni soldiers had been killed over the last few days in border clashes with Saudi Arabia.
�� (SFEC, 11/28/99, p.A26)

1999�� Dec 9, The first day of Ramadan. In Saudi Arabia a young man was scheduled to be beheaded by this day unless the family of a man he killed, while performing the mizmar dance, receive some $1.3 million in blood money.
�� (SFC, 12/6/99, p.A13)

1999�� Anthony Cave Brown published "Oil, God, and Gold: The Story of Aramco and the Saudi Kings."
�� (WSJ, 3/8/99, p.A16)

1999�� Saudi police arrested Mohammed Hamdi al-Ahdal and jailed him for 14 months for maintaining contact with Osama bin Laden. He was then deported to Yemen.
�� (SFC, 11/26/03, p.A10)

2000�� Jun 12, Saudi Arabia and Yemen signed an agreement to end decades of border disputes.
�� (SFC, 6/13/00, p.A11)

2000�� Oct 14, A Saudi jetliner was hijacked with over 100 people and landed in Baghdad. 2 hijackers were arrested.
�� (SFEC, 10/15/00, p.A10)

2000�� Nov 8, Saudi Arabia opened its border with Iraq and signed export contracts to nearly $600 million under exceptions to US sanctions.
�� (WSJ, 11/8/00, p.A1)

2000�� Nov 17, A car bomb in Riyadh killed Christopher Rodway, a British technician. In 2001 3 Westerners were arrested in connection with the bombing.
�� (SFC, 11/18/00, p.A12)(SFC, 2/5/01, p.A10)

2000�� Nov 22, In Riyadh an explosion hit a car and injured 3 British citizens. In 2001 3 Westerners were arrested in connection with the bombing.
�� (SFC, 11/24/00, p.D8)(SFC, 2/5/01, p.A10)
2000�� Nov 22, Yemen identified the bombers of the USS Cole as 2 Saudi Arabian citizens with Yemeni family roots. One was named Abdul Mohsen al-Taifi and both had suspected ties to Osama bin Laden.
�� (SFC, 11/23/00, p.A22)

2000�� Dec 31, Six Persian Gulf nations (Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates) signed a regional defense pact.
�� (SFC, 1/1/01, p.A10)

2001�� Jan 26, A UN panel criticized Saudi Arabia for discriminating against women, harassing minors and for punishments that included flogging and stoning.
�� (SFC, 1/27/01, p.C16)

2001�� Jan, Abdulaziz al-Kohaji, engineering student and son of a Saudi oilman, went missing from the Community College of Denver. His body was found in a landfill in Erie, 15 miles north of Denver, a month later and police said he had been taped to a chair and strangled before being thrown into a trash bin. Mishal al-Suwaidi, Tariq al-Dossary and al-Yousif, suspects in the murder, were acquaintances of al-Kohaji and prosecutors said the motive was robbery. Suwaidi and Dossary fled to Saudi Arabia. Yousif was convicted in the US and sentenced to life. In 2004 the family of Kohaji pardoned the Suwaidi and Dossary and save them from execution.
�� (AP, 1/2/05)

2001�� Mar 4, Muslim pilgrims climbed Mount Arafat as some 2 million gathered for the annual hajj to Mecca.
�� (WSJ, 3/5/01, p.A1)

2001�� Mar 5, Muslim pilgrims began the stoning of the three pillars symbolizing the devil as part of the annual hajj to Mecca. 35 people suffocated to death during the stoning of the devil ritual.
�� (WSJ, 3/5/01, p.A1)(SFC, 3/6/01, p.A11)

2001�� Mar 15, Chechen rebels hijacked a Russian plane with 174 people after it left Turkey. They forced a landing in Medina.
�� (SFC, 3/16/01, p.A14)

2001�� Mar 16, Saudi commandos freed over 100 hijacked hostages held by Chechen rebels. 3 people were killed including a hijacker, a flight attendant and a passenger.
�� (SFC, 3/17/01, p.A10)

2001�� Mar 25, The Higher Committee for Scientific Research and Islamic Law claimed that Pokemon games and cards have "possessed the minds" of Saudi children.
�� (SFC, 3/27/01, p.F2)

2001�� Apr 16, Iran and Saudi Arabia signed a pact to fight terrorism and drug trafficking.
�� (SFC, 4/18/01, p.A13)

2001�� Aug 4, In Florida an immigration official turned back Muhammed al-Kahtani (al-Qahtani), a Saudi who had flown in from London with $2,800 in cash and no return ticket. He was later captured in Afghanistan and detained at Guantanamo after officials suspected that he was the intended 20th hijacker for the Nov 11 attacks. In 2008 the Pentagon dropped charges against al-Qahtani.
�� (Econ, 2/16/08, p.39)(AP, 5/13/08)

2001�� Aug 31, Prince Turki al-Faisal resigned as head of the General Intelligence Directorate and Prince Nawwaf took over.
�� (WSJ, 10/22/01, p.A18)

2001�� Sep 13, A private Lear jet with 3 Saudi passengers flew from Tampa, Fla., to Lexington, Ky., as part of an effort to help prominent Saudis, who feared reprisals over the Sep 11 attack by al-Qaida in NYC.
�� (WSJ, 6/1/04, p.A1)

2001�� Sep 14-24, Six chartered flights carrying mostly Saudi nationals departed from the US. [see Sep 20]
�� (WSJ, 6/1/04, p.A4)

2001�� Sep 20, A chartered flight left the US with members of the sprawling bin Laden family. The FBI interviewed 22 of the 26 people aboard.
�� (WSJ, 6/1/04, p.A4)

2001�� Sep 23, The 6-member Persian "Gulf Cooperation Council" (Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, UAR) met in Jidda and pledged support for an int'l. coalition against terrorism.
�� (SFC, 9/24/01, p.A7)

2001�� Sep 25, Saudi Arabia withdrew diplomatic recognition of the Afghan Taliban government.
�� (SFC, 9/26/01, p.A1)

2001�� Oct 6, A bomb exploded in Khobar. 2 people were killed and 4 were injured.
�� (SSFC, 10/7/01, p.A17)

2001�� Oct 15, It was reported that Sheik Hamoud bin Uqlaa al-Shuaibi (80), a militant Wahhabi, called on Muslims to wage jihad on supporters of the US military action in Afghanistan.
�� (WSJ, 10/15/01, p.A12)

2001�� Oct 31, The Bush administration said the Saudi government has issued an order to freeze assets of people and groups suspected of links to terrorism.
�� (SFC, 11/1/01, p.A5)

2001�� At Washington�s request the UN Security Council ordered that the assets of Yassin Qadi, a Saudi businessman and multimillionaire, be frozen soon after the Sep 11 attacks in NYC. He was alleged to be a financier of Islamic terrorism with close links to al-Qaida. The EU froze the assets of Yasin al-Qadi, a Saudi businessman, and the Al-Barakaat International Foundation, a Sweden-based charity suspected of funding al-Qaida terror groups. In 2008 the EU's highest court overturned the decision saying the order failed to offer those on a terror blacklist any legal rights to a judicial review under European law. Also frozen were the assets of Omar Mohammed Othman, also known as Abu Qatada, an extremist Muslim preacher from Jordan. In 2009 an EU court voided the freeze on Othman due to lack of proper judicial review. Othman has lived in Britain since 1993, has been arrested several times there under anti-terrorist legislation and currently faced deportation to Jordan.
�� (WSJ, 8/29/07, p.A1)(AP, 9/3/08)(AP, 6/11/09)

2002�� Jan 4, A WSJ editorial by former US Army officer Ralph Peters blamed Saudi Arabia as the source of fundamentalist terrorism. "We must be prepared to seize the Saudi oil fields and administer them for the greater good."
�� (WSJ, 1/4/02, p.A12)

2002�� Jan 13, Muslim scholars concluded a 6-day conference in Mecca and issued a definition of terrorism as: "all acts of aggression committed by individuals, groups or states against human beings, including attacks on their religion, life, intellect or property.
�� (WSJ, 1/14/02, p.A12)

2002�� Jan, Saudi Arabia began the demolition of the 222-year-old Al Ajyad Ottoman fortress on Bulbul Mountain in Mecca. A $120 million hotel complex was planned. The demolition angered Turkey and destruction was halted.
�� (WSJ, 1/10/02, p.A9)

2002�� Feb 17, Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah presented a Middle East peace plan to NY Times columnist Thomas Friedman. It included Arab recognition of Israel's right to exist if Israel pulled back from lands that were once part of Jordan, including East Jerusalem and the West Bank.
�� (SFC, 2/26/02, p.A1)

2002�� Feb 19, In Saudi Arabia some 2 million Muslims gathered in Mecca for the annual hajj.
�� (SFC, 2/20/02, p.A11)

2002�� Mar 7, Doctors in Saudi Arabia reported that the world's 1st uterus transplant lasted 99 days before it began to deteriorate.
�� (SFC, 3/7/02, p.A5)

2002�� Mar, A fire at a girl's school in Mecca killed 15 students.
�� (WSJ, 3/19/02, p.A1)

2002�� Apr 4, The UN released $995 million in compensation to Kuwait for Iraq's 1990 invasion. Most went to 1,058 individuals. Saudi Arabia received $82.6 million and Jordan got $44.9.
�� (SFC, 4/5/02, p.A12)

2002�� Apr 13, Ghazi Algosaibi, Saudi ambassador to Britain, published a poem in the Saudi daily Al Hayat� titled "The Martyrs," in praise of Ayat Akhras, the Mar 29 Palestinian suicide bomber.
�� (SFC, 4/16/02, p.A9)

2002�� Apr 20, It was reported that recent flash flooding from torrential spring rains had killed at least 19 people.
�� (SFC, 4/20/02, p.A24)

2002�� Apr 25, Pres. Bush met with Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah, who told him bluntly that the US must temper its support of Israel. Abdullah gave Bush an 8-point proposal for Middle East peace.
�� (SFC, 4/26/02, p.A1)

2002�� Apr, The Saudi government cracked down on factories producing women's cloaks that violated religious rules.
�� (SSFC, 5/5/02, p.A16)

2002�� May, Saudi diplomats clashed with the UN Committee Against Torture over whether flogging and the amputation of limbs are violations of the 1987 Convention Against Torture.
�� (SSFC, 5/19/02, p.A18)

2002�� Jun 11, Moroccan police arrested three Saudi nationals who were allegedly planning attacks against U.S. and British war ships in the Strait of Gibraltar. They were identified as: Hilal Jaber al-Assiri, Abdellah Ali al-Ghamdi and Zuher al-Tbaiti.
�� (AP, 6/11/02)

2002�� Jun 13, Pres. Bush met with Saudi Prince Saud al-Faisal and indicated that he would support the creation of a Palestinian state.
�� (SFC, 6/14/02, p.15)

2002�� Jun 18, Saudi Arabia announced its first al-Qaida-related arrests since Sept. 11 and said it was holding 11 Saudis, an Iraqi and a Sudanese man behind a plot to shoot down a U.S. military plane taking off from a Saudi air base.
�� (Reuters, 6/18/02)(AP, 6/18/02)

2002�� Jun 20, In Saudi Arabia John Veness, a British employee at Al Bank al Saudi al Fransi, was killed in a car bomb explosion in Riyadh.
�� (WSJ, 6/21/02, p.A7)

2002�� Jun, Iran transferred 16 al Qaeda suspects to Saudi Arabia.
�� (SSFC, 8/11/02, p.A13)

2002�� Jul 19,� In Saudi Arabia a passenger bus collided head on with a truck and caught fire outside the holy city of Mecca, killing 26 people and injuring 24 others.�
�� (AP, 7/21/02)

2002�� Jul 22, Ahmed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz (43), the genial Saudi prince who dominated racing the last two years with Kentucky Derby winner War Emblem and 2001 horse of the year Point Given, died.
�� (AP, 7/23/02)

2002�� Aug 7, Saudi Arabia's Foreign Minister Prince Saud said his country had made it clear to Washington, publicly and privately, that the U.S. military will not be allowed to use the kingdom's soil in any way for an attack on Iraq. Saud said the longtime U.S. ally does not plan to expel American forces from an air base used for flights to monitor Iraq.
�� (AP, 8/7/02)(AP, 8/8/02)

2002�� Aug 13, The minaret at the Imam Ali al Uraidh Islamic shrine complex in Medina was demolished with dynamite.
�� (WSJ, 8/18/04, p.A1)

2002�� Aug 27, Pres. Bush met with Prince Bandar bin Sultan of Saudi Arabia, who said war with Iraq was not acceptable and that Saudi Arabia would not cooperate.
�� (SFC, 8/28/02, p.A1)

2002�� Sep 6, US officials reported that the assets of Wa'el Hamza Julaidan, alleged al Qaeda financier, had been frozen, and that he had been located in Saudi Arabia.
�� (SFC, 9/7/02, p.A8)

2002�� Sep 29, A Saudi prince signed deals worth $330 million to export Sudanese livestock and build a five-star hotel in Sudan's capital.
�� (AP, 9/29/02)

2002�� Nov 3, Saudi Arabia said it would not permit bases on its soil in an attack against Iraq and would not grant flyover rights to US military planes even if the UN sanctions an invasion. Prince Saud later said a final decision had not been made.
�� (SFC, 11/4/02, p.A3)(SFC, 11/5/02, p.A7)

2002�� Dec 10, Saudi dissidents reported a new radio station, Sawt al-Islah (the Voice of Reform), had started broadcasting from Europe to push for reforms.
�� (SFC, 12/11/02, p.A14)

2002�� Dec 12, OPEC agreed to cut oil production by as much as 7%, well ahead of a seasonal decline.
�� (SFC, 12/13/02, p.B1)

2003�� Feb 8, Nearly 2 million Muslims converged on Mecca for the annual pilgrimage. Some of the faithful offered prayers to avert a U.S.-led war on Iraq.
�� (AP, 2/8/03)

2003�� Feb 11, In Mina, Saudi Arabia, 14 Muslim pilgrims were trampled to death when some worshippers tripped amid a jostling crowd during the devil-stoning ritual of the annual Hajj pilgrimage.
�� (AP, 2/11/03)(SFC, 2/12/03, p.A9)

2003� �� Feb 18, Saudi Arabia said it has referred 90 Saudis to trial for alleged al Qaeda links. Another 250 were reported under investigation.
�� (SFC, 2/19/03, A10)

2003� �� Feb 20, In Saudi Arabia a British defense worker was killed by Saud bin Ali bin Nasser, a Saudi citizen.
�� (SFC, 2/21/03, A1)

2003�� Mar 25, Saudi Arabia contacted the United States and Iraq with a peace proposal and was still awaiting a response.
�� (AP, 3/25/03)

2003�� Apr 28, The US moved an air operation center from Saudi Arabia to Qatar.
�� (AP, 4/29/03)

2003�� Apr 29, The US said it would withdraw all combat forces from Saudi Arabia.
�� (SFC, 4/29/03, A14)

2003�� May 6, Saudi authorities seized a weapons cache and foiled plans by suspected terrorists. At least 19 men were sought.
�� (SFC, 5/8/03, p.A1)

2003�� May 12, In Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, multiple, simultaneous suicide car bombings at 3 foreign compounds killed 26 people, including 9 US citizens. The next day Saudi authorities linked Khaled Jehani (29) head of a 19-member al-Qaida team to the carnage. Ali Abd al-Rahman al-Faqasi al-Ghamdi, a senior al Qaeda figure, surrendered Jun 26. On Jan 8, 2004, 8 accomplices were arrested in Switzerland.
�� (SFC, 5/14/03, p.A1)(WSJ, 5/14/03, p.A1)(SFC, 6/27/03, p.A16)(SFC, 1/10/04, p.A3)(AP, 5/12/08)

2003�� Jun 7, The Saudi interior minister linked last month's Riyadh bombings to the al-Qaida terror network in an interview, and his ministry identified 12 of the attackers.
�� (AP, 6/7/03)

2003�� Jun 15, The Saudi government said it foiled "an imminent terrorist" attack with an overnight raid on a bomb-filled, booby-trapped apartment in the holy city of Mecca that left five suspects and two security agents dead.
�� (AP, 6/15/03)

2003�� Jun, Ahmed Omar Abu Ali (22), a US citizen, was arrested in Medina as Saudi authorities were investigating a wave of bombings. He was convicted in 2005 in a Virginia federal court of conspiring with Al-Qaida. In 2008 a federal appeals court upheld the conviction, but ordered a new sentencing hearing. In 2009 he was sentenced to life in prison for plotting to kill Pres. George W. Bush.
�� (SFC, 11/23/05, p.A14)(SFC, 6/7/08, p.A3)(SFC, 7/28/09, p.A5)

2003�� Jul 3, In Suweir, Saudi Arabia, Turki Nasser al-Dandani, the top suspect wanted in the May 12 Riyadh suicide bombing, was killed along with three other militants in a gunbattle when police raided their hideout.
�� (AP, 7/3/03)

2003�� Jul 21, The Saudi government announced that police arrested 16 al-Qaida-linked terror suspects over the last 4 days and used tractors to dig up an underground arsenal: 20 tons of bomb-making chemicals, detonators, rocket-propelled grenades and rifles.
�� (AP, 7/22/03)

2003�� Jul 28, In Saudi Arabia 6 suspected militants were killed in a firefight with Saudi police, who raided a farm where they were hiding out. Two police also were killed.
�� (AP, 7/28/03)

2003�� Aug 10, Saudi police arrested 10 suspected Muslim militants following a gunfight after police tried to stop their cars outside Riyadh.
�� (WSJ, 8/12/03, p.A1)

2003�� Aug 11, Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah flew to Morocco for talks with King Mohammed VI about Iraq and the Palestinian territories.
�� (AP, 8/11/03)

2003�� Aug 15, Saudi police arrested at least 11 suspected militants and seized a large weapons cache in southern Jazan province that included rockets and explosive chemicals.
�� (AP, 8/16/03)
2003�� Aug 16, Former Ugandan dictator Idi Amin, blamed for the murder of tens of thousands of his people in the 1970s, died in a Saudi hospital where he had been critically ill for weeks.
�� (AP, 8/16/03)

2003�� Sep 2, Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Abdullah met Russia's Pres. Putin on the first visit to post-Soviet Russia by a Saudi leader, aimed at coordinating oil exports and soothing Russian concerns about alleged funding of Chechen rebels by Saudi charities.
�� (AP, 9/2/03)

2003�� Sep 14, A Saudi importer of� some 58,000 Australian sheep was reported to be trying to give them away for free. The sheep had� been stranded for five weeks on the ship, the Cormo Express, due to a 6% infection rate for scabby mouth disease. Australia in 2002 had imposed tougher rules on ships exporting livestock to the Persian Gulf after it was revealed that 14,500 sheep had died from heat stress in one month. Some 5,700 sheep aboard the Cormo Express died before Eritrea accepted the animals.
�� (AP, 9/14/03)(Econ, 12/2/06, p.88)
2003�� Sep 14, Dhaher bin Thamer al-Shimry, a Saudi marijuana trafficker, was beheaded, bringing the number of beheadings in the kingdom this year to 41.
�� (AP, 9/14/03)

2003�� Sep 15, In Saudi Arabia a fire that swept through el-Haer prison in Riyadh and 94 were initially reported killed. 67 inmates died in the worst prison fire in Saudi Arabian history.
�� (AP, 9/16/03)(AP, 2/16/12)

2003�� Sep 23, A raid in Saudi Arabia on Islamic militants left three suspects dead, including Jubran Sultan al-Qahtani (aka as Zubayr al-Rimi), an al-Qaida figure wanted by the US.
�� (AP, 9/24/03)

2003�� Oct 13, The Saudi Cabinet announced that first-ever elections would be held for local councils in 14 municipalities throughout the country.
�� (AP, 10/14/03)

2003�� Oct 14, In Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, hundreds took to the streets demanding reforms, the first large-scale protest in this conservative kingdom where demonstrations are illegal.
�� (AP, 10/14/03)

2003�� Oct 20, Saudi authorities announced the arrests of terrorist suspects and the discovery of large quantities of weapons and ammunition during raids around the kingdom.
�� (AP, 10/20/03)

2003�� Nov 3, Saudi police battled militants in the streets of the holy city of Mecca, killing two of the suspects and uncovering a large cache of weapons. Police arrested six al-Qaida suspects.
�� (AP, 11/3/03)(AP, 11/4/03)

2003�� Nov 6, In Saudi Arabia 2 suspected militants blew themselves up in Mecca when security forces tried to arrest them. A 3rd was shot to death by police during a raid in Riyadh.
�� (AP, 11/6/03)

2003�� Nov 8, In Saudi Arabia a suicide car bombing that devastated a Riyadh housing complex, killing 17 people and wounding more than 120. Officials pointed to al-Qaida terrorists as responsible.
�� (SSFC, 11/9/03, p.A1)(AP, 11/8/04)

2003�� Nov 25, Saudi police killed 2 militants and seized a car bomb ready for detonation in post Ramadan celebrations.
�� (WSJ, 11/26/03, p.A1)

2003�� Nov 27,� Talal al-Rasheed, a prominent Saudi poet, was shot to death by attackers while on a hunting trip in Algeria.
�� (AP, 11/30/03)

2003�� Dec 6, Saudi Arabia issued the names and photos of its 26 most wanted terrorist suspects and increased protection around Western housing compounds in the capital.
�� (AP, 12/7/03)

2003�� Dec 7, Saudi security forces stormed a gas station and killed one of the country's most wanted terrorist suspects and a second militant.
�� (AP, 12/8/03)

2003�� Rachel Ehrenfeld authored �Funding Evil: How Terrorism is Financed and How to Stop It.� The book sold 23 copies in Britain, over the Internet. She later lost a libel case concerning the book brought in the English High Court of Justice by Saudi businessman Khalid bin Mahfouz, who was awarded ₤100,000 ($160,000).
�� (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Funding_Evil)(Econ, 1/2/10, p.42)
2003�� Dore Gold authored "Hatred's Kingdom: How Saudi Arabia Supports the New Global Terrorism."
�� (WSJ, 3/27/03, p.D7)
2003�� In Saudi Arabia Ati Bt Abeh Inan, an Indonesian� maid, was accused by her employer of casting a spell on him and his family. She was sentenced to death. In 2014, after 10 years in prison, she was pardoned and sent back to West Java.
�� (SSFC, 2/16/14, p.A6)
2003�� Saudi Arabia�s Tadawul All-Share Index posted a 76% gain for the year.
�� (WSJ, 4/4/05, p.C18)
2003�� The Saudi-owned news channel al-Arabiya was launched from Dubai.
�� (Econ, 2/26/05, p.25)
2003�� A CIA report said that the Al-Rajhi Bank in Saudi Arabia had served as a conduit for terrorist transactions since at least the mid-1990s.
�� (WSJ, 1/26/07, p.A10)
2003�� Libya planned a covert operation to assassinate Crown Prince Abdullah of Saudi Arabia according to 2004 testimony by 2 jailed participants.
�� (SFC, 6/10/04, A10)
2003�� Doctors at St. Vincent Medical Center in LA, Ca., performed a liver transplant on a Saudi citizen, who was 52nd on a transplant list. The Saudi Arabian Embassy paid $339,000 for the operation. In 2005 the hospital suspended its liver program after determining that the 2003 operation was improper.
�� (SFC, 9/28/05, p.A7)

2003-2006�� In Saudi Arabia a deadly wave of shootings and bombings blamed on Al-Qaeda killed more than 150 Saudis and foreigners.
�� (AFP, 8/20/15)

2004�� Jan 8, Teams of Swiss police in 5 cantons arrested 8 suspected accomplices in the May 12 al Qaeda car bomb attack in Saudi Arabia.
�� (SFC, 1/10/04, p.A3)

2004�� Jan 29, In Saudi Arabia some 2 million Muslims from around the world gathered at the start of the annual Hajj.
�� (AP, 1/29/04)

2004�� Feb 1, In Saudi Arabia 251 Muslim worshipers died in a hajj stampede during the annual stoning of Satan ritual.
�� (AP, 2/2/04)(WSJ, 2/3/04, p.A1)

2004�� Mar 15, In Saudi Arabia authorities killed Khaled Ali Haj, a Yemeni, and Ibrahim bin Abdul-Aziz bin Mohammed al-Mezeini, a Saudi. Haj, who also uses the name Abu Hazim al-Sha'ir, was the "most dangerous" al-Qaida operative in the region. Haj was third on the government's list of Saudi Arabia's 26 most wanted militants.
�� (AP, 3/16/04)

2004�� Apr 10, Rania al-Baz, a popular Saudi TV host, was severely beaten by her husband. She suffered 13 facial fractures that required 12 operations. She allowed photos to be broadcast and opened discussions of ongoing violence against women in Saudi Arabia.
�� (SFC, 4/20/04, p.A6)

2004�� Apr 13, In Saudi Arabia militants near Unaizah opened fire on a police checkpoint at dawn, killing four police officers and fleeing in security agents' cars.
�� (AP, 4/13/04)

2004�� Apr 19, Saudi police seized 2 explosives packed SUVs on a highway outside Riyadh. It the 3rd day in a row that such a seizure was announced.
�� (WSJ, 4/20/04, p.A1)

2004�� Apr 21, Two car bombs blasted the Saudi security headquarters, killing at least 4 people and wounding 148.
�� (AP, 4/21/04)(SFC, 4/22/04, p.A16)

2004�� Apr 22, Saudi security forces killed five wanted militants and were pursuing others after shootouts that spread over two days in the port city of Jiddah.
�� (AP, 4/23/04)

2004�� May 1, In Yanbu, Saudi Arabia, suspected militants sprayed gunfire inside the offices of Houston-based ABB Ltd., an oil contractor, killing at least six people � including two Americans and three other Westerners � and wounding dozens. Police killed four brothers in a shootout after a car chase in which the attackers reportedly dragged the naked body of one victim behind their getaway car.
�� (AP, 5/1/04)(SFC, 5/3/04, p.A7)(WSJ, 2/25/06, p.A1)

2004�� May 10, Saudi oil ministers called on OPEC to pump more oil.
�� (SFC, 5/11/04, p.A1)

2004�� May 20, Four suspected Saudi militants and a policeman were killed in a shootout the Saudi city of Buraida.
�� (Reuters, 5/21/04)

2004�� May 28, In Saudi Arabia suspected Islamic militants sprayed gunfire inside two oil industry compounds on the Persian Gulf, killing at least 10 people including one American.
�� (AP, 5/29/04)(SSFC, 5/30/04, p.A1)

2004�� May 29, In Saudi Arabia gunmen shot down security guards and entered 2 office complexes in Khobar searching for and murdering anyone looking western.
�� (Econ, 6/5/04, p.41)

2004�� May 30, Saudi commandos stormed the expatriate resort of Khobar to free up to 60 foreign hostages seized by Islamic militant gunmen who had attacked oil industry compounds, killing 22 people. Americans were among those killed and taken captive. 3 suspects escaped.
�� (AP, 5/31/04)(WSJ, 6/1/04, p.A1)

2004�� Jun 2, Saudi security forces killed two suspected militants linked to a weekend shooting and hostage-taking.
�� (AP, 6/2/04)

2004�� Jun 6, In Saudi Arabia Simon Cumbers (36), an Irish cameraman working for the BBC, was killed in a shooting in Riyadh. BBC correspondent Frank Gardner was left paralyzed. In 2014 eight men, part of an 86-member terrorist cell, were found guilty of attacks against foreigners that included Cumbers and Gardner
�� (SFC, 6/7/04, A8)(AP, 11/18/14)

2004�� Jun 8, In Saudi Arabia an American citizen who worked for a US defense contractor was shot and killed in Riyadh.
�� (AP, 6/8/04)

2004�� Jun 12, In Saudi Arabia an American was kidnapped. An al-Qaida statement, posted on an Islamic Web site, showed a passport-size photo of a brown-haired man and a Lockheed Martin business card bearing the name Paul M. Johnson. Islamic militants shot and killed Kenneth Scroggs of Laconia, New Hampshire, in his garage in Riyadh. In 2014 a court in Riyadh sentenced an Al-Qaeda member to death for the kidnapping and murder of Johnson.
�� (AP, 6/13/04)(AP, 6/20/04)(AFP, 8/19/14)

2004�� Jun 13, Saudi Arabia held a 3-day �national dialogue� in Medina on how women�s lives could be improved. On Jun 15, recommendations (19) were given to Crown Prince Abdullah.
�� (Econ, 6/19/04, p.26)

2004�� Jun 15, A Saudi al Qaeda group threatened to execute Paul M. Johnson Jr. within 72 hours unless fellow jihadists were released were released from prison.
�� (SFC, 6/19/04, p.A15)

2004�� Jun 18, A Saudi al-Qaida group said it killed American hostage Paul M. Johnson Jr., posting 3 photos on the Internet showing his body and severed head. Hours later Saudi security forces killed Abdulaziz al-Moqrin (31), a top al-Qaida leader, and 3 other militants in Riyadh.
�� (AP, 6/18/04)(AP, 6/19/04)

2004�� Jun 23, Saudi Arabia offered Islamic militants a limited amnesty, saying their lives would be spared if they surrendered but they would face the "full might" of state wrath if they did not. Prince Nayef said foreign residents may be allowed to carry guns.
�� (AP, 6/23/04)(SFC, 6/25/04, p.A10)

2004�� Jun 27, Saudi Arabia dispatched two planeloads of aid to Sudan's war-torn western region of Darfur.
�� (AFP, 6/27/04)

2004�� Jun, The Saudi parliament passed legislation overturning a law banning girls and women from participating in physical education and sports. In August the ministry of education announced that it had no intention of honoring the legislation.
�� (SFC, 8/26/04, p.B1)
2004�� Jun, Fawaz al-Nashimi (aka Turki bin Fuheid al-Muteiry), an al-Qaida operative, was killed in a gunbattle with Saudi forces. He was involved in the May 29 attack inside two oil industry compounds. In 2006 an al-Qaida statement identified him as the would-be 20th hijacker for the Sep. 11 attacks.
�� (SFC, 6/21/06, p.A3)

2004�� Jul 1, Saudi security forces traded gunfire with militants in a Riyadh, killing one militant and wounding one. A police officer was killed and two were hurt.
�� (AP, 7/2/04)

2004�� Jul 12, A Sri Lankan woman was beheaded in the Saudi capital for murdering her employer. Bader el-Nisaa Mibari had been convicted of killing Sara bint Mohammed al-Haqeel, a Saudi woman, after trying to rob her with the help a male companion.
�� (AP, 7/12/04)

2004�� Jul 13, A confidant of Osama bin Laden (Khaled bin Ouda bin Mohammed al-Harby) surrendered to Saudi diplomats in Iran and was flown to Saudi Arabia.
�� (AP, 7/13/05)

2004�� Jul 16, A Saudi transport company said it had pulled out of Iraq to save the life of an Egyptian truck driver taken hostage by kidnappers who demanded the firm leave the country.
�� (Reuters, 7/16/04)

2004�� Jul 20, In Saudi Arabia the head of slain American hostage Paul M. Johnson Jr., who was kidnapped and decapitated by militants last month, was found by security forces during a raid that targeted the hideout of the Saudi al-Qaida chief. Two militants were killed.
�� (AP, 7/21/04)

2004�� Jul 29, In Saudi Arabia Colin Powell met with Iraq�s PM Alawi to talk about a Muslim peacekeeping force.
�� (WSJ, 7/30/04, p.A1)

2004�� Jul 30, Abdurahman Alamoudi pleaded guilty in a Virginia court to moving cash from Libya and involvement in a plot to assassinate Saudi Prince Abdullah.
�� (SFC, 7/31/04, p.A3)

2004�� Aug 4, The official Saudi Press reported that municipal elections across Saudi Arabia, the first such polls in decades, have been have been pushed back two months to November.
�� (AP, 8/4/04)

2004�� Aug 6, Saudi officials reported the capture of Faris Ahmed Jamaan al-Showeel al Zahrani, No. 12 on their list of 26 most wanted terrorism suspects.
�� (SFC, 8/7/04, p.A10)

2004�� Sep 1, In Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, 3 people were killed in a stampede to a newly opened Ikea branch.
�� (SFC, 9/2/04, p.C2)

2004�� Sep 2, In Saudi Arabia one policeman was killed and three others wounded in clashes with militants in a town northeast of Riyadh.
�� (AP, 9/3/04)

2004�� Sep 15, In Saudi Arabia Edward Stuart Muirhead-Smith (55) was killed at the Max shopping center in eastern Riyadh.
�� (AP, 9/16/04)

2004�� Sep 26, In Saudi Arabia French national Laurent Barbot, a technical assistant for French electronics group Thales, was shot and killed in Jeddah. Chadian militants Isa Barkaj and Isaac Shakila were later convicted of shooting. Both were executed in 2015.
�� (AP, 9/26/04)�� (AP, 8/20/15)

2004�� Sep 28, Saudi Arabia's highest religious authority issued an edict barring the use of cell phones with built-in cameras, blaming them for "spreading obscenity."
�� (AP, 9/30/04)

2004�� Oct 16, Saudi security forces captured four suspected militants in the Khaleej neighborhood of Riyadh.
�� (AP, 10/17/04)

2004�� Nov 6, In an open letter to the Iraqi people and posted on the Internet, 26 Saudi scholars and religious preachers stressed that armed attacks launched by militant Iraqi groups on U.S. troops and their allies in Iraq were "legitimate" resistance.
�� (AP, 11/6/04)

2004�� Nov 8, Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Abdullah launched $8 billion in development projects in Mecca.
�� (WSJ, 11/9/04, p.A1)

2004�� Nov 16, Saudi police arrested 5 suspected militants in al-Qassim, 220 miles northwest of Riyadh, following a shootout that killed a policeman.
�� (AP, 11/17/04)

2004�� Nov 27, Saudi security forces killed a suspected militant in the Red Sea city of Jeddah.
�� (AP, 11/27/04)

2004�� Dec 6, In Saudi Arabia Islamic militants threw explosives at the gate of the heavily guarded US consulate in Jiddah in a bold assault, then forced their way into the building, prompting a gunbattle that left 9 people dead and several injured. In 2005 two AK-47 assault rifles used in the attack were later traced to Yemen�s Ministry of Defense.
�� (AP, 10/12/05)(AP, 12/06/05)

2004�� Dec 22, Saudi Arabia announced it was withdrawing its ambassador to Libya and ordered out Libya's envoy in response to reports that Tripoli plotted to assassinate the Saudi crown prince.
�� (AP, 12/22/04)

2004�� Dec 28, In Saudi Arabia security forces killed three suspected militants in a raid on their hideout in Riyadh.
�� (AP, 12/29/04)

2004�� Dec 29, In Saudi Arabia insurgents bombed two security headquarters in Riyadh, setting off violence that left 10 attackers and one bystander dead.
�� (AP, 12/30/04)

2004�� Carmen bin Ladin authored �Inside the Kingdom: My Life in Saudi Arabia.� Carmen, the ex-wife of Osama�s older brother Yeslam, grew up in Geneva.
�� (SFC, 7/29/04, p.D8)
2004�� In Saudi Arabia women until this year were legally required to conduct business through a male agent.
�� (Econ, 4/12/08, p.86)
2004�� Saudi Arabia�s Tadawul All-Share Index posted a 85% gain for the year.
�� (WSJ, 4/4/05, p.C18)

2005�� Jan 1, In Saudi Arabia 2 men, a Pakistani and an Iraqi, were beheaded for smuggling in drugs.
�� (AP, 1/1/05)
2005�� Jan 1, Saudi Arabia was forecast for 2.3% annual GDP growth with a population at 25.7 million and GDP per head at $4,110.
�� (Econ, 1/8/05, p.94)

2005�� Jan 9, Saudi police killed four terrorists believed linked to al-Qaida after the militants fled their desert tent while throwing hand grenades at surrounding forces.
�� (AP, 1/9/05)

2005�� Jan 13, Saudi judicial officials said a religious court has sentenced 15 Saudis, including a woman, to as many as 250 lashes each and up to six months in prison for participating in a protest against the monarchy.
�� (AP, 1/14/05)

2005�� Jan 15, Police and militants fought a gun battle in a small Kuwaiti town near a US military logistics center, leaving one Saudi gunman dead and two policemen wounded.
�� (AP, 1/15/05)

2005�� Feb 5, The crown prince of Saudi Arabia called for the creation of an international anti-terrorism center to trade information in an effort to prevent attacks.
�� (AP, 2/5/05)

2005�� Feb 7, A Saudi woman was beheaded after she was convicted of murdering her mother-in-law. Noura bint Khalaf al-Harbi was found guilty of setting her mother-in-law, Noura bint Salem al-Harbi, on fire as she slept following a dispute.
�� (AP, 2/7/05)

2005�� Feb 10, Male voters converged at polling stations in the Riyadh region to participate in city elections, marking the first time Saudis are taking part in a vote that largely conforms to international standards. Women were banned from casting ballots.
�� (AP, 2/10/05)
2005�� Feb 10, Saudi Arabia confirmed a 2nd case of polio from 2004 and feared pilgrims to Mecca might spread the disease.
�� (SFC, 2/11/05, p.A13)

2005�� Feb 12, Saudi newspapers said dozens of losing candidates in Saudi Arabia's first regular election will contest results from the opening round of municipal balloting, arguing that conservative religious candidates won unfairly by claiming support from clerics.
�� (AP, 2/12/05)

2005�� Mar 3, Men in eastern and southern Saudi Arabia turned out in the thousands to vote in municipal elections. They expect to provide their first say in decision-making in this absolute monarchy.
�� (AP, 3/3/05)
2005�� Mar 3, An Arab League meeting opened in Cairo. An Arab diplomat said Syria has told Arab countries it needs to keep 3,000 troops and early-warning stations inside Lebanon to maintain its security despite international pressure for a full withdrawal. Saudi Arabia told Syria to withdraw its troops.
�� (AP, 3/3/05)(SFC, 3/4/05, p.A3)

2005�� Mar 13, Saudi police killed an alleged Islamic militant and arrested three others in a shootout at a suspected terror cell hideout in the Red Sea city of Jiddah.
�� (AP, 3/13/05)

2005�� Apr 1, Saudi Arabia beheaded 3 men in public in the northern city of al-Jawf where in 2003 they killed a deputy governor, a religious court judge and a police lieutenant.
�� (AP, 4/3/05)
2005�� Apr 1, Saudi Arabia�s Tadawul All-Share Index reached a record 10853, up 28% for the year this far.
�� (WSJ, 4/4/05, p.C18)

2005�� Apr 3, In central Saudi Arabia a gun battle began that left 7 suspected al-Qaida militants killed in a shootout with Saudi security forces in ar-Rass.
�� (AP, 4/4/05)

2005�� Apr 5, Saudi police killed 2 more militants, bringing the total to 9, as security forces continued a tense standoff in ar-Rass. Among those killed were Moroccan Kareem Altohami al-Mojati and Saudi Saud Homood Obaid al-Otaibi, who were ranked 4 and 7 respectively on Saudi Arabia's list of 26 most wanted al-Qaida-linked terror suspects.
�� (AP, 4/5/05)(SFC, 4/5/05, p.A3)

2005�� Apr 6, Security forces killed one of Saudi Arabia's most wanted Islamic militants. At least 14 militants were killed over the 4 straight days of shootouts with extremists in different parts of the kingdom.
�� (AP, 4/6/05)(SFC, 4/6/05, p.A3)

2005�� Apr 21, Saudi authorities extended their limited experiment in democracy to the holiest cities of Islam with elections for some local council seats in Mecca and Medina, in the third and final round of the kingdom's first nationwide vote.
�� (AP, 4/21/05)
2005�� Apr 21, Islamic militants clashed with Saudi security forces in Islam's holiest city of Mecca and nearby Jiddah, killing two militants and two policemen.
�� (AP, 4/21/05)

2005�� Apr 25, President Bush sought relief from record-high gas prices and support for Middle East peace as he opened his Texas ranch to Crown Prince Abdullah of Saudi Arabia.
�� (AP, 4/25/05)

2005�� May 8, In Saudi Arabia a Pakistani man was beheaded for attempting to smuggle heroin into the kingdom.
�� (AP, 5/8/05)

2005�� May 15, In Saudi Arabia 3 reform advocates were sentenced to terms ranging from six to nine years in prison, prompting a human rights activist to call their trial a "farce."
�� (AP, 5/15/05)
2005�� May 15, Ali al-Dimeeni (al-Domeini), already jailed more than a year in a Saudi prison outside Riyadh, was sentenced to nine years in prison for sowing dissent, disobeying his rulers and sedition. His 1998 novel "A Gray Cloud," centered on a dissident jailed for years in a desert nation prison where many others have done time for their political views.
�� (AP, 5/25/05)(Econ, 5/21/05, p.51)

2005�� May 27, King Fahd, Saudi Arabia's monarch for the last 23 years was hospitalized for unspecified tests.
�� (AP, 5/28/05)

2005�� Jun 15, OPEC agreed to increase its production quota by half a million barrels a day in an effort to cool high crude oil costs that have dampened the global economy.
�� (AP, 6/15/05)

2005�� Jun 16, Board members of the UN atomic watchdog agency approved a deal that exempts Saudi Arabia from nuclear inspections, despite serious misgivings about the arrangement in an era of heightened proliferation fears.
�� (AP, 6/16/05)

2005�� Jun 18, A senior Saudi police officer was killed in a drive-by shooting in Mecca.
�� (AP, 6/19/05)

2005�� Jun 21, Saudi security forces killed two suspected terrorists accused of fatally shooting a senior security official outside his home.
�� (AP, 6/21/05)

2005�� Jun 28, Saudi Arabia issued a list of 36 men wanted for acts of terror and called on people to report them to the police.
�� (AP, 6/28/05)

2005�� Jul 8, In China Exxon Mobil Corp., Saudi Aramco and top Asian refiner Sinopec signed a $3.5 billion deal to expand a refinery in south China, sealing what they called the country's largest oil project.
�� (Reuters, 7/8/05)

2005�� Jul 25, Saudi authorities arrested a number of suspected militants in Arar, Medina and Riyadh. Among those arrested Mohammed Saeed Mohammed al-Sayam al-Umari (25) was No. 10 on Saudi list of 36 most wanted terrorists.
�� (AP, 8/27/05)��

2005�� Aug 1, King Fahd (83), Saudi ruler since 1982, died at the King Faisal Specialist Hospital in Riyadh. He moved Saudi Arabia closer to the US but ruled the nation in name only since suffering a stroke in 1995. His half brother, Crown Prince Abdullah, was named to replace him.
�� (AP, 8/1/05)(Econ, 8/6/05, p.71)

2005�� Aug 5, VP Dick Cheney, accompanied by former President George H.W. Bush and former Secretary of State Colin Powell, paid respects to new Saudi King Abdullah (81).
�� (AP, 8/5/05)(Econ, 8/6/05, p.10)

2005�� Aug 8, In Saudi Arabia King Abdullah pardoned 4 prominent activists who were jailed after criticizing the strict religious environment and the slow pace of democratic reform.
�� (AP, 8/8/05)

2005�� Aug 18, Saleh Mohammed al-Aoofi, Al-Qaida's leader in Saudi Arabia, was killed along with 5 others during clashes with police in the western city of Medina. Majed Hamed Abdullah al-Haasiri (29), who was No. 14 on a list of 36 most wanted terrorists sought for connection to terror attacks in the kingdom dating back to 2003, was killed in a shootout with police in Riyadh.
�� (AP, 8/18/05)(AP, 8/27/05)

2005�� Aug, Saudi Arabia granted a 15% pay raise to government employees, their 1st pay raise in 22 years.
�� (Econ, 1/7/06, Survey p.11)

2005�� Sep 4, Saudi Arabia said it had signed a bilateral free trade agreement with the US.
�� (www.bilaterals.org/article.php3?id_article=2640)
2005�� Sep 4, In eastern Saudi Arabia police fought running gun battles with al-Qaida militants in Dammam in clashes that killed two extremists and a police officer. The militants aimed to attack oil facilities.
�� (AP, 9/4/05)(WSJ, 2/25/06, p.A1)

2005�� Sep 6, Saudi security forces stormed a villa in Dammam where Islamic militants were holed up, ending 3 days of fierce fighting that killed 4 policemen and a number of militants.
�� (AP, 9/6/05)

2005�� Sep 8, The Saudi Interior Ministry said security forces killed five of Saudi Arabia's most-wanted al-Qaida militants in a three-day battle in an eastern city earlier this week and arrested 11 other suspects.
�� (AP, 9/8/05)

2005�� Sep 15, The Saudi government ordered a Jiddah chamber of commerce to allow female voters and candidates.
�� (AP, 9/16/05)

2005�� Sep 21, In Saudi Arabia 2 men were beheaded in Riyadh, after being convicted of kidnapping and raping a woman.
�� (AP, 9/21/05)

2005�� Sep 25, Sudanese President Omar al-Beshir met with King Abdullah in the Saudi city of Jeddah to discuss cooperation between their countries and regional developments.
�� (AP, 9/25/05)

2005�� Sep, The novel �The Girls of Riyadh� by Rajaa al-Sanie (23) was published in Lebanon. Only pirated copies were available in Saudi Arabia. Rajaa Alsanea wrote the novel as a series of anonymous e-mails about the protagonists. In 2007 the book became available in English.
�� (SFC, 12/16/05, p.A29)(WSJ, 6/29/07, p.W2)

2005�� Oct 4, A new Syrian TV series began broadcasting around the Middle East. It tells the story of Arabs living in residential compounds in Saudi Arabia and the militant Islamists who want to blow them up so they can collect their rewards in heaven, 72 beautiful virgins.
�� (AP, 10/10/05)

2005�� Oct 19, The International Organization for Migration (IMO) said "Ethiopian women and girls who migrate to Lebanon, Egypt, Yemen and Saudi Arabia suffer from maltreatment, physical, sexual and emotional abuses," in a report based on interviews with 443 women returning from the region.
�� (AP, 10/20/05)

2005�� Oct 28, Saudi Arabia was given a green light to join the World Trade Organization, in time to participate in December's crucial ministerial summit in Hong Kong.
�� (AP, 10/29/05)

2005�� Nov 8, The US State Department issued its 7th annual report to Congress on religious freedom. It cited Burma, China, Eritrea, Iran, North Korea, Saudi Arabia, Sudan and Vietnam as restricting religious freedom.
�� (AP, 11/8/05)

2005�� Nov 11, The World Trade Organization (WTO) approved Saudi Arabia's bid to become the 149th member of the global group, winding up a 12-year negotiating process slowed by the country's participation in the Arab League boycott of Israel.
�� (AP, 11/11/05)

2005�� Nov 13, Prince Saud al-Faisal, Saudi Arabia's foreign minister, said he is less worried that US policies in Iraq will bring on a civil war there, and pledged anew to contribute $1 billion for rebuilding that war-ravaged country's shattered infrastructure.
�� (AP, 11/13/05)

2005�� Nov 14, It was reported that a consortium led by Saudi Arabia's Oger Telecom has signed a deal to take a majority stake in state-owned telecommunications company Turk Telekom, sealing Turkey's largest privatization worth 6.55 billion dollars. Oger Telecom, part of the Oger group owned by the family of slain former Lebanese PM Rafiq Hariri, had won the tender for the 55% stake in July, in partnership with Italian operator Telecom Italia.
�� (AFP, 11/14/05)

2005�� Nov 17, Saudi judicial officials said a Saudi high-school chemistry teacher, accused of discussing religion with his students, was sentenced to 750 lashes and 40 months in prison for blasphemy following a trial on Nov 12.
�� (AP, 11/17/05)

2005�� Nov 27, Two women were elected to a chamber of commerce in Jiddah, the first to win any such post in Saudi Arabia, where women are largely barred from political life.
�� (AP, 11/30/05)

2005�� Dec 6, In Saudi Arabia representatives of Islamic countries met ahead of a two-day summit, with delegates saying the world's largest Islamic organization must reform to face new challenges.
�� (AP, 12/06/05)

2005�� Dec 8, In Saudi Arabia leaders from more than 50 Muslim countries promised to fight extremist ideology, saying they would reform textbooks, restrict religious edicts and crack down on terror financing.
�� (AP, 12/08/05)

2005�� Dec 27, Saudi police arrested Mohammed Abdel-Rahman Mohammed al-Suwailmi, a terror suspect on the country's list of most wanted militants.
�� (AP, 12/27/05)

2005�� Dec 28, Saudi police shot dead a militant on Saudi Arabia's most-wanted list, the second major terror suspect to die in the country in 24 hours.
�� (AP, 12/28/05)

2005�� Pascal Menoret authored �The Saudi Enigma: A History.�
�� (Econ, 11/19/05, p.87)
2005�� Saudi Arabia enacted a law that banned state employees from saying anything in public that conflicts with official policy.
�� (Econ, 3/3/07, p.53)

2006�� Jan 5, In Saudi Arabia a building used as a hostel by pilgrims in Mecca collapsed as millions of Muslims converged for the annual hajj, and at least 76 people were killed.
�� (AP, 1/7/06)

2006�� Jan 12, Thousands of Muslim pilgrims rushing to complete a symbolic stoning ritual during the hajj tripped over luggage, causing a crush in which 363 people were killed.
�� (AP, 1/12/07)

2006�� Jan 23, Saudi King Abdullah met with Chinese President Hu Jintao in Beijing, amid efforts by China to secure overseas oil and gas reserves for its power-hungry economy.
�� (AP, 1/23/06)

2006�� Jan 26, Saudi Arabia recalled its ambassador in Denmark to protest a published series of caricatures of the prophet Muhammad. Protests spread across the Muslim world for weeks, and dozens of people were killed.
�� (AP, 1/26/07)

2006�� Jan 31, Saudi Arabia and Jordan pressed the Islamic militant group Hamas to moderate its stand on Israel and to entice the defeated Fatah party into a deal to share power.
�� (AP, 1/31/06)

2006�� Feb 19, Almost five months after publishing 12 cartoons of the prophet to highlight what it described as self-censorship, Denmark�s Jyllands-Posten newspaper printed a full-page apology in a Saudi-owned pan-Arab newspaper.
�� (AFP, 2/19/06)

2006�� Feb 24, Suicide bombers in explosives-laden cars attempted to attack an oil processing facility at the Abqaiq facility� that handles about two-thirds of Saudi Arabia's petroleum output, but were stopped when guards opened fire on them, causing the cars to explode.
�� (AP, 2/24/06)

2006�� Feb 26, The Saudi Interior Ministry identified two Feb 24 attackers as Abdullah Abdul-Aziz al-Tweijri and Mohammed Saleh al-Gheith. Both were on a list of the 15 most-wanted terrorists the kingdom issued in June.
�� (AP, 2/27/06)

2006�� Feb 27, Saudi security forces in Riyadh shot dead five suspected terrorists believed to be involved in a foiled attack on the world's biggest oil processing complex. A sixth suspect was arrested. Fahd Faraaj al-Juwair, the leader of al-Qaida in Saudi Arabia, and two men who helped attack the world's largest oil-processing complex were among five militants killed during the police raids.
�� (AP, 2/27/06)(AP, 2/28/06)

2006�� Feb 28, Iraqi border guards captured, Abdullah Salah al-Harbi, a Saudi who admitted he was involved in the suicide attack on the Abqaiq oil facility in Saudi Arabia.
�� (AP, 3/2/06)

2006�� Mar 5, French President Jacques Chirac on a trip to Saudi Arabia preached greater tolerance and respect after the publication of satirical cartoons of the Prophet Mohammad a month ago whipped up protests around the world.
�� (AP, 3/5/06)

2006�� Mar, Persian Gulf stock markets suffered their 1st serious correction after years of 6-7% annual gains. Stock market reversals in Abu Dhabi and Dubai in the UAR, along with Kuwait, Qatar and Saudi Arabia triggered outrage among local small investors.
�� (WSJ, 3/27/06, p.C1)

2006�� Mar 29, The Saudi Press Agency reported that Saudi authorities had arrested 40 suspected members of al-Qaida, including some allegedly involved in last month's attempted bombing of a key oil complex, and seized a large cache of weapons and explosives.
�� (AP, 3/29/06)

2006�� Apr 6, Japan said it would launch free trade talks with six Gulf kingdoms that provide three-quarters of its oil imports, during a visit by a Saudi crown prince aimed at expanding business ties.
�� (AP, 4/6/06)
2006�� Apr 6, Cheese and butter from the Danish company Arla were back on supermarket shelves in Saudi Arabia after an Islamic group ended a boycott of the dairy producer sparked by Denmark's publication of drawings of the Prophet Muhammad.
�� (AP, 4/6/06)

2006�� Apr 15, Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Sultan Bin Abdul Aziz began a two-day visit to Pakistan during which he is expected to discuss a possible arms deal.
�� (AFP, 4/15/06)

2006�� Apr 18, A security official said Saudi authorities arrested five suspected terrorists linked to the February 24 deadly attack on the world's largest oil processing facility.
�� (AP, 4/18/06)

2006�� Apr 22, Saudi Arabia and China signed defense, security and trade agreements in Riyadh on the first day of Chinese President Hu Jintao's visit.
�� (AP, 4/22/06)

2006�� Apr 30, Saudi King Abdullah issued a decree lowering domestic gasoline prices by about 25%. That would lower the cost to about 16 cents per liter.
�� (AP, 4/30/06)

2006�� Apr, Saudi Arabia announced plans to build an electrified fence along its 560-mile border with Iraq.
�� (WSJ, 9/13/06, p.A1)

2006�� May 9, Cuba, Saudi Arabia, China and Russia won seats on the new UN Human Rights Council despite their poor human rights records. Two rights abusers, Iran and Venezuela, were defeated.
�� (AP, 5/10/06)

2006�� May 16, Saudi newspapers reported that King Abdullah has told Saudi editors to stop publishing pictures of women as they could make young men go astray.
�� (AP, 5/16/06)

2006�� Jun 10, Three Guantanamo Bay detainees, 2 from Saudi Arabia and one from Yemen,� hanged themselves with nooses made of sheets and clothes, bringing further condemnation of the isolated camp where hundreds of men have been held for years without charge. Yasser Talal al-Zahrani (21) of Saudi Arabia, captured in Pakistan in 2002, was one of the 3 Gitmo detainees who committed suicide.
�� (AP, 6/11/06)(Econ, 6/17/06, p.92)

2006�� Jun 23, Saudi security forces stormed a suspected al-Qaida hideout in Riyadh, killing six militants and arresting a seventh after an exchange of gunfire.
�� (AP, 6/23/06)

2006�� Jun 24, Saudi Arabia�s Interior Ministry said security forces had arrested 42 suspected terrorists, including four foreign nationals, allegedly involved in earlier attacks across the kingdom. 27 of the detainees, including an Ethiopian and two Somalis, were rounded up May 9-23 in Riyadh, Mecca, the Eastern Region province and the Hafer al-Baten province that borders Iraq. An Iraqi and three Saudis were detained in a June 17 raid on a desert camp in Hafer al-Baten. Another nine, all Saudis, also were captured at a desert hideout in Hafer al-Baten. Two more suspected were arrested after the June 23 raid.
�� (AP, 6/24/06)

2006�� Jul 8, Saudi officials said 7 suspected terrorists had escaped from a prison in Riyadh a few days earlier.
�� (AP, 7/8/06)

2006�� Jul 21, It was reported that Saudi Arabia has ordered 76 artillery howitzers from the French armaments manufacturer Giat Industries as defense minister Crown Prince Sultan bin Abdul Aziz completed a two-day visit.
�� (AFP, 7/21/06)

2006�� Aug 18, The Financial Times reported that Britain has agreed to a multi-billion-dollar defense deal to supply 72 Eurofighter Typhoon aircraft to Saudi Arabia.
�� (AP, 8/18/06)

2006�� Aug 21, Saudi police killed two armed men during clashes in the Red Sea port of Jeddah.
�� (AP, 8/21/06)

2006�� Sep 8, It was reported that Saudi Arabia�s religious police have issued a decree in Jiddah and Mecca banning the sale of the pets, seen as a sign of Western influence.
�� (AP, 9/8/06)

2006�� Sep 9, It was reported that some 15,000 students from Saudi Arabia were enrolling on college campuses across the United States this semester under a new educational exchange program brokered by President Bush and Saudi King Abdullah.
�� (AP, 9/9/06)

2006�� Oct 20, Saudi Arabia's state-run news agency reported that the king gave new powers to his brothers and nephews in an overhaul of the way the kingdom chooses future monarchs, in what appeared to be an attempt to defuse internal power struggles. King Abdullah established the allegiance council, a body of 30-odd senior princes, as a new succession mechanism aimed in the long term to choose the crown prince.
�� (AP, 10/20/06)(AFP, 6/16/12)
2006�� Oct 20, Shiite and Sunni religious figures met in Mecca in a bid to stop sectarian bloodshed, and issued a series of edicts forbidding violence between Iraq's two Muslim sects.
�� (AP, 10/20/06)

2006�� Nov 25, US Vice President Dick Cheney arrived in Saudi Arabia for talks with King Abdullah, apparently seeking the Sunni royal family's influence and tribal connections to calm Iraq after an especially violent week..
�� (AP, 11/25/06)

2006�� Dec 2, Saudi news said authorities have arrested 136 suspected militants over the past three months, accusing some of plotting to carry out suicide attacks inside the kingdom.
�� (AP, 12/3/06)

2006�� Dec 6, Saudi Arabia said it had fired a security adviser who wrote in The Washington Post that the world's top oil exporter would intervene in Iraq once the United States withdraws troops.� Saudi Arabia beheaded a Pakistani citizen and his daughter for smuggling heroin into the kingdom. The kingdom beheaded 83 people in 2005 and 35 people in 2004.
�� (AP, 12/6/06)(Reuters, 12/7/06)

2006�� Dec 7, In Saudi Arabia armed men shot and killed two guards outside a prison in the western city of Jiddah before taking cover in a residential building where they were surrounded by Saudi security forces.
�� (AP, 12/7/06)

2006�� Dec 10, The oil-rich Arab states on the Persian Gulf said that they will consider starting a joint nuclear program for peaceful purposes. The six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council included Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain and Oman.
�� (AP, 12/10/06)

2006�� Dec 11, More than 30 prominent Islamic clerics from Saudi Arabia called on Sunni Muslims around the Middle East to support their brethren in Iraq against Shiites and praised the insurgency.
�� (AP, 12/12/06)

2006�� Dec 26, The Saudi government said it had released 18 men who were detained after returning to their homeland from the US military prison in Guantanamo Bay.
�� (AP, 12/26/06)

2006�� Dec 28, Nearly 3 million Muslims from around the world, chanting and raising their hands to heaven, marched through a desert valley outside Mecca on the first day of the annual hajj pilgrimage.
�� (AP, 12/28/06)

2006�� William Simpson authored �The Prince: The Secret Story of the World�s Most Intriguing Royal, Prince Bandar bin Sultan.� Bandar (b.1949) had served over 20 years as Saudi Arabia�s ambassador in Washington (1983-2005).
�� (www.saudiembassy.net/Country/Government/BandarBio.asp)(Econ, 12/2/06, p.86)
2006�� The Saudi offshoot of Emaar, one of Dubai�s big-three developers, raised 2.55 billion riyals ($680 million) to build a metropolis on the Red Sea coast. The King Abdullah Economic City (KAEC) was due for completion in 2016.
�� (Econ, 4/26/08, p.38)

2007�� Jan 3, In Saudi Arabia Muslims circled the Kaaba, Islam's holiest site, for a final time, bringing to a close what may have been the largest hajj pilgrimage ever.
�� (AP, 1/3/07)

2007�� Jan 29, Saudi Arabia said it would begin a 158,000 barrel-a-day cut in oil production effective Feb 1.
�� (WSJ, 1/30/07, p.A1)

2007�� Jan 30, The Saudi foreign minister said Saudi Arabia and Iran are working together to try to calm the crises in Iraq and Lebanon.
�� (AP, 1/30/07)

2007�� Jan 30, Jamal Khalifa, a Saudi citizen married to a sister of Osama bin Laden, was killed when gunmen broke into his house in village in Madagascar in an apparent robbery.
�� (AP, 1/31/07)

2007�� Feb 3, The interior ministry spokesman said Saudi police have arrested 10 people who are accused of collecting donations and recruiting on behalf of militant groups.
�� (AP, 2/3/07)

2007�� Feb 4, A Saudi newspaper reported that a Saudi Arabian judge sentenced 20 foreigners to receive lashes and spend several months in prison after convicting them of attending a party where alcohol was served and men and women danced.
�� (AP, 2/4/07)

2007�� Feb 7, In Saudi Arabia rival Palestinian leaders began open-ended talks in Mecca optimistic that they could reach an agreement to end their bloody street battles and resume the peace process with Israel.
�� (AP, 2/7/07)

2007�� Feb 8, A Fatah official in Saudi Arabia said that rival Palestinian factions had reached an agreement on how to divide up Cabinet posts in a power-sharing government.
�� (AP, 2/8/07)

2007�� Feb 11, President Vladimir Putin, making the first visit by a Russian leader to Saudi Arabia, met King Abdullah and other senior officials for talks that touched on regional tensions including Iraq and the Palestinian territories.
�� (AP, 2/11/07)

2007�� Feb 17, A US human rights watchdog that recently sent a team to Saudi Arabia to investigate abuses said in a new report the kingdom keeps thousands of prisoners in jail without charge, sentences children to death and oppresses women.
�� (AP, 2/18/07)

2007�� Feb 19, A Saudi court ordered the bodies of four Sri Lankans to be displayed in a public square after being beheaded for armed robbery.
�� (AP, 2/21/07)

2007�� Feb 21, Seven Saudis released from the US prison in Guantanamo Bay returned home and were promptly detained to see if they had terrorist connections.
�� (AP, 2/21/07)

2007�� Feb 26, Three Frenchmen who lived in Saudi Arabia were killed by gunmen on the side of a desert road leading to the holy city of Medina in an area restricted to Muslims only. Soon after a 4th died from his wounds. An investigation later revealed that Waleed bin Mutlaq al-Radadi, among the kingdom's most wanted terrorists, was the mastermind and one of the triggermen in the shooting. Al-Radadi was killed on April 6 in a gunbattle with Saudi forces.
�� (AP, 2/26/07)(AP, 4/18/07)

2007�� Feb, Saudi Arabia arrested 10 intellectuals for signing a polite petition suggesting it was time for the kingdom to consider a transition to constitutional monarchy.
�� (Econ, 3/17/07, p.54)

2007�� Mar 3, Saudi Arabia's king personally welcomed Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad upon his arrival, a rapprochement many hope will help calm sectarian tensions threatening the Middle East. The leaders pledged to fight the spread of sectarian strife in the Middle East, which they said was the biggest danger facing the region.
�� (AP, 3/3/07)(AP, 3/4/07)

2007�� Mar 26, Israel welcomed the idea of a regional peace summit and Saudi Arabia suggesting it would consider changes in a dormant peace initiative to make it more acceptable to Israel.
�� (AP, 3/26/07)

2007�� Mar 29, Arab leaders at their summit in Riyadh agreed on a call for Israel to accept their land-for-peace offer and open direct negotiations with the Arabs. Unlike past summits that at times saw overt feuds break out, the gathering of Arab kings, emirs and presidents showed unusual public unity as it revived the peace offer, which they first made in 2002 only to meet rejection from Israel.
�� (AP, 3/29/07)

2007�� Mar, Britain's anti-fraud agency told a private OECD meeting in Paris that they had evidence that BAE paid more than 70 million pounds ($113 million) to a Saudi prince with influence over arms deal contracts. A US diplomatic cable regarding this was only made public in 2011.
�� (AP, 3/13/11)

2007�� Apr 2, Saudi Arabia signaled it is unlikely to accept an Israeli invitation to a regional peace conference, saying that Israel must first stop mistreating Palestinians and move to withdraw from Arab lands.
�� (AP, 4/2/07)

2007�� Apr 5, US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said that she raised the issue of Saudi Arabia's lack of female politicians with Saudi government officials on the last stop of her Mideast tour.
�� (AP, 4/5/07)

2007�� Apr 6, In Saudi Arabia Waleed bin Mutlaq al-Radadi, among the kingdom's most wanted terrorists, was killed in a gunbattle with Saudi forces. Al-Radadi was implicated in the Feb 26 killing of 4 French nationals.
�� (AP, 4/18/07)

2007�� Apr 15, The official Saudi news agency reported that Sudan has signed a joint agreement with the UN and the African Union that defines their respective roles in Darfur.
�� (AP, 4/16/07)

2007�� Apr 27, Saudi Arabia�s Interior Ministry said police had arrested 172 Islamic militants, some of whom had trained abroad as pilots so they could fly aircraft in attacks on Saudi Arabia's oil fields. A spokesman said all that remained in the plot "was to set the zero hour." More than $32.4 million was seized in the operation, one of the largest sweeps against terror cells in the kingdoms.
�� (AP, 4/27/07)

2007�� Apr 29, Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah held an unannounced meeting with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to discuss the recent escalation in Israeli-Palestinian tensions. Saudi Arabia banned the sale of concentrated fertilizer, a favorite component of homemade terrorist bombs.
�� (AP, 4/30/07)(Econ, 5/5/07, p.60)

2007�� May 3, African neighbors Sudan and Chad signed a Saudi-brokered reconciliation deal in Saudi Arabia, requiring both sides to cooperate with the United Nations to stabilize Darfur and the adjacent region in Chad.
�� (AP, 5/3/07)

2007�� May 5, Prince Abdul-Majid bin Abdul-Aziz (65), the governor of Mecca, died after a long illness.
�� (AP, 5/5/07)

2007�� May 8, A newspaper owned by Saudi Arabia's royal family said one of seven recently exposed Saudi terrorist cells used Syria as a base for coordinating with al-Qaida in Iraq and held training camps in the desert of neighboring Yemen.
�� (AP, 5/8/07)

2007�� May 9, Saudi authorities beheaded an Ethiopian woman convicted of killing an Egyptian man over a dispute. Khadija Bint Ibrahim Moussa was the second woman to be executed this year. The kingdom last beheaded two women in 2005. Beheadings are carried out with a sword in a public square.
�� (AP, 5/9/07)
2007�� May 9, In France Nayef al-Shaalan, a Saudi Prince, was sentenced in absentia to 10 years in jail on charges of involvement in a cocaine smuggling gang.
�� (AP, 5/9/07)

2007�� May 30, A Saudi Arabian detainee died at Guantanamo Bay prison and the US military said he apparently committed suicide.
�� (AP, 5/31/07)

2007�� Jun 7, British media reported that Saudi Arabia�s Prince Bandar bin Sultan pocketed about $2 billion in secret payments as part of an $80 billion arms deal between Britain and Saudi Arabia first signed in 1985.
�� (SFC, 6/8/07, p.A16)

2007�� Jun 23, In Saudi Arabia a judge postponed the trial of 3 members of the religious police for their alleged involvement in the death of a man arrested after being seen with a woman who was not his relative.
�� (AP, 6/23/07)

2007�� Jul 15, The Los Angeles Times reported that about 45 percent of all foreign militants targeting US troops and Iraqi security forces were from Saudi Arabia, 15 percent from Syria and Lebanon, and 10 percent from North Africa.
�� (AFP, 7/15/07)

2007�� Jul 17, The US freed 16 Saudis from Guantanamo and flew them home, where they were taken into custody for investigation of possible links to terrorism.
�� (WSJ, 1/17/07, p.A1)

2007�� Jul 30, UN inspectors visited a nuclear reactor being built in central Iran, a facility that has been off limits since April. Iran's foreign ministry spokesman criticized a US plan to sell state-of the-art weapons to Saudi Arabia.
�� (AP, 7/30/07)

2007�� Jul 31, In Egypt US Sec. of State Rice and Defense Secretary Robert Gates made a joint show of diplomatic force during two days of meetings with Arab allies, part of an 11th-hour effort to rally diplomatic and practical help for the US-backed Shiite-led government in Baghdad. The tour opened talks on a proposed US arms package for Arab states worth more than $20 billion. US officials extended a 10-year pledge to continue $1.3 billion in annual aid to Egypt�s military. Military aid to Israel was raised to $3 billion. Weapons sales to Saudi Arabia and 5 smaller monarchies was said to be $20 billion. Total US military aid to the region over the next decade amounted to $63 billion.
�� (AP, 7/31/07)(Econ, 8/4/07, p.39)

2007�� Aug 17, Saudi King Abdullah ordered two aid packages worth 20 million dollars each be dispatched to Sudan and Mauritania to help the impoverished African countries hit by severe floods.
�� (AFP, 8/17/07)

2007�� Aug 28, Journalists and diplomats said Saudi Arabia has banned the influential Arab newspaper Al Hayat from distribution in the kingdom, just days after it reported a Saudi man had served as a key figure for an al-Qaida front group in Iraq.
�� (AP, 8/28/07)

2007�� Sep 6, A Pentagon spokesman said 16 detainees from the US military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, have been transferred to the custody of Saudi Arabia.
�� (AP, 9/7/07)

2007�� Sep 8, Saudi Arabia and an influential Lebanese politician joined calls by Pakistan for former prime minister Nawaz Sharif to scrap plans to return to the country next week.
�� (AP, 9/8/07)

2007�� Sep 10, Former PM Nawaz Sharif returned to Pakistan from a seven-year exile, hoping to campaign against the country's US-allied military ruler, but was immediately charged with corruption and deported to Saudi Arabia hours later. Pro-Taliban militants freed more than 260 Pakistani troops who were kidnapped nearly two weeks ago in a restive tribal region near the border with Afghanistan.
�� (AP, 9/10/07)

2007�� Sep 16, Saudi King Abdullah oversaw the signing in Jiddah of a reconciliation agreement negotiated by several Somali factions in an attempt to stabilize their country and battle the Islamic opposition.
�� (AP, 9/16/07)

2007�� Sep 17, Saudi Arabia announced it has signed a 4.43 billion pound (8.86 billion dollar) deal to buy 72 Eurofighter planes, after tortuous negotiations on one of the largest ever British export orders.
�� (AP, 9/17/07)

2007�� Oct 5, Abdullah bin Abdul-Aziz, Saudi Arabia's king, announced an overhaul of the country's judicial system, fulfilling a pledge he made several months ago to reform the current heavily-criticized administration.
�� (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7029308.stm)(Econ, 10/13/07, p.51)

2007�� Oct 6, A Saudi newspaper said the Saudi Arabian government will temporarily release 55 prisoners recently transferred from the US military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba and will give each of them about $2,600 to celebrate the upcoming Muslim holiday of Eid al-Fitr.
�� (AP, 10/7/07)

2007�� Oct 23, First lady Laura Bush helped launch a screening facility in Saudi Arabia as part of a U.S.-Saudi initiative to raise breast cancer awareness in the kingdom where doctors struggle to break long-held taboos about the disease.
�� (AP, 10/23/07)

2007�� Oct 30, In London Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah received a lavish welcome from Queen Elizabeth II as he started a state visit amid angry protests and headlines after accusing Britain of anti-terrorism failures. The Policy Exchange, an independent think tank, said Agencies linked to the Saudi government have distributed extremist literature to mosques and Islamic centers in Britain.
�� (AP, 10/30/07)

2007�� Oct 31, In London King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia met PM Gordon Brown to discuss Middle East issues and counter-terrorism, amid a swirl of protests.
�� (AP, 10/31/07)

2007�� Nov 6, In the Vatican Benedict XVI raised concerns about restrictions on Christian worship in Saudi Arabia in the first meeting ever between a pope and a reigning Saudi king.
�� (AP, 11/6/07)

2007�� Nov 9, Saudi authorities beheaded Saudi citizen Khalaf al-Anzi in Riyadh for kidnapping and raping a teenager.
�� (AP, 11/10/07)

2007�� Nov 10, Saudi authorities received a group of 14 Saudis Saturday from the US military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Saudi authorities beheaded a Pakistani for drug trafficking. This execution brought to 131 the number of people beheaded in the kingdom this year. Saudi Arabia beheaded 38 people last year and 83 people in 2005.
�� (AP, 11/10/07)

2007�� Nov 12, Airbus said it was building a custom, 380 VIP double-decker jet for Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal with a price tag of over $320 million.
�� (AP, 11/12/07)

2007�� Nov 14, A Saudi court sentenced a woman (19) who had been gang raped to six months in jail and 200 lashes, more than doubling her initial penalty for being in the car of a man who was not a relative. The court also roughly doubled prison sentences for the seven men convicted of raping the woman. Their new sentences range from two to nine years. The court also banned the lawyer from defending her, confiscated his license to practice law and summoned him to a disciplinary hearing later this month.
�� (AP, 11/16/07)

2007�� Nov 18, In eastern Saudi Arabia an explosion and fire on a gas pipeline killed 40 workers. The cause of the fire was an accident during maintenance work and Aramco said it did not expect a disruption in gas supplies.
�� (AP, 11/18/07)(AP, 11/20/07)

2007�� Nov 23, Saudi Arabia and other Arab nations grudgingly agreed to attend an upcoming US-sponsored Mideast peace conference, despite failing to get any guarantee of Israeli concessions.
�� (AP, 11/23/08)

2007�� Nov 28, Authorities in Saudi Arabia announced the arrest of 208 suspected terrorists in six cells and thwarted several planned attacks in the kingdom's largest terror sweep to date. They included 8 al-Qaida linked men allegedly planning to attack oil installations.
�� (AP, 11/28/07)

2007�� Dec 16, Millions of Muslims from around the world gathered in Mecca for the start of the annual Islamic hajj pilgrimage, as the Saudi Interior Ministry announced tough security precautions.
�� (AP, 12/16/07)

2007�� Dec 17, In Saudi Arabia a gang-rape victim who was sentenced to six months in prison and 200 lashes for being alone with a man not related to her was pardoned by the Saudi king after the case sparked rare criticism from the United States, the kingdom's top ally.
�� (AP, 12/17/07)

2007�� Dec 21, In Saudi Arabia the annual 5-day hajj come to a close as some 3 million pilgrims participated.
�� (AP, 12/21/07)

2007�� Dec 23, Saudi Arabia�s Interior Ministry said police have arrested 28 men for allegedly planning to attack holy sites around Mecca and Medina during the recently finished Muslim hajj.
�� (AP, 12/23/07)

2007�� The population of Saudi Arabia passed 24 million. The country imported $6 billion in food this year.
�� (WSJ, 12/12/07, p.A17)(WSJ, 8/26/08, p.A12)

2008�� Jan 12, Saudi authorities beheaded an Indonesian maid convicted of killing her employer. The Interior Ministry said the maid used a pillow to suffocate her employer Aisha Al Makhaled and then stole her jewelry in the southern province of Asir.
�� (AP, 1/12/08)

2008�� Jan 14, In Saudi Arabia President Bush, on his first visit to this oil-rich kingdom, delivered a major arms sale to its ally in a region.
�� (AP, 1/14/08)

2008�� Jan 15, In Saudi Arabia Pres. Bush urged OPEC nations to put more oil on the world market and warned that soaring prices could cause an economic slowdown in the US. The kingdom's oil minister said Saudi Arabia will raise oil production when the market justifies it.
�� (AP, 1/15/08)

2008�� Jan 21, In Saudi Arabia the daily Al-Watan, which is deemed close to the Saudi government, reported that the Interior Ministry issued a circular to hotels asking them to accept lone women, as long as their information is sent to a local police station.
�� (AP, 1/21/08)

2008�� Jan 29, Saudi Arabia said it had killed some 158,000 chickens after the deadly H5N1 bird flu strain was found at an infected farm. The agriculture ministry also said more than 4.5 million fowl have been killed in provinces around the capital, but it did not specify when the killing took place.
�� (AP, 1/30/08)

2008�� Feb 14, A leading human rights group appealed to Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah to stop the execution of a woman accused of witchcraft and performing supernatural acts.
�� (AP, 2/14/08)

2008�� Feb 23, In Saudi Arabia bus plunged over a cliff, killing at least 25 people on board.
�� (AP, 2/24/08)

2008�� Mar 3, Saudi police arrested 28 suspected militants accused of trying to rebuild al-Qaida�s terror network in the kingdom.
�� (WSJ, 3/4/08, p.A1)

2008�� Mar 22, US Vice President Dick Cheney completing a two-day stay in Saudi Arabia, discussed ways to stabilize the energy market with Saudi King Abdullah.
�� (AP, 3/22/08)

2008�� Mar 23, Saudi Arabia said inflation reached a 27-year high of 8.7% in February.
�� (WSJ, 3/24/08, p.A6)

2008�� Mar 24, Saudi Arabia said its king would send a lower level diplomat to the March 29 Arab League summit in Syria, which hoped to help solve the stalemate in Lebanon.
�� (WSJ, 3/25/08, p.A1)

2008�� Mar 25, King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia made a proposal for dialogue among the world�s monotheistic religions. Abdullah said Saudi Arabia's top clerics gave him a green light.
�� (AP, 3/26/08)

2008�� Apr 13, The Saudi Arabia beheaded two Nigerian men convicted of smuggling cocaine into the kingdom. 42 people have been beheaded this year, according to an AP count.
�� (AP, 4/13/08)

2008�� May 2, In Saudi Arabia a German-based quartet staged the first-ever performance of European classical music in a public venue before a mixed gender, largely expatriate audience.
�� (AP, 5/4/08)

2008�� May 16, Pres. Bush arrived in Saudi Arabia and appealed for increased oil production just as prices hit another record high.
�� (AP, 5/16/08)

2008�� May 19, Matrook al-Faleh was arrested at King Saud University in the Saudi capital Riyadh, where he teaches political science. A rights group said it came after al-Faleh publicly criticized conditions in a prison where two other human rights activists are serving jail terms. Faleh was released in January, 2009.
�� (AP, 5/25/08)(AP, 1/11/09)

2008�� May 23, A UN food aid agency said the response to its appeal for money to help meet soaring fuel and food costs went beyond what it had hoped to collect, saying $500 million from Saudi Arabia means it won't have to cut rations.
�� (AP, 5/23/08)

2008�� May 24, In Saudi Arabia authorities beheaded a local man convicted of armed robbery and raping a woman. The execution brings the number of people beheaded this year to 55.
�� (AP, 5/24/08)

2008�� Jun 5, In Italy a 3-day UN summit aimed at fighting hunger worldwide ended with pledges to boost food output, calls to cut trade barriers and more research on biofuels. Just before the meeting Saudi Arabia announced a donation of $500 million.
�� (WSJ, 6/6/08, p.A10)(Econ, 6/7/08, p.70)

2008�� Jun 20, In Saudi Arabia religious police arrested 21 allegedly homosexual men and confiscated large amounts of alcohol at a large gathering of young men at a rest house in Qatif.
�� (AP, 6/21/08)

2008�� Jun 22, Saudi Arabia held meeting in Jiddah between oil producing and consuming nations as a way to show that it was not deaf to international cries that high oil prices have caused social and economic turmoil. Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi said Saudi Arabia is willing to produce more oil if customers need it without citing any specific output increase. Britain�s PM Gordon Brown called for cash-rich Gulf nations to invest in renewable and nuclear energy production in Britain and elsewhere.
�� (AP, 6/22/08)

2008�� Jun 25, Saudi officials said authorities have arrested hundreds of suspected al-Qaida-linked militants this year. Some of those arrested are suspected of plotting attacks against the kingdom's oil and economic installations. Of the 701 arrested 181 were released because there was no proof linking them to the terror network.
�� (AP, 6/25/08)

2008�� Jul 8, A human rights group said domestic workers in Saudi Arabia often suffer abuse that in some cases amounts to slavery, as well as sexual violence and lashings for spurious allegations of theft or witchcraft.
�� (AP, 7/8/08)

2008�� Jul 16, In Spain King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia kicked off an interfaith conference in Madrid, an effort to bring Muslims, Christians and Jews closer together amid a world that often puts the three faiths at odds.
�� (AP, 7/16/08)

2008�� Jul 18, In Spain a Saudi-organized conference of the world's great religions called for an international agreement to combat terrorism, "a universal phenomenon that requires unified international efforts."
�� (AFP, 7/18/08)

2008�� Jul 28, Tarek bin Laden signed a deal with Djibouti to build Noor City, the first of a hundred �Cities of Light� that the Saudi Binladen Group planned around the world. Plans called for the city to have 2.5 million people by 2025 and 4.5 million for its Yemeni twin.
�� (Econ, 8/2/08, p.50)(www.railpage.com.au/f-p1093077.htm)

2008�� Jul 30, Saudi Arabia's Islamic religious police banned the sale dogs and cats as pets, as well as walking them in public due to �the rising of phenomenon of men using cats and dogs to make passes at women and pester families" as well as "violating proper behavior in public squares and malls."
�� (AP, 7/31/08)

2008�� Aug 13, An alleged assault by Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal (b.1955) reportedly took place on a young model (20) on a yacht on the Mediterranean island of Ibiza. An investigating magistrate on the resort island closed the case in 2010 on grounds of insufficient evidence. In 2011 Spain reopened a rape probe after tests done by a forensic lab found semen in the woman and traces of a sedative called nordazepam.
�� (AP, 9/14/11)

2008�� Sep 11, Sheik Saleh al-Lihedan (79), Saudi Arabia's top judiciary official, issued a religious decree saying it is permissible to kill the owners of satellite TV networks that broadcast immoral content. On Sep 14 he adjusted his comments saying owners who broadcast immoral content should be brought to trial and sentenced to death if other penalties do not deter them.
�� (AP, 9/12/08)(SFC, 9/15/08, p.A3)

2008�� Oct 12, The United Arab Emirates said it would guarantee domestic bank deposits and with Saudi Arabia promised fresh financial support to domestic banks.
�� (WSJ, 10/13/08, p.A5)

2008�� Oct 21, Saudi Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal confirmed for the first time that the kingdom has been sponsoring talks between the Afghan government and the Taliban militia.
�� (AP, 10/21/08)
2008�� Oct 21, Saudi Arabia�s interior minister said authorities have indicted 991 suspected militants on charges that they participated in terrorist attacks carried out in the kingdom over the last five years.
�� (AP, 10/21/08)

2008�� Nov 2, British PM Gordon Brown said he is confident that Saudi Arabia will contribute to the International Monetary Fund's bailout reserves after he promised business leaders in the Gulf that they would have a say in any future new world economic order.
�� (AP, 11/2/08)

2008�� Nov 6, A group of Saudi activists began a rare public hunger strike to demand judiciary reform and draw attention to the detention without trial of 11 political reformists.
�� (AP, 11/6/08)

2008�� Nov 15, Gunmen hijacked a freighter with 23 crew off the coast of Somalia. The crew of the Japanese-owned Chemstar Venus consisted of five South Koreans and 18 Filipinos. Somali pirates hijacked the Sirius Star, a newly commissioned supertanker, more than 450 nautical miles southeast of Mombasa, Kenya, along with its 25-member crew. The ship, owned by Saudi oil company Aramco, was capable of carrying about 2 million barrels of oil. The ship was released on Jan 9, 2009.
�� (AP, 11/16/08)(AP, 11/17/08)(AP, 1/9/09)

2008�� Nov 18, Owners of a Saudi oil supertanker hijacked by Somali pirates grappled with how to respond, as navies patrolling the region said they would not intervene to stop or free the captured vessel.
�� (AP, 11/18/08)

2008�� Nov 23, Saudi Arabia slashed a key lending rate and cut reserve requirements amid intensifying economic headwinds.
�� (WSJ, 11/24/08, p.A8)

2008�� Nov, A US diplomatic cable said donors in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates are sending an estimated $100 million annually to radical Islamic schools in Pakistan that back militancy. The cable was leaked to the public on May 22, 2011.
�� (AP, 5/22/11)

2008�� Dec 5, In Saudi Arabia nearly 3 million Muslims from all over the world gathered in Mecca, on the eve of the start of the annual hajj pilgrimage.
�� (AP, 12/5/08)

2008�� Dec 7, In Saudi Arabia nearly 3 million Muslims converged on a rocky desert hill outside Mecca to perform the ritual of forgiveness marking the climax of the annual hajj.
�� (AP, 12/7/08)

2008�� Dec 10, In Saudi Arabia Muslims poured into Mecca for a final day of the hajj.
�� (AP, 12/10/08)
2008�� Dec 10, The European Commission awarded the first Chaillot Prize to the Al-Nahda Philanthropic Society for Women, a Saudi charity which helps divorced and underprivileged women.
�� (AFP, 12/10/08)

2008�� Dec 14, It was reported that Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, who owns a double-decker "flying palace" and recently raised his bet on Citigroup, lost $4 billion in the past year.
�� (AP, 12/14/08)

2008�� Steve Coll authored �The Bin Ladens: An Arabian Family in the American Century.�
�� (Econ, 4/12/08, p.92)
2008�� David B. Ottaway authored �The King�s Messenger: Prince Bandar bin Sultan and America�s Tangled Relationship with Saudi Arabia.�
�� (Econ, 11/8/08, p.101)
2008�� Saudi Arabia abandoned its self-sufficiency agricultural program when it discovered that farmers were burning through water coming from a non-replenishable aquifer.
�� (Econ, 5/23/09, p.62)
2008�� In Saudi Arabia Raif Badawi co-founded a website as a platform for open debate on religion. He was banned from travel in 2009 after criticizing the official Wahhabist doctrine. In 2012 he was jailed for ridiculing Islamic religious figures.
�� (Econ, 4/6/13, p.58)(Econ, 5/17/14, p.46)
2008�� UNESCO proclaimed Madain Saleh, as a site of patrimony, becoming Saudi Arabia's first World Heritage Site. It was chosen for its well-preserved remains from late antiquity, especially the 131 rock-cut monumental tombs, with their elaborately ornamented facades, of the Nabatean kingdom.
�� (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mada%27in_Saleh)

2009�� Jan 9, Somali pirates released the MV Sirius Star, an oil-laden Saudi supertanker seized on Nov 15, after receiving a $3 million ransom.
�� (AP, 1/9/09)

2009�� Jan 14, Saudi Arabia's most senior cleric was quoted as saying it is permissible for 10-year-old girls to marry and those who think they're too young are doing the girls an injustice.
�� (AP, 1/14/09)

2009�� Jan 19, The Saudi king said his country will donate $1 billion to help rebuild the Gaza Strip after the devastating Israeli offensive and told Israel that an Arab initiative offering peace will not remain on the table forever. The Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency cut its benchmark lending rate a half point to 2%, and its deposit rate by three-quarters point to .75%.
�� (AP, 1/19/09)(WSJ, 1/20/09, p.A11)

2009�� Jan 20, Saudi Arabia�s prince Alwaleed bin Talal said his conglomerate Kingdom Holding Co. lost about $7.9 billion in 2008.
�� (WSJ, 1/21/09, p.A11)

2009�� Jan 21, In Pakistan a Saudi called Zabi ul Taifi was among seven Al-Qaida suspects caught when government forces mounted a raid near the northwestern city of Peshawar.
�� (AP, 1/22/09)

2009�� Jan 23, Said Ali al-Shihri, a Saudi man released from Guantanamo after spending nearly six years inside the US prison camp, is now the No. 2 of Yemen's al-Qaida branch, according to a purported Internet statement from the terror network.
�� (AP, 1/23/09)

2009�� Feb 2, Saudi Arabia issued a list of its 83 most wanted suspects living abroad, including six Saudis released from Guantanamo Bay, and asked Interpol for help in arresting them. On Feb 10 Interpol put out an international alert for 85 alleged terrorists suspected of plotting attacks against Saudi Arabia.
�� (AP, 2/2/09)(WSJ, 2/11/09, p.A1)

2009�� Feb 14, Saudi King Abdullah (86), in an apparent bid to reform the religious establishment,� dismissed the head of the feared religious police and a hard-line cleric who issued an edict last year saying it was permissible to kill owners of satellite TV stations that show "immoral" content. King Abdullah also appointed Noura al Fayez as deputy minister of women�s education, the 1st female to hold a ministerial post.
�� (AP, 2/14/09)(SSFC, 2/15/09, p.A6)(Econ, 2/21/09, p.48)

2009�� Feb 17, The Yemeni Interior Ministry announced the surrender of Abu al-Hareth Muhammad al-Oufi, a former Guantanamo detainee who later became an al-Qaida field commander. He was handed over to Saudi authorities.
�� (AP, 2/17/09)

2009�� Feb 19, Naser Abdel Karim al-Wahishi, Yemen's most wanted fugitive and leader of al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula, used an audio recording to urge Yemenis to rise up against the government and called on Arabs in Saudi Arabia and Gulf countries to help their brothers in Yemen.
�� (AP, 2/19/09)

2009�� Feb 25, Saudi police were reported to have clashed with Shiite pilgrims over several days near a cemetery in Islam's second-holiest city, leading Shiite Cleric Sheik Nimr al-Nimr� to appeal to the king to put a stop to the "insults" of the religious police. Shiites make up a small minority of the country's 22 million people. Following the incendiary sermon, more than 35 people were arrested in a government crackdown and al-Nimr went into hiding.
�� (AP, 2/25/09)(AP, 4/1/09)

2009�� Mar 3, In Saudi Arabia Khamisa Sawadi, a 75-year-old widow, was sentenced to 40 lashes and four months in jail for mingling with two young men who are not close relatives. The case drew new criticism for the kingdom's ultraconservative religious police and judiciary.
�� (AP, 3/10/09)

2009�� Mar 10, In Saudi Arabia a huge sandstorm blanketed the city of Riyadh with a thick layer of yellow dust.
�� (AP, 3/11/09)

2009�� Mar 11, Saudi Arabia hosted the leaders of Egypt and Syria in an effort to persuade Damascus to move away from Iran and join with US-allied Arab countries in working to blunt Tehran's influence.
�� (AP, 3/11/09)

2009�� Mar 22, A group of Saudi clerics urged the kingdom's new information minister to ban women from appearing on TV or in newspapers and magazines, making clear that the country's hardline religious establishment is skeptical of a new push toward moderation.
�� (AP, 3/22/09)

2009�� Mar 25, Fahad al-Ruwaily, a senior al-Qaida leader, returned to Saudi Arabia voluntarily and turned himself in. He was on a list of the kingdom's 85 most wanted militants living abroad.
�� (AP, 3/26/09)

2009�� Mar 27, Saudi Arabia�s King Abdullah (84) appointed his half-brother, Prince Nayef (75), as his 2nd deputy prime minister.
�� (Econ, 4/4/09, p.51)

2009�� Apr 1, Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir arrived in Saudi Arabia for a brief pilgrimage, his latest trip abroad in defiance of an international arrest warrant against him.
�� (Reuters, 4/1/09)

2009�� Apr 7, Saudi authorities beheaded 3 Pakistanis convicted of killing a fellow Pakistani during a jewelry heist. This brought to 20 the number of beheadings in the kingdom this year.
�� (AP, 4/7/09)

2009�� Apr 11, A Saudi man convicted of rape and robbery was beheaded, becoming the 22nd prisoner to be executed by sword this year in the kingdom. An Interior Ministry statement says the man committed the crimes after drinking alcohol.
�� (AP, 4/11/09)

2009�� Apr 30, In Saudi Arabia a lawyer said an 8-year-old girl has divorced her middle-aged husband after her father forced her to marry him last year in exchange for about $13,000. Saudi Arabia has come under increasing criticism at home and abroad for permitting child marriages. The United States, a close ally of the conservative Muslim kingdom, has called child marriage a "clear and unacceptable" violation of human rights.
�� (AP, 5/1/09)

2009�� May 12, The US won a seat on the UN Human Rights Council for the first time along with Cuba, Saudi Arabia, China and Russia, four countries accused of serious human rights violations.
�� (SFC, 5/13/09, p.A2)

2009�� May 23, It was reported that Saudi Arabian investors were spending $100 million to raise wheat, barley and rise on land leased from the government of Ethiopia. The World Food Program estimated that it would spend almost the same amount between 2007 and 2011 to provide 230,000 tons of food aid to some 4.6 million Ethiopians threatened by hunger and malnutrition.
�� (Econ, 5/23/09, p.61)

2009�� May 28, The Saudi Arabia, Monetary Agency froze the bank accounts of Maan al-Sanea, head of the Saad Group and ranked recently as the 3rd richest Arab businessman.
�� (Econ, 6/20/09, p.70)

2009�� May 29, Saudi authorities beheaded and crucified a man convicted of brutally slaying an 11-year-old boy and his father.
�� (AP, 5/30/09)

2009�� May, The Int�l. Banking Corporation (TIBC), a Bahraini bank, defaulted. It was owned by the Ahmad Hamad Algosaibi & Brothers Company of Saudi Arabia. The group later alleged the default was due to fraud orchestrated by Maan Al-Sanea, a Saudi billionaire born in Kuwait. The Gosaibis estimated that Al-Sanea had misappropriated some $9.2 billion.
�� (Econ, 7/11/09, p.65)(Econ, 2/20/10, p.61)

2009�� Jun 3, Iranian nuclear scientist Shahram Amiri vanished during a pilgrimage to the Saudi kingdom. In October Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said: "We hold Saudi Arabia responsible for Shahram Amiri's situation and consider the US to be involved in his arrest."
�� (AP, 10/7/09)
2009�� Jun 3, President Barack Obama began his latest bid to open a dialogue with the Muslim world by paying a call on King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia. Pres. Obama spoke to King Abdullah about a host of thorny problems, from Arab-Israeli peace efforts to Iran's nuclear program.
�� (AP, 6/3/09)

2009�� Jun 6, In Saudi Arabia a screening of the Saudi film, "Menahi," brought a taste of the moviegoing experience to Riyadh more than 30 years after the government began shutting down theaters. No women were allowed. Men and children, including girls up to 10, were allowed to attend the show at a government-run cultural center.
�� (AP, 6/8/09)

2009�� Jun 7, Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar and Saudi Arabia signed an agreement paving the way for a monetary union and plans for a unified regional currency.
�� (SFC, 6/8/09, p.C1)

2009�� Jun 12, Guantanamo detainee Ahmed Zuhair and two others were reported to have been sent home to Saudi Arabia, where they would be subject to judicial review before entering a government-run "rehabilitation" program. Zuhair had been held at Guantanamo since June 2002 and had refused to eat since the summer of 2005. He was force-fed a liquid mix to keep him alive.
�� (AP, 6/12/09)

2009�� Jun 14, Yemen accused a Shiite rebel group of kidnapping nine foreigners while on a picnic in northern Saada province. The Interior Ministry official said Hassan Hussein Bin Alwan, a Saudi man suspected of financing Al-Qaida cells in Yemen and Saudi Arabia, has been arrested.
�� (AP, 6/14/09)

2009�� Jun 24, The Gosaibi family of Saudi Arabia held a creditor�s meeting in Bahrain. Their representatives revealed that the group owed $9.2 billion to over 120 banks all over the world.
�� (Econ, 7/11/09, p.65)

2009�� Jul 15, Mazen Abdul-Jawad (32), a Saudi man, appeared on the Lebanese-based LBC satellite TV station�s "Bold Red Line" program and shocked Saudis by publicly confessing to sexual exploits. More than 200 people soon filed legal complaints against Abdul-Jawad, dubbed a "sex braggart" by the media, and many Saudis said he should be severely punished. On July 31 Abdul-Jawad was detained for questioning. The Jiddah offices of the LBC station were closed soon thereafter.
�� (AP, 8/6/09)(AP, 8/9/09)

2009�� Jul 8, Saudi officials said a criminal court has convicted and sentenced an al-Qaida militant to death and given more 330 others jail terms, fines and travel bans in the country's first known terrorism trials for suspected members of the terror network. The 330 are believed to be among the 991 suspected militants that Interior Minister Prince Nayef has said had been charged with participating in terrorist attacks over the past five years.
�� (AP, 7/8/09)

2009�� Jul 9-2009 Aug 2, Saudi Arabian authorities arrested 44 suspected militants who sought to recruit youths and finance their "deviant activities" through charitable donations.
�� (AP, 8/19/09)

2009�� Jul 22, Amnesty International reported that Saudi Arabia is holding more than 3,000 people in secret detention and has used torture to extract confessions in its anti-terrorism crackdown since the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks.
�� (AP, 7/22/09)

2009�� Jul 23, Arab health ministers decided to ban children, the elderly and those with chronic medical conditions from attending the annual Muslim pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia this year in effort to slow the spread of swine flu.
�� (AP, 7/23/09)

2009�� Aug 9, Italians newspapers reported that burglars earlier in the week had made off with jewels and cash worth 11 million euros (15.6 million dollars) from the hotel room of a Saudi princess in Sardinia, sparking a diplomatic incident. On Sep 15 Sardinia police said most of the jewels had been recovered.
�� (AFP, 8/9/09)(AP, 9/15/09)

2009�� Aug 19, Saudi authorities said they have arrested 44 suspected militants with al-Qaida links in a yearlong sweep that also uncovered dozens of machine guns and electronic circuits for bombs.
�� (AP, 8/20/09)

2009�� Aug 27, In Saudi Arabia a suicide bomber targeted the assistant interior minister, Prince Mohammed bin Nayef, and blew himself up just before going into a gathering of well-wishers for the Muslim holy month of Ramadan in Jiddah. Nayef was slightly wounded.
�� (AP, 8/28/09)

2009�� Sep 14, The Saudi Interior Ministry said on Jan 18, 2010, that an investigation has shown that three Saudi militants were killed in a Sept. 14 blast outside the country [see Afghanistan and Pakistan Sep 14, 2009].
�� (AP, 1/18/10)

2009�� Sep 23, Saudi Arabia opened a new multibillion dollar coed university outside the coastal city of Jeddah. The King Abdullah Science and Technology University, or KAUST, boasted state-of-the-art labs, the world's 14th fastest supercomputer and one of the biggest endowments worldwide. 817 students representing 61 different countries were currently enrolled, with 314 beginning classes this month. It was run by Saudi Aramco, the national oil company, and was the kingdom�s first mixed-gender university.
�� (http://tinyurl.com/m7gs6fo)(AP, 9/23/09)��

2009�� Oct 7, A Saudi court convicted Mazen Abdul-Jawad for publicly talking about sex after he bragged on a TV talk show about his exploits, sentencing him to five years in jail and 1,000 lashes. The program, which aired July 15 on the Lebanese LBC satellite channel, was seen in Saudi Arabia and scandalized conservative viewers where such frank talk is rarely heard in public.
�� (AP, 10/7/09)
2009�� Oct 7, Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah made his first visit to Syria since becoming monarch, the strongest indication yet of thawing relations between the two rival nations following years of tension. The 2-day talks between Abdullah and Assad focused on the need for Arab solidarity in view of the numerous challenges facing the Arab world.
�� (AP, 10/7/09)(AP, 10/9/09)

2009�� Oct 13, In Saudi Arabia a shootout between Saudi security forces and al-Qaida militants near, two of whom were disguised as women and wearing explosives belts, left two of the militants and a soldier dead near the southern Yemen border. One of the assailants, Abdullah Hassan Tali Assiri, was captured. The two al-Qaida militants killed were planning to carry out a massive attack. 6 Yemeni accomplices. who were coordinating with the two militants, Youssef al-Shihri and Raed al-Harbi, were later arrested.
�� (AP, 10/14/09)(AP, 10/18/09)

2009�� Oct 24, A Saudi court convicted a female journalist for her involvement in a TV show, in which a Saudi man, Abdul-Jawad, publicly talked about sex, and sentenced her to 60 lashes. Rozanna al-Yami (22) is believed to be the first Saudi woman journalist to be given such a punishment. The same court sentenced Abdul-Jawad earlier this month to five years in jail and 1,000 lashes. 3 other men who appeared on the show, "Bold Red Line," were also convicted of discussing sex publicly and sentenced to two years imprisonment and 300 lashes each. Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah waived the flogging sentence of the female journalist, the second such pardoning of such a high profile case by the monarch in recent years. He ordered al-Yami's case and that of another journalist, a pregnant woman also accused of involvement in the program, be referred to a committee in the ministry.
�� (AP, 10/24/09)(AP, 10/26/09)

2009�� Oct, The Bin Laden family went under the spotlight in "Growing Up Bin Laden," written by Omar bin Laden and his mother, Najwa bin Laden. In Dec, 2009, Omar bin Laden, revealed that many of the children who had been with their father in Afghanistan escaped to Iran following the 2001 US-led invasion, and were still together in a walled compound under Iranian guard.
�� (AP, 1/6/10)

2009�� Nov 1, A Saudi Arabia Interior Ministry spokesman said authorities have discovered large quantities of weapons in the capital Riyadh belonging to al-Qaida terror network. The discovery included 281 assault rifles and 51 ammunition boxes.
�� (AP, 11/1/09)

2009�� Nov 3, Unidentified gunmen infiltrated from Yemen and attacked Saudi security guards patrolling the Mount Dokhan border area. 3 senior security men were killed.
�� (AP, 11/5/09)(Econ, 11/7/09, p.47)

2009�� Nov 4, Saudi Arabia launched a large military incursion across the border into northern Yemen, using fighter jets and artillery bombardments to try to end a Shiite rebellion inside its troubled southern neighbor.
�� (AP, 11/5/09)

2009�� Nov 6, Saudi Arabia said it carried out airstrikes against "infiltrators" from Yemen that were limited to areas inside Saudi territory, and vowed to press on with the military action until the border with its restive neighbor was secure. In Yemen, however, a military official said Saudi forces continued to shell rebel position in Saada.
�� (AP, 11/6/09)

2009�� Nov 8, Saudi Arabia�s assistant defense minister said Saudi forces have taken control of Dokhan mountain straddling the border with Yemen and cleared it of Shiite rebels, in five days of fighting that saw three soldiers killed and 15 wounded.
�� (AP, 11/8/09)

2009�� Nov 9, In Saudi Arabia Ali Sibat (49), a Lebanese psychic who made predictions on a satellite TV channel from his home in Beirut, was sentenced to death for practicing witchcraft. He was arrested by religious police in Medina during a pilgrimage there in May, 2008. In 2010 Saudi authorities said Sibat would not be beheaded. A 3-judge panel said that there was not enough evidence that Sibat's actions harmed others. They ordered the case to be retried in a Medina court and recommended that the sentence be commuted and that Sibat be deported.
�� (AP, 11/25/09)(AP, 4/21/10)(AP, 11/13/10)

2009�� Nov 10, A Saudi Arabian government adviser says the kingdom has imposed a naval blockade on northern Yemen's Red Sea coast to try to prevent weapons and fighters flowing to Shiite rebels in the area.
�� (AP, 11/10/09)

2009�� Nov 21, Saudi health officials announced the first deaths from swine flu of this year's annual pilgrimage to Mecca, as four pilgrims succumbed to the disease soon after arriving in Saudi Arabia.
�� (AP, 11/21/09)

2009�� Nov 23, Shiite rebels in northern Yemen accused Saudi forces of launching a major cross-border ground and air attack, a day after an alleged failed incursion.
�� (AFP, 11/23/09)

2009�� Nov 25, In Saudi Arabia rare, heavy rainstorms soaked pilgrims and flooded the road into Mecca, snarling Islam's annual hajj as some 2.5 million Muslims headed for the holy sites. The downpours add an extra hazard on top of intense concerns about the spread of swine flu. The torrential rains killed at least 106 people. Most of the deaths occurred in Jiddah, where streets were swamped with water, some houses collapsed and mudslides took place, and in areas around the main highway to Mecca.
�� (AP, 11/25/09)(AFP, 11/25/09)(AP, 11/26/09)(AP, 11/28/09)

2009�� Nov 27, In Saudi Arabia vast crowds of pilgrims cast stones at walls representing the devil on the third day of the annual hajj as Muslims around the world began celebrating Eid al-Adha, the most important holiday of the Islamic calendar.
�� (AP, 11/27/09)
2009�� Nov 27, Saudi Arabia said nine of its soldiers fighting Yemeni rebels on the border were missing and Saudi King Abdullah vowed to defend the country.
�� (AP, 11/28/09)

2009�� Nov 29, Saudi officials said 5 people died from swine flu during the hajj, a relatively small number considering the event is the largest annual gathering in the world and was seen as an ideal incubator for the virus.
�� (AP, 11/29/09)
2009�� Nov 29, Somali pirates seized the Greece-flagged Maran Centaurus, a tanker carrying more about $150 million of crude oil from Saudi Arabia to the US, in the waters off East Africa.
�� (AP, 11/30/09)(AP, 12/4/09)

2009�� Dec 12, Saudi newspapers said Saudi ground forces and Apache attack helicopters had battled Huthi fighters for two days at the Al-Jabri post on the Yemeni border in the southern province of Yemen, and repulsed attempted Huthi incursions. Saudi military denied a claim by Yemen's Huthi rebels that they seized a Saudi border post.
�� (AFP, 12/12/09)

2009�� Dec 13, In Yemen air strike killed at least 35 people in the northwest where rebels have been fighting a guerrilla war against Yemeni and Saudi forces. Rebels said 70 civilians were killed as fighter jets struck the town of Razah.
�� (SFC, 12/14/09, p.A2)

2009�� Dec 15, In Kuwait Gulf Arab nations put into force a monetary pact, moving a step closer toward the elusive goal of a single regional currency and greater integration between the mainly oil-rich states. The announcement was made by Kuwait's finance minister came as leaders from the six-member Gulf Cooperation Council nations were wrapping up a two-day summit in which they launched a regional electricity project. The GCC groups Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Oman and Bahrain.
�� (AP, 12/15/09)

2009�� Dec 22, Saudi Arabia said that 73 Saudis have been killed and 26 gone missing since the kingdom launched an offensive against Yemeni Shiite rebels along the border last month. Rebels, known as Hawthis, have alleged dozens of civilian deaths in Saudi air assaults.
�� (SFC, 12/23/09, p.A2)

2009�� Dec 28, In Niger unidentified gunmen in the remote western desert shot dead 3 tourists from Saudi Arabia.
�� (SFC, 12/29/09, p.A2)

2009�� Robert Lacey, British journalist, authored �Inside the Kingdom: Kings, Clerics, Modernists, Terrorists, and the Struggle for Saudi Arabia.�
�� (Econ, 10/10/09, p.88)

2010�� Jan 12, Saudi Arabia said that 82 Saudi soldiers been killed and 21 are missing since November when it joined the fighting in battling rebels along the Yemeni-Saudi border.
�� (AP, 1/12/10)

2010�� Jan 19, A Saudi court sentenced a teenage girl (13) to a 90-lash flogging and two months in prison as punishment for assaulting a teacher. The assault happened after the girl was caught with a camera phone at school.
�� (AP, 1/24/10)

2010�� Jan 23, Saudi Arabia�s assistant defense minister said Saudi forces have recovered the bodies of 20 soldiers who had been reported missing in fierce battles with Yemeni rebels on the border, raising the Saudi death toll in the conflict to 133.
�� (AP, 1/23/10)

2010�� Jan 25, A Saudi foreign ministry spokesman said Saudi Arabia has donated $50 million in relief to Haiti to cope with the devastating earthquake that hit the country nearly two weeks ago, making it the largest donation from the Middle East to date.
�� (AP, 1/25/10)
2010�� Jan 25, It was reported that Abdel-Malek al-Hawthi, the leader of Yemen's Shiite rebels, has declared the war with Saudi Arabia over and that he will pull his fighters out of Saudi territory. At least 133 Saudis soldiers have died in the months of fierce fighting in the rugged border region.
�� (AP, 1/25/10)

2010�� Jan 27, A top Saudi defense official said Saudi forces have driven Yemeni rebels out of the border region between the two countries, suggesting that the three month conflict along the mountainous frontier may be winding down.
�� (AP, 1/27/10)

2010�� Feb 2, Saudi Arabia said it will not get involved in peacemaking in Afghanistan unless the Taliban stops providing shelter and severs all ties with Osama bin Laden and Al-Qaeda. Afghan Pres. Karzai was in Saudi Arabia hoping for an active Saudi role to persuade Taliban militants to switch sides.
�� (SFC, 2/3/10, p.A4)

2010�� Feb 8, Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula number two Said al-Shihri called for attacks against US interests "everywhere," in an audio message released on the Internet.
�� (AFP, 2/8/10)

2010�� Feb 11, The Saudi religious police launched a nationwide crackdown on stores selling items that are red or in any other way allude to the banned celebrations of Valentine's Day.
�� (AP, 2/11/10)

2010�� Feb 15, Yemeni Shiite rebels handed over the first of five Saudi soldiers held captive since their border war.
�� (AFP, 2/15/10)
2010�� Feb 15, In London, England, a 33-year-old man was arrested after the body of a Saudi man (32) was discovered at the prestigious Landmark Hotel in the Marylebone area. The suspect claimed to be a member of the Saudi royal family. Prince Saud Bin Abdulaziz Bin Nasir Bin Abdulaziz Al Saud was soon charged for the killing of Bandar Abdullah Abdulaziz. On Oct 19 the prince was convicted of murder. Photographs of Abdulaziz stored on a mobile phone had shown that there was a "sexual element" to the abuse.
�� (AFP, 2/17/10)(AP, 2/19/10)(AP, 10/19/10)

2010�� Feb 28, In Saudi Arabia Indian PM Manmohan Singh pitched for investment in his economy and closer petroleum sector cooperation with Saudi Arabia, the second day of a visit to the Middle East oil giant.
�� (AFP, 2/28/10)

2010�� Mar 1, Somali pirates hijacked a Saudi tanker in the Gulf of Aden. The Al Nisr Al Saudi usually carried fuel oil but was empty when it was taken with 14 crew onboard. NATO said one of its destroyers sank a pirate mothership off the Somali coast. Pirate crew members were transferred to a smaller boat and allowed to return to the mainland.
�� (AP, 3/3/10)(SFC, 3/2/10, p.A2)(SFC, 3/4/10, p.A2)

2010�� Mar 6, The Saudi Civil and Political Rights Association said that Saudi security officers stormed a book stall at the Riyadh Int�l. Book Fair last week and confiscated all work by Abdellah Al-Hamid, a well-known reformer and critic of the royal family.
�� (SSFC, 3/7/10, p.A6)

2010�� Mar 24, Saudi Arabia said it has foiled several planned attacks on oil installations with the arrests of 113 suspected al-Qaida militants in a months-long sweep.
�� (AP, 3/24/10)

2010�� Apr 20, In Saudi Arabia a police official said that the head of the powerful religious police has fired the chief of the Mecca branch for advocating the mixing of the sexes. Ahmed bin Qassim al-Ghamidi's suggestion in a newspaper interview this week that men and women should be left to mingle freely directly clashed with a central preoccupation of the force.
�� (AP, 4/21/10)

2010�� May 3, In Saudi Arabia 2 people died in the flooding caused by violent thunderstorms which paralyzed Riyadh this week.
�� (AFP, 5/5/10)

2010�� May 5, Kuwaiti and Saudi officials said an Iranian espionage group has been dismantled in Kuwait.� The cell was reportedly acting on behalf of Iran's Revolutionary Guard.
�� (AP, 5/6/10)

2010�� May 16, Prominent Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi resigned from the helm of Al-Watan daily in a move believed linked to official displeasure with articles critical of the state's harsh Islamic rules.
�� (AFP, 5/16/10)

2010�� Jun 10, In Saudi Arabia a government-owned daily reported that a Saudi court has convicted a man and sentenced him to four months in prison and 90 lashes for kissing a woman in a mall.
�� (AP, 6/10/10)

2010�� Jun 22, A Saudi court convicted four women and 11 men for mingling at a party and sentenced them to flogging and prison terms.
�� (AP, 6/22/10)

2010�� Jun 29, President Barack Obama and Saudi King Abdullah voiced "strong support" for international efforts to curb Iran's nuclear program, which the West says masks a secret drive to develop the capability for an atomic bomb.
�� (Reuters, 6/29/10)

2010�� Jul 5, The US deported Imam Ahmad Afzali to Saudi Arabia. He had admitted to lying to the FBI during an investigation into a suicide bomb plot against NYC subway stations in 2009.
�� (SFC, 7/6/10, p.A4)

2010�� Jul 27, Iranian Shiite cleric Yasser Khalili was arrested in Saudi Arabia and put on trial on September 3 charged with "raising a shoe" at Prophet Mohammed's shrine. He was arrested while on pilgrimage by the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice and "jailed for 38 days in handcuffs. A judge ordered him to be whipped 150 times in public in the prophet's shrine. The story was not made public until Jan 8, 2011.
�� (AFP, 1/8/11)

2010�� Jul 30, The leaders of Syria and Saudi Arabia, once bitter rivals, made an unprecedented show of cooperation, traveling together to Lebanon in hopes of preventing any violence if members of a militant group are indicted in the 2005 assassination of former Lebanese PM Rafik Hariri. Saudi Arabia, which was close to the slain premier, holds sway with Lebanon's ruling alliance led by his son Saad, while Syria and Iran support a rival camp led by Hezbollah.
�� (AP, 7/30/10)

2010�� Jul 31, UNESCO added seven cultural sites to its World Heritage List including Bikini Atoll in the Marshall Islands, home to nuclear bomb testing in the 1940s and 1950s. Also added to the list were the Turaif District in Saudi Arabia; Australia's penal colony sites; the Jantar Mantar astronomical observation site in India; a shrine in Ardabil in Iran; the Tabriz historic bazaar complex, also in Iran; and the historic villages of Hahoe and Yangdong in South Korea.
�� (AP, 8/1/10)

2010�� Jul, Saudi Arabia�s population was estimated at 29.2 million.
�� (NYT 2011 Almanac, p.673)

2010�� Aug 6, Saudi Arabia suspended BlackBerry messaging services, as concerns spread across the Middle East and parts of Asia over security issues with the popular smartphones.
�� (AFP, 8/6/10)

2010�� Aug 10, Saudi Arabia's telecommunications regulator said it would allow BlackBerry messaging services to continue in the kingdom, citing "positive developments" with the device's Canadian manufacturer.
�� (AP, 8/10/10)

2010�� Aug 15, In Saudi Arabia Ghazi Algosaibi (70), a consummate statesman and liberal writer, died after a long illness. Algosaibi was close to the kingdom's ruling family. But his writings, critical of Arab governments, were banned in the kingdom. Only last month, Saudi Culture Ministry lifted the ban on his writings citing his contributions to the nation.
�� (AP, 8/15/10)

2010�� Aug 23, Saudi low-cost private airline Sama, launched in 2007 to serve Gulf and other Arab states, said it is to suspend services from Aug 24 due to financial problems.
�� (AP, 8/23/10)

2010�� Aug 26, A Sri Lankan housemaid, L. T. Ariyawathi (49), was admitted to a hospital and planned to undergo surgery to remove 24 nails embedded in her body. Ariyawathi said her employer in Saudi Arabia had inflicted the injuries on her as a punishment. The woman traveled to Saudi Arabia in March and returned home last week, complaining of abuse by her employer.
�� (AFP, 8/26/10)

2010�� Sep 20, Saudi Arabia�s Shura Council voted 62 to 56 against a memorandum of understanding on bilateral consultations with Denmark after several members expressed unhappiness over the publication of cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed in a Danish newspaper.
�� (AFP, 9/21/10)

2010�� Sep 26, The Saudi Gazette quoted Prince Nayef bin Abdul Aziz as saying: "Saudi Arabia is tackling terrorism with all its might and authorities have so far been successful in foiling 230 of 240 terrorist attempts." The number covers the period from 2003 to the present.
�� (AFP, 9/27/10)

2010�� Oct 15, The Saudi government said Jaber Jabran al-Faifi, a former Guantanamo detainee, has turned himself in to Saudi authorities. He had rejoined Al-Qaeda in Yemen after graduating from Saudi Arabia's rehabilitation program.
�� (AFP, 10/15/10)

2010�� Oct 20, British Justice David Bean sentenced Prince Saud Abdulaziz bin Nasser Al Saud� to a life sentence without the possibility of parole for 20 years for the brutal assault at the Landmark Hotel in London on Feb 15.
�� (AP, 10/20/10)
2010�� Oct 20, In its biggest arms deal ever, the United States announced it will sell up to 60 billion dollars worth of warplanes, helicopters and other weapons to Saudi Arabia, partly to help it counter Iran.
�� (AFP, 10/20/10)

2010�� Oct 21, Afghanistan's new peace council said it would be willing to make concessions to bring insurgents to the negotiating table, and called for Saudi Arabia's help in mediating peace talks.
�� (Reuters, 10/21/10)

2010�� Oct 29, Authorities on 3 continents thwarted attacks when they seized explosives on cargo planes in the United Arab Emirates and England. The plot sent tremors throughout the US, where after a frenzied day searching planes and parcel trucks for other explosives, officials temporarily banned all new cargo from Yemen. The next day police in Dubai said that the bomb discovered there contained the powerful explosive PETN and bore the hallmarks of al-Qaida. One of the two powerful bombs mailed from Yemen to Chicago-area synagogues traveled on two passenger planes within the Middle East. A tip of the plot came from Jabir al-Fayfi, a Saudi who was held for years at the US military prison at Guantanamo Bay. On Nov 5 al Qaeda's Yemen-based wing claimed responsibility for the explosive parcels.
�� (AP, 10/30/10)(AP, 10/31/10)(AP, 11/2/10)(Reuters, 11/5/10)

2010�� Nov 13, Saudi Arabia�s first metro transit system, officially the Al Mashaaer Al Muqaddassah Metro, opened in Mecca.
�� (Econ, 1/5/13, p.50)

2010�� Nov 13, Sudanese Pres. al-Bashir left Khartoum for the annual hajj in Mecca, despite an outstanding arrest warrant issued for al-Bashir by the International Criminal Court for alleged war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide in Darfur.
�� (AP, 11/13/10)

2010�� Nov 14, An estimated 2.5-3 million Muslims began the annual hajj pilgrimage. The total number of tourists to Mecca and Medina, home to the prophet Muhammad, is expected to rise from about 12 million to almost 17 million by 2025. The Saudi Arabia government's commission for tourism and antiquities said revenue from tourism this year would reach $17.6 billion and double by 2015.
�� (http://tinyurl.com/25zum7p)(AFP, 11/14/10)

2010�� Nov 15, In Saudi Arabia nearly 3 million Muslims performing the annual hajj pilgrimage began making their way up the rocky desert Mount Arafat, chanting that they have come to answer God's call.
�� (AP, 11/15/10)

2010�� Nov 16, In Saudi Arabia pilgrims performing the annual hajj cast pebbles at three stone walls representing Satan in a symbolic rejection of temptation, as Muslims around the world celebrated Islam's biggest holiday, the festival of sacrifice.
�� (AP, 11/16/10)

2010�� Nov 17, Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah stepped down as head of the country's National Guard and transferred the influential position to his son, in an apparent sign that the elderly monarch is beginning to lessen some of his duties.
�� (AP, 11/17/10)

2010�� Nov 18, In Saudi Arabia rain soaked crowds of Muslim pilgrims and lightning flashed as they performed some of the final rituals of the annual hajj, stoning symbols of the devil and circling the Kaaba, Islam's holiest site.
�� (AP, 11/18/10)

2010�� Nov 19, Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said that an inquiry will be launched into a female migrant's suspicious death in Saudi Arabia. Kikim Komalasari, who had worked in Abha city in Saudi Arabia since June 2009, had died from abuse. She was from Cianjur in West Java province.
�� (AFP, 11/19/10)

2010�� Nov 20, In Saudi Arabia a young woman in her twenties defying a driving ban in the capital died along with three female friends when her car overturned.
�� (AP, 11/21/10)

2010�� Nov 22, Saudi King Abdullah (86) departed for New York for medical treatment and temporarily handed control of the world's top oil producer and key American ally to Crown Prince Sultan, his half brother and heir to the throne.
�� (AP, 11/23/10)

2010�� Nov 23, Saudi media said a Saudi woman (53), accused of torturing her Indonesian maid, has been sent to jail while the maid, Sumiati Binti Salan Mustapa (23), receives extensive hospital treatment for burns and broken bones.
�� (AFP, 11/23/10)

2010�� Nov 26, Saudi Interior Ministry spokesman Mansour al-Turki said authorities have arrested nearly 150 al-Qaida suspects over the past eight months, foiling planned attacks on Saudi government officials, civilians and media personalities.
�� (AP, 11/26/10)

2010�� Nov 28, More than 250,000 classified US State Department documents were released by online whistleblower WikiLeaks. Among the leaked memos was information that Iranian Red Crescent ambulances were used to smuggle weapons to Lebanon's militant Hezbollah group during its 2006 war with Israel. Memos said the "IRC shipments of medical supplies served also to facilitate weapons shipments." Documents also detailed concerns by US officials in Baghdad about Iran�s influence on Iraq. Memos also said King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia had repeatedly urged the United States to attack Iran to destroy its nuclear program to stop Tehran from developing a nuclear weapon. One cable revealed that the US kept nuclear weapons in Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany and Turkey.
�� (AP, 11/28/10)(Econ, 12/4/10, p.35)

2010�� Dec 6, Saudi Arabia's Rani Investment Group said it would break ground on a 100-million-dollar (75-million-euro) resort on a Mozambique island next year, aiming to cash in on foreign tourists.
�� (AFP, 12/6/10)

2010�� Dec 7, In Saudi Arabia the Omma Conference magazine said in a statement posted on its website that police arrested its editor Mohammed Al-Abdul Karim at his home and took him to Hayer prison outside the capital Riyadh. In an article last week, Al-Abdul Karim predicted that Abdullah's death might cause the oil-rich kingdom to fall apart.
�� (AP, 12/7/10)
2010�� Dec 7, Leaders of six US-allied Gulf Arab nations, the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), said they were monitoring with "utmost concern" developments in Iran's disputed nuclear program and issued a thinly veiled warning to their Persian neighbor not to meddle in their internal affairs. The 2-day gathering of leaders from the Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain and Oman followed the publication of leaked US diplomatic memos that revealed deeper concern among Gulf Arab leaders over Tehran's nuclear program than had previously been known.
�� (AP, 12/7/10)

2010�� Dec 16, In Saudi Arabia hundreds of Sunni hardliners in Medina attacked those participating in the commemorations, known as Ashura. The day of mourning marks the killing of the Prophet Muhammad's grandson Hussein in the year 680 in present day Iraq. Shiites represented 10% of predominantly Sunni Saudi Arabia's 22.6 million people.
�� (AP, 12/18/10)

2010�� Dec 22, The Saudi Civil and Political Rights Association said in a statement that the Interior Ministry summoned the coordinators of the protest to notify them that their request has been rejected, without giving any reasons. The group's 20 demands included curtailing privileges of members of the Saudi royal family, fighting corruption and nepotism, and creating an independent judiciary.
�� (AP, 12/22/10)

2010�� Dec 24, In Saudi Arabia police shot dead a man, disguised as a woman, at a checkpoint south of Riyadh after he opened fire on them. Police later identified the man as Mohammed Issam Tahir al-Baghdadi, an al-Qaida operative wanted for terrorist activities.
�� (AP, 12/27/10)

2010�� Thomas Hegghammer authored �Jihad in Saudi Arabia: Violence and Pan-Islamism singe 1979.�
�� (Econ, 3/27/10, p.91)
2010�� In Saudi Arabia an estimated 4 million women over the age of 20 were unmarried in the country of 24.6 million. Many male guardians forcibly kept women single, a practice known as "adhl." Saudi feminist Wajeha al-Hawaidar described male guardianship as "a form of slavery."
�� (AP, 11/27/10)

2011�� Jan 10, Interpol said it had placed 47 Saudis on its most wanted list after Saudi Arabia accused them of involvement in the Al-Qaida terror network.
�� (SFC, 1/11/11, p.A2)

2011�� Jan 16, A group of Saudi activists launched a campaign, named My Country, to push the kingdom to allow women to run in upcoming municipal election, scheduled this spring.
�� (AP, 1/16/11)

2011�� Jan 21, A Saudi man died after setting himself on fire in the southwestern town of Samta, in what could be the latest example of a rash of self-immolations sweeping the region following events in Tunisia.
�� (AP, 1/22/11)

2011�� Jan 24, The New York-based Human Rights Watch said in its World Report 2011 that Saudi Arabia's government is harassing and jailing activists, often without trial, for speaking out in favor of expanding religious tolerance and that new restrictions on electronic communication in the kingdom were severe.
�� (AP, 1/25/11)

2011�� Jan 29, Saudi Arabia's stock exchange tumbled by over 6 percent, setting the stage for other regional markets to drop as concerns mounted about the violent protests in Egypt.
�� (AP, 1/29/11)

2011�� Jan, In Saudi Arabia flooding struck Jeddah and 10 people were killed.
�� (Econ, 3/5/11, p.53)

2011�� Feb 9, Ten moderate Saudi scholars asked the king for recognition of their Umma Islamic Party, the kingdom's first political party.
�� (AP, 2/10/11)

2011�� Feb 15, A Saudi official at the Education Ministry said the kingdom plans to remove books from school libraries that are deemed to encourage terrorism or defame religion.
�� (AP, 2/15/11)
2011�� Feb 15, The London-based Gulf Dialogue Forum said intense contacts are under way among Saudi activists and scholars to form a political party in the oil-rich absolute monarchy. The online forum said the National Saudi Party advocates establishing a civil democratic government because of the recent turmoil in Tunisia and Egypt.
�� (AP, 2/15/11)

2011�� Feb 23, Saudi Arabia�s King Abdullah (86) announced an unprecedented economic aid package, including interest-free home loans totaling some $37 billion.
�� (Reuters, 2/23/11)(AP, 2/24/11)

2011�� Feb 24, In Saudi Arabia influential intellectuals said in a statement that Arab rulers should derive a lesson from the uprisings in Tunisia, Egypt and Libya and listen to the voice of disenchanted young people.
�� (AP, 2/24/11)

2011�� Feb 27, Saudi Arabia�s King Abdullah ordered that government sector workers employed under temporary contracts be given permanent contracts in another to preempt growing calls for reform.
�� (AP, 2/27/11)

2011�� Mar 4, In Saudi Arabia about 100 members of the Shiite minority staged a protest in an eastern region of the kingdom.
�� (AP, 3/5/11)

2011�� Mar 5, Saudi Arabia�s Interior Ministry said demonstrations won't be tolerated and its security forces will act against anyone taking part in them.
�� (AP, 3/6/11)

2011�� Mar 10, Saudi police in the city of Qatif reportedly shot and wounded 3 Shiite protesters, while trying to disperse a protest calling for the release of prisoners.
�� (AFP, 3/10/11)(SFC, 3/11/11, p.A4)

2011�� Mar 11, In Saudi Arabia hundreds of police deployed in the capital and prevented protests calling for democratic reforms inspired by the wave of unrest sweeping the Arab world.
�� (AP, 3/11/11)

2011�� Mar 13, More than 200 Saudis were allowed to protest outside the Interior Ministry to demand the release of detainees in the largest demonstration in the capital since the regional outbreak of pro-democracy unrest.
�� (AP, 3/13/11)
2011�� Mar 13, In Bahrain riot police fired tear gas and rubber bullets at anti-government demonstrators blocking the highway into the capital's financial district and surrounded the protesters' main camp in the capital. More than 200 people were injured there in clashes between riot police and demonstrators.
�� (AP, 3/13/11)(AFP, 3/14/11)

2011�� Mar 14, The 4th $50 thousand International Prize for Arabic Fiction was split between Mohammed Achaari of Morocco, author of �The Arch and the Butterfly,� and Raja Alem of Saudi Arabia, author of �The Dove�s Necklace.� Alem was the first women winner.
�� (Econ, 3/26/11, p.95)
2011�� Mar 14, In Bahrain a parliament bloc appealed for the king to impose martial law. Some 1,000 Saudi troops entered Bahrain as part of the Gulf countries' joint Peninsula Shield Force.
�� (AP, 3/14/11)(Econ, 3/12/11, p.56)

2011�� Mar 18, Saudi Arabia's king promised a multibillion dollar package of reforms, raises, cash, loans and apartments 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.
�� (AP, 3/18/11)

2011�� Mar 20, In Saudi Arabia dozens of Saudi men and women, outnumbered by anti-riot police, protested outside Riyadh's Interior Ministry, demanding the release of thousands of detainees held without trial for years.
�� (AP, 3/20/11)

2011�� Mar 25, A Saudi news agency says several hundred Shiite Muslims have held protests in eastern Saudi Arabia to demand the release of detainees and show support for fellow Shiites protesting against the Sunni monarchy in nearby Bahrain.
�� (AP, 3/25/11)

2011�� May 10, The Gulf Cooperation Council (Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, Oman, Saudi Arabia, UAE) said it welcomed Jordan�s request to join the 6-member group. Jordan had first applied for membership in the mid-1980s. The GCC said it would encourage Morocco to also join.
�� (Econ, 5/21/11, p.54)(http://abcnews.go.com/Business/wireStory?id=13586238)

2011�� May 11, Saudi Arabia said three al-Qaida members have returned from abroad and turned themselves in. Officials said four other al-Qaida operatives surrendered to Saudi security after their leader, Osama bin Laden, was killed in a US raid May 2 in Pakistan.
�� (AP, 5/11/11)

2011�� May 16, In Pakistan a Saudi diplomat was killed in a hail of bullets on his way to the country's consulate in Karachi, the second attack on Saudi interests in Pakistan's biggest city in less than a week.
�� (AFP, 5/16/11)

2011�� May 22, Saudi authorities rearrested activist Manal al-Sherif, who defied a ban on female drivers. She was detained for several hours a day earlier by the country's religious police and released after she signed a pledge agreeing not to drive. Saudi Arabia is the only country in the world that bans women, both Saudi and foreign, from driving.
�� (AP, 5/23/11)

2011�� May 23, A Saudi pilot died when his US-made F-15 fighter jet crashed in eastern Saudi Arabia.
�� (AP, 5/24/11)

2011�� Jun 18, Saudi Arabia beheaded Ruyati binti Satubi (54), an Indonesian grandmother, for killing an allegedly abusive Saudi employer. In response Indonesia later enacted a moratorium on labor exports to Saudi Arabia effective August 1.
�� (SFC, 8/10/11, p.A3)(http://tinyurl.com/3wvhbpm)

2011�� Jun 28, Saudi police detained one woman while driving in Jiddah on the Red Sea coast. Four other women accused of driving were later detained in the city.
�� (AP, 6/29/11)

2011�� Jul 2, Der Spiegel reported that Germany has agreed to sell 200 Leopard tanks to Saudi Arabia.
�� (http://asian-defence.blogspot.com/2011/07/saudi-arabia-to-buy-200-leopard-2a7.html)

2011�� Jul 13, The Saudi-funded Asharq Alawsat daily reported that Saudi authorities have dismantled an Al-Qaeda-linked group of 16 people plotting to overthrow the regime. The group, which called itself the "project of the generation," also engaged in collecting funds under the guise of charitable activities, which were in fact destined for "suspicious foreign parties."
�� (AFP, 7/13/11)

2011�� Jul 15, Saudi authorities beheaded a man convicted of attacking a woman and snapping nude photos of her in order to blackmail her for sex.
�� (AP, 7/16/11)

2011�� Jul 18, Spain�s Transport Minister Jose Blanco confirmed that a Spanish consortium has won a contract worth 7.0 billion euros ($10 billion) to build a high-speed rail network linking Medina, Jeddah and the Muslim pilgrimage site of Mecca in Saudi Arabia.
�� (AFP, 7/19/11)

2011�� Jul 25, Saudi authorities blocked the website of Amnesty International inside the kingdom following criticism of a controversial new anti-terrorism draft law.
�� (AP, 7/25/11)

2011�� Jul 30, Three Saudis were beheaded in the western city of Taef after being convicted of killing fellow citizens in two separate incidents.
�� (AFP, 7/30/11)

2011�� Aug 3, Saudi Arabia said Abdel-Salam Rashed al-Farraj, an al-Qaida member on the kingdom's most-wanted list, has turned himself in after calling his family from abroad.
�� (AP, 8/4/11)

2011�� Aug 6, In Saudi Arabia security forces shot dead a gunman as he opened fire on the Jeddah palace of Interior Minister Prince Nayef bin Abdul Aziz. Another man was arrested during the attack in which two men opened fire after midnight on the Qasr Shateh residence of Prince Nayef.
�� (AFP, 8/6/11)

2011�� Aug 7, Saudi Arabia�s King Abdullah demanded a stop to Syria�s �killing machine.�
�� (Econ, 8/13/11, p.43)

2011�� Sep 16, In Yemen thousands of protesters took to the streets demanding the resignation of Pres. Saleh, a day after the US State Department said it hoped a power transfer deal could be signed within a week. Officials in Saudi Arabia and Yemen said that President Ali Abdullah Saleh will not return to Sanaa and will, instead, remain in Riyadh.
�� (AP, 9/16/11)

2011�� Sep 18, In Saudi Arabia 10 more men at a special summary court were accused of plotting to carry out attacks against US forces in Qatar and Kuwait.
�� (SSFC, 9/25/11, p.A4)

2011�� Sep 19, In Saudi Arabia Abdul Hamid al-Fakki, a Sudanese man, was executed for the crime of sorcery.
�� (Econ, 9/24/11, p.73)

2011�� Sep 25, Saudi King Abdullah announced that the nation's women will gain the right to vote and run as candidates in local elections to be held in 2015 in a major advancement for the rights of women in the deeply conservative Muslim kingdom.
�� (AP, 9/25/11)

2011�� Sep 27, In Saudi Arabia Shaima Jastaina was sentenced to be lashed 10 times with a whip for defying the kingdom�s prohibition on driving. King Abdullah quickly overturned the court ruling.
�� (SFC, 9/28/11, p.A2)(SFC, 9/29/11, p.A2)

2011�� Sep 29, Saudi Arabian men cast ballots in local council elections, the second-ever nationwide vote in the oil-rich kingdom. Women don't have the right to vote this time around, but will be able to do so in 2015. The councils are one of the few elected bodies in the country but have no real power, mandated to offer advice to provincial authorities.
�� (AP, 9/29/11)
2011�� Sep 29, Manssor Arbabsiar (56), a US citizen who holds an Iranian passport, was arrested when he arrived at New York's Kennedy International Airport. Mexico worked closely with US authorities to help foil an alleged $1.5 million plot to kill the Saudi Arabian ambassador to Washington. On Oct 11 Arbabsiar was charged in US District Court in New York with conspiring to kill the Saudi diplomat, Adel Al-Jubeir (49).
�� (AP, 10/12/11)

2011�� Oct 13, In Austria a Saudi-backed interfaith center, the "King Abdullah Bin Abdulaziz International Center for Interreligious and Intercultural Dialogue," was inaugurated in Vienna, igniting debate over the subject of religious tolerance.
�� (AP, 10/13/11)

2011�� Oct 22, Saudi Crown Prince Sultan bin Abdul Aziz (b.~1928), heir to the Saudi throne, died in the United States. He had been receiving treatment for colon cancer since 2009. The most likely candidate to replace Sultan as King Abdullah's successor is Prince Nayef (78), the powerful interior minister in charge of internal security forces.
�� (AFP, 10/22/11)

2011�� Oct 27, Saudi Arabia's powerful interior minister, Prince Nayef bin Abdul Aziz (78), was named the new heir to the throne in a royal decree read out on state television.
�� (AFP, 10/27/11)

2011�� Oct 29, Saudi Prince Khaled bin Talal, brother of billionaire Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, told the kingdom's al-Daleel TV station by telephone that he was raising a previous offer made by Sheik Awadh al-Qarani, a prominent Saudi cleric who promised $100,000 for capturing an Israeli soldier.
�� (AP, 10/30/11)

2011�� Nov 3, Saudi authorities said nearly 2.5 million Muslims have gathered in Mecca ahead of the annual 5-day hajj pilgrimage, which begins Nov 5.
�� (AP, 11/3/11)

2011�� Nov 5, In Saudi Arabia millions of Muslims began their annual hajj pilgrimage by climbing a rocky desert hill outside Mecca. The ascent of Arafat is the first event associated with the five-day hajj.
�� (AP, 11/5/11)

2011�� Nov 6, In Saudi Arabia millions of Muslims stoned pillars representing the devil in a symbolic rejection of temptation on the second day of their annual hajj pilgrimage, a day that also marks the start of the Islamic holiday of Eid al-Adha. More than 2.9 million Muslims were performing the hajj this year.
�� (AP, 11/6/11)

2011�� Nov 15, Saudi Arabia said it has signed an agreement with South Korea on developing nuclear power generation to help meet the kingdom's rising demand.
�� (AFP, 11/15/11)

2011�� Nov 23, Yemen�s Pres. Saleh signed a US-backed power-transfer deal, brokered by neighboring countries in the Saudi capital of Riyadh. It officially transfers power to his vice president, Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi, in exchange for immunity from prosecution. The deal also called for early presidential elections within 90 days.
�� (AP, 11/24/11)

2011�� Nov 24, Saudi Arabia's Interior Ministry said minority Shiite Muslims have staged protests in the eastern city of Qatif, and four were shot dead. Shiites make up 10 percent of the kingdom's 23 million citizens and complain of discrimination.
�� (AP, 11/24/11)

2011�� Nov 30, Amnesty International published a new report accusing Saudi Arabia of conducting a campaign of repression against protesters and reformists since the Arab Spring erupted.
�� (AFP, 12/1/11)

2011�� Dec 6, Saudi Arabia sentenced an Australian man to 500 lashes and a year in jail after being found guilty of blasphemy. Reports said Mansor Almaribe (45) was detained in Medina on November 14 while making the hajj pilgrimage and accused of insulting companions of the prophet Mohammed. The father-of-five from Shepparton in Victoria state, who could not afford a lawyer, suffers from diabetes and heart disease.
�� (AFP, 12/7/11)

2011�� Dec 10, Saudi Arabia�s Okaz newspaper reported that a man convicted of raping his daughter has been sentenced to receive 2,080 lashes over the course of a 13-year prison term. A court in Mecca found the man guilty of raping his teenage daughter for seven years while under the influence of drugs.
�� (AP, 12/10/11)

2011�� Dec 12, Saudi authorities executed a woman convicted of practicing magic and sorcery. The woman was arrested in April, 2009, and later convicted in a Saudi court. Religious police, who arrested the woman, said she had tricked people into thinking she could treat illnesses, charging them $800 per session.
�� (AP, 12/12/11)

2011�� Dec 15, In Saudi Arabia 35 Ethiopian Christians, 29 of them women, were arrested� after police raided a private prayer gathering. They later faced deportation for "illicit mingling."
�� (AFP, 1/31/12)

2011�� Dec 19, Saudi billionaire Prince Walid bin Talal and his Kingdom Holding Company announced a combined investment of $300 million in the social networking site Twitter.
�� (AFP, 12/19/11)

2011�� Dec 29, The Obama administration announced an arms deal with Saudi Arabia valued at nearly $30 billion. It included 84 F-15 fighter jets.
�� (SFC, 12/30/11, p.A5)
2011�� Dec 29, Industry sources said Saudi Arabia's state oil company Aramco was seeking to buy fuel in order to donate about 500,000 tons of products to Yemen in January.
�� (Reuters, 12/31/11)

2011�� Indian-born New Yorker Parvez Sharma, a gay man, attended the annual pilgrimage to Mecca and secretly filmed his experiences using a mobile phone and two tiny cameras. In 2015 the film was released as a documentary titled �A Sinner in Mecca.� It quickly attracted death threats and an online hate campaign.
�� (AFP, 8/30/15)
2011�� In Saudi Arabia at least 76 death row inmates were executed this year, according to an AFP count. Amnesty International believed that at least 79 executions during this period. In 2010, 27 people were executed, according to the UN, citing a report by Human Rights Watch.
�� (AFP, 1/5/12)
2011�� In Saudi Arabia Satinah Binti Jumadi Ahmad, an Indonesian maid, was sentenced to death for murdering her employer's wife in 2007 and stealing money. In 2014 the Indonesian government agreed to pay $1.8 million to free Satinah (41).
�� (AFP, 3/24/14)(Reuters, 4/4/14)
2011�� In Saudi Arabia a teacher (42) was arrested for abducing and raping a girl (9). In 2013 he was convicted of kidnapping and raping eight young girls (ages 6 to 11). In 2014 the Supreme Court upheld his death sentence.
�� (AFP, 4/6/14)

2012�� Jan 2, Saudi Arabia said it will begin enforcing a law that allows only females to work in women's lingerie and apparel stores, effective December 5. The 2006 law banning men from working in female apparel and cosmetic stores has never been put into effect.
�� (AP, 1/2/12)

2012�� Jan 3, Israeli credit card companies said hackers claiming to be Saudis disclosed credit card information of thousands of Israelis on the Internet.
�� (AP, 1/3/12)

2012�� Jan 6, An alleged Saudi hacker (19), oxOmar, posted thousands of Israeli credit card numbers and other personal data online, his second politically motivated attack this week.
�� (AP, 1/6/12)

2012�� Jan 12, Saudi security forces clashed with Shiite protesters in the kingdom's oil-rich east killing one person and wounding 3. The clashes came after demonstrations were held in four Qatif region villages to call for the "release of political detainees, reform and an end to sectarian discrimination. Most of Saudi Arabia's estimated two million Shiites live in the Eastern Province.
�� (AFP, 1/13/12)

2012�� Jan 13, British PM David Cameron held talks with Saudi King Abdullah in Riyadh.
�� (AFP, 1/13/12)

2012�� Jan 14, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao held talks with Saudi officials in Riyadh on the first stop of a Gulf tour, as tensions over Iran's nuclear program sparked fears of major oil supply disruptions.
�� (AFP, 1/15/12)
2012�� Jan 14, A French Mirage and a Saudi F-15 collided in the kingdom's northern region of Tabuk without causing casualties.
�� (AFP, 1/14/12)

2012�� Jan 16, A hacker network that claims to be based in Saudi Arabia paralyzed the websites of Israel's stock exchange and national airline. El Al Israel Airlines took down its website after hacker OxOmar, who has been linked to the Saudi group, warned that both sites would be targeted by allied pro-Palestinian hackers.
�� (AP, 1/16/12)

2012�� Jan 24, Saudi police detained nine men accused of instigating riots earlier this month in the eastern city of Qatif.
�� (AP, 1/24/12)

2012�� Jan 30, A Riyadh-based Afghan diplomat said Afghan officials and representatives of the Taliban insurgents are to hold peace talks in Saudi Arabia.
�� (AFP, 1/30/12)

2012�� Feb 7, South Korean President Lee Myung-Bak arrived in Riyadh at the start of a two-day visit to the OPEC kingpin which comes as Seoul seeks to diversify its oil sources. Lee Myung-Bak held talks with Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi and the head of Saudi state oil giant Aramco, Khalid al-Faleh. Saudi Arabia pledged to ensure a stable supply of oil to South Korea.
�� (AFP, 2/7/12)(AFP, 2/8/12)

2012�� Feb 9, In Saudi Arabia Munir al-Medani (21) was killed and three wounded when security forces exchanged gunfire with "masked men" in the Qatif district of the kingdom's oil-rich Eastern Province. Activists and witnesses said that security forces opened fire when a Shiite procession marking the birthday of the Prophet Mohammed, a celebration forbidden in ultra-conservative Sunni Muslim Saudi Arabia, turned into a demonstration for reform and the release of Shiite detainees.
�� (AFP, 2/10/12)(AFP, 2/11/12)

2012�� Feb 10, In Saudi Arabia Zuhair al-Said (21) was killed as security forces dispersed a protest against the death of another Shiite demonstrator the previous day.
�� (AFP, 2/11/12)

2012�� Feb 12, Malaysia deported Hamza Kashgari, a young Saudi journalist wanted in his home country over a Twitter post about the Prophet Mohammed, defying pleas from human rights group who said he faced execution. His tweet: "I have loved things about you and I have hated things about you and there is a lot I don't understand about you. "I will not pray for you."
�� (AFP, 2/12/12)

2012�� Feb 19, A Saudi court acquitted rights activist Said bin Zeghair, who spent five years in detention accused of supporting al-Qaida's ideology. The court cited lack of evidence. Bin Zeghair was first detained in 1995 but was freed after nine years without being charged or tried. Later he was sentenced to five years in prison but was pardoned when King Abdullah ascended to the throne in 2005. He was detained again in 2007.
�� (AP, 2/20/12)

2012�� Feb 29, Saudi Arabia said that it would honor a pledge of $3.75 billion in aid to Egypt, after complaints by the Egyptian premier that donor countries were failing to respect their commitments.
�� (AFP, 2/29/12)

2012�� Feb, In Saudi Arabia a royal order stipulated that women who drive should not be prosecuted by the courts.
�� (Econ, 3/3/12, p.60)

2012�� Mar 6, In Bangladesh Saudi diplomat Khalaf bin Mohammed Salem al-Ali was shot and killed on a residential street in Dhaka. Authorities said the gunman and a motive were unknown.
�� (AP, 3/6/12)
2012�� Mar 6, Swedish Radio reported that Sweden has in secret been helping Saudi Arabia plan the construction of an arms factory to produce anti-tank missiles. Construction on "Project Simoom" has yet to begin.
�� (AFP, 3/6/12)

2012�� Mar 14, Saudi Arabia said it has closed its embassy in Damascus and pulled out its diplomats and staff as Syrian President Bashar Assad steps up attacks against the opposition.
�� (AP, 3/15/12)

2012�� Mar 22, Saudi Arabia media reports said single men in Riyadh will be able to visit shopping malls during peak hours after Prince Sattam bin Abdulaziz� eased restrictions aimed at stopping harassment of women.
�� (AFP, 3/22/12)

2012�� Mar 26, Saudi King Abdullah ordered the donation of petroleum products to neighboring Yemen that should cover the impoverished country's needs for two months.
�� (AFP, 3/27/12)

2012�� Mar 28, Yemen's Saudi Arabia's deputy consul, Abdullah al-Khalidi (Abdullah Mohammed Khalifa al-Khaldi), was seized by unknown gunmen outside his home in southern port city of Aden.� Al-Qaida's Yemen branch claimed responsibility.
�� (AFP, 3/28/12)(AP, 5/26/12)

2012�� Mar 26, A Spanish court dropped a rape probe against a Saudi prince who is one of the world's richest people, saying his accuser's allegations are inconsistent and do not stand up. The ruling cleared Prince Alwaleed bin Talal (57) and was released today by a court in Palma in Spain's Balearic Islands in the Mediterranean. The drugging and sexual assault of a young Spanish model was alleged to have occurred aboard a yacht moored at the island of Ibiza in the wee hours of Aug 12, 2008.
�� (AP, 3/29/12)

2012�� Apr 1, Syria blasted an international conference on the country's spreading crisis before it even started in Istanbul, calling it part of an international conspiracy to kill Syrians and weaken the country. Monitors said at least 16 people were killed, including eight soldiers who died during ambushes and gun battles in the east, northwest and near Damascus. Participants at the 60-nation �Friends of the Syrian People� meeting said Saudi Arabia and other Gulf countries are creating a multimillion-dollar fund to pay members of the rebel Free Syrian Army and soldiers who defect from the regime and join opposition ranks.
�� (AP, 4/1/12)(AFP, 4/1/12)(SSFC, 4/1/12, p.A5)

2012�� Apr 4, A Saudi official reiterated a position he announced late last year, confirming that Saudi Arabia will be fielding only male athletes in London. Prince Nawaf bin Faisal said, however, that Saudi women taking part on their own are free to do so and the kingdom's Olympic authority would "only help in ensuring that their participation does not violate the Islamic sharia law."
�� (AFP, 4/5/12)
2012�� Apr 4, Saudi Arabia beheaded a man found guilty of shooting dead a fellow Saudi. His execution in Riyadh brought the total number of beheadings so far this year to 17.
�� (AFP, 4/4/12)
2012�� Apr 4, Iraq's fugitive Vice President Tariq al-Hashemi, accused of running a death squad, left the Gulf state of Qatar for Saudi Arabia.
�� (AFP, 4/4/12)

2012�� Apr 10, In Saudi Arabia a Specialized Criminal Court in Riyadh found al-Bajady guilty of several offenses, including participating in the establishment of a human rights organization and harming the image of Saudi Arabia in media articles. He was reportedly tried in secret sentenced to four years in prison.
�� (AFP, 4/18/12)

2012�� Apr 17, A prominent Egyptian human rights lawyer, Ahmed el-Gezawi, was arrested upon his arrival in the Saudi port of Jiddah. He was on his way to perform a minor pilgrimage. El-Gezawi had earlier filed a lawsuit in Egypt against King Abdullah over the alleged arbitrary detention of hundreds of Egyptians living in the kingdom. A rights group said he has criticized the monarch in television interviews.
�� (AP, 4/24/12)

2012�� Apr 18, Iran welcomed Saudi Arabia suspending death sentences against several of its nationals convicted for drug trafficking.
�� (AFP, 4/18/12)

2012�� Apr 24, Hundreds of Egyptians noisily protested outside the Saudi Embassy to demand the release of an Egyptian human rights lawyer detained on April 17 in Saudi Arabia for allegedly insulting the kingdom's monarch.
�� (AP, 4/24/12)

2012�� Apr 26, Pakistani authorities deported Osama bin Laden's three widows and his children to Saudi Arabia.
�� (AP, 4/27/12)(SFC, 4/27/12, p.A2)

2012�� Apr 28, Saudi Arabia's official news agency said the kingdom has closed its embassy and consulates in Egypt and recalled its ambassador following protests over a detained Egyptian human rights lawyer Ahmed el-Gezawi.
�� (AP, 4/28/12)

2012�� May 14, Liberal civil society groups in Gulf states called on Saudi and Bahraini leaders to postpone plans to announce a union between them, saying such a step must be preceded by a referendum.
�� (AFP, 5/14/12)

2012�� May 18, It was reported that Saudi Arabia has banned all government and private agencies from using the Gregorian calendar in official dealings. The use the English language to answer calls or communicate, mainly in companies and hotels, has also been banned in an effort to preserve the Arabic language.
�� (SSFC, 5/20/12, p.A4)
2012�� May 18, In Iran thousands of people demonstrated in Tehran to protest a proposed union of Saudi Arabia and Bahrain.
�� (AFP, 5/18/12)

2012�� May 23, Saudi Arabia�s SPA state news said Saudi Arabia has signed a $3-billion deal with Britain to buy Hawk trainer jets for the Gulf kingdom's air force. The majority of the Hawks will be made at BAE's plants in Samlesbury and Warton in Lancashire, northwest England.
�� (AFP, 5/23/12)(Reuters, 5/23/12)
2012�� May 23, Saudi Arabia said it will give its impoverished neighbor Yemen aid worth $3.25 billion and urging other nations to take similar steps.
�� (AFP, 5/23/12)
2012�� May 23, In Saudi Arabia a Saudi woman defied orders by the notorious religious police to leave a mall because she is wearing nail polish and recorded the interaction on her camera. Her video went viral, attracting more than a million hits in just five days.
�� (AFP, 5/28/12)

2012�� Jun 16, Saudi Crown Prince Nayef bin Abdul Aziz (79), a half brother of King Abdullah, died, leaving the oil powerhouse with no apparent successor to the throne.
�� (AFP, 6/16/12)

2012�� Jun 18, Saudi Arabia�s Defense Minister Prince Salman bin Abdul-Aziz (76), a half brother to the king, was named the country�s new crown prince.
�� (SFC, 6/19/12, p.A2)

2012�� Jun 24, In Saudi Arabia a man (60) died from severe pneumonia complicated by renal failure. He had arrived at a Jihad hospital 11 days earlier with symptoms similar to severe case of influenza or SARS. In September an Egyptian virologist said it was caused by a new coronavirus. Months later the illness was named MERS (Middle Eastern respiratory syndrome).
�� (SFC, 8/14/13, p.E1)

2012�� Jun 26, Saudi authorities beheaded four of its citizens for murder and a Syrian national for drug smuggling.
�� (AFP, 6/26/12)

2012�� Jun, In Saudi Arabia blogger Raif Badawi was jailed for ridiculing Islamic religious figures.
�� (Econ, 4/6/13, p.58)

2012�� Jul 8, In Saudi Arabia Sheik Nimr al-Nimr was arrested after he and followers exchanged fire with security forces and crashed into one of the patrol vehicles. Al-Nimr, who was wounded in the leg, faced charges of instigating unrest in the oil-rich eastern province.
�� (AP, 7/8/12)
2012�� Jul 8, Saudi Arabia�s Prince Mohammed bin Saud (78), a senior prince and former defense minister, died. He wielded influence as part of a council of royal family members that helps select the heirs to rule the country.
�� (AP, 7/8/12)

2012�� Jul 9, In Saudi Arabia 2 Shiites were killed in overnight clashes with police in the eastern province of Qatif following the arrest of a prominent Shiite cleric and government critic. The new deaths bring to nine the number of people killed in clashes between Saudi authorities and protesters in the Shiite-populated region.
�� (AFP, 7/9/12)

2012�� Jul 13, In Saudi Arabia a gunman was killed during an attack on a police station in the Shiite town of Al-Awamiya. Two security forces' patrols came under gunfire from masked armed men on motorbikes in the town of Saihat, wounding four policemen.
�� (AFP, 7/13/12)

2012�� Jul 17, A Saudi newspaper reported that a Lebanese man, nicknamed the "tattoo king," has been sentenced to one year in prison and 200 lashes. Charges included having met privately with women.
�� (AFP, 7/17/12)

2012�� Jul 20, Saudi authorities warned non-Muslim expatriates against eating, drinking or smoking in public during Ramadan, or face expulsion. The monthlong sunrise-to-sunset fast began today for Sunni Muslims.
�� (AP, 7/20/12)

2012�� Jul 24, Saudi state TV announced that the government has collected about $32.5 million in donations as part of a national drive to support "our brothers in Syria."
�� (AP, 7/24/12)

2012�� Jul 27, Saudi authorities detained a number of protesters in the restive eastern Shiite region after they set tires ablaze during an overnight rally. Security forces opened fire on Shiite protesters in the tense Qatif district of Eastern Province, wounding several as hundreds marched to demand the release of detainees.
�� (AP, 7/27/12)

2012�� Jul 30, Saudi Arabia implemented a ban on smoking in government offices and most public places, including restaurants, coffee shops, supermarkets and shopping malls.
�� (AP, 7/30/12)

2012�� Aug 4, A Saudi policeman and an armed protester were killed in overnight clashes in the kingdom's Shiite-populated Eastern Province. the attackers were participating in a protest that took place in Qatif late on Friday.
�� (AFP, 8/4/12)

2012�� Aug 15, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar all ordered their citizens to leave Lebanon.
�� (AFP, 8/16/12)
2012�� Aug 15, The Organization of Islamic Cooperation, comprised of 57 member states, released a final statement from its two day summit in Saudi Arabia's Muslim holy city of Mecca urging support of Syria�s opposition.
�� (AP, 8/15/12)
2012�� Aug 15, A person with privileged access to the Saudi state-owned oil company�s computers, unleashed a computer virus to initiate what is regarded as among the most destructive acts of computer sabotage on a company to date. The virus erased data on three-quarters of Aramco�s corporate PCs � documents, spreadsheets, e-mails, files � replacing all of it with an image of a burning American flag.
�� (NYT, 10/23/12)(http://tinyurl.com/8mc4pom)

2012�� Aug 16, In Mecca, Saudi Arabia, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, the top world Muslim body, suspended Syria, saying it can no longer accept a regime that "massacres its people", as rights groups accused Damascus of a new atrocity against civilians.
�� (AFP, 8/16/12)

2012�� Sep 18, YouTube said that it was stopping users in Saudi Arabia from viewing �Innocence of Muslims,� an anti-Islam video that has sparked protests across the Muslim world, after the kingdom's press agency reported that the ruler had banned all access to the film and the site appeared to be blocked there.
�� (AP, 9/18/12)

2012�� Sep 24, Saudi Arabian authorities began holding some 908 female Nigerian pilgrims heading to Mecca over a rule requiring them to travel with a husband or male companion.
�� (SFC, 9/27/12, p.A2)(AP, 9/28/12)

2012�� Sep 28, Saudi Arabia began expelling over a thousand Nigerian women on religious pilgrimage to the country because they had arrived without male guardians.
�� (AP, 9/28/12)��

2012�� Oct 11, A former US government official said US authorities believe that Iranian-based hackers were responsible for cyberattacks that devastated Persian Gulf oil and gas companies. Just hours later, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said the cyberthreat from Iran has grown, and he declared that the Pentagon is prepared to take action if American is threatened by a computer-based assault.
�� (AP, 10/12/12)

2012�� Oct 14, Iranian officials denied any role in recent online attacks against oil and gas companies in the Persian Gulf and denounced American allegations of an Iranian link to the Shamoon virus that hit Saudi state oil company Aramco and Qatari natural gas producer RasGas.
�� (SFC, 10/15/12, p.A2)

2012�� Oct 25, Some 3.4 million Muslims from 300 nations started their annual hajj pilgrimage by ascending Mount Arafat in Saudi Arabia on a day pilgrims believe offers them a chance to repent their sins.
�� (AP, 10/25/12)

2012�� Oct 28, In northern Yemen a suspected US drone airstrike targeted al-Qaida militants in a house in Saada province, killing 3 people, two of them said to be Saudis. Saeed al-Shihri, a Saudi national who fought in Afghanistan and spent six years in the US military prison at Guantanamo Bay, was wounded in the attack. On Jan 24 a security official said al-Shihri, Al-Qaida's No. 2 in Yemen, had died from wounds suffered in the attack.
�� (AP, 10/28/12)(AP, 1/24/13)

2012�� Oct 30, In Saudi Arabia celebratory gunfire, common at weddings, brought down a power line that touched off a fire in the Eastern Province, killing at least 23 women and children.
�� (AP, 10/31/12)

2012�� Nov 1, In Saudi Arabia a fuel truck exploded after hitting portions of a bridge in the Saudi capital, Riyadh, engulfing buildings and cars in flames and killing at least 22 people and injuring more than 110.
�� (AP, 11/1/12)

2012�� Nov 5, In Saudi Arabia a group of 11 al-Qaida fighters killed two border guards while trying to cross into Yemen before they themselves were captured.
�� (AP, 11/5/12)

2012�� Nov 26, In Austria ceremonies were held to launch a Saudi-sponsored and funded center in Vienna meant to promote dialogue between the world's main religions. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon spoke and urged Israel and Hamas to respect their cease-fire.
�� (AP, 11/27/12)

2012�� Nov 28, Gunmen in Yemen opened fire on the car of a Saudi Arabian army officer working with his embassy's military section, killing him and his Yemeni bodyguard.
�� (AP, 11/28/12)

2012�� Dec 27, In Saudi Arabia a man was killed in clashes with police in an oil-rich eastern region, where the country's Shiite minority has been holding protests against the Sunni ruling monarchy.
�� (AP, 12/28/12)

2012�� Dec 31, Residents of Saudi Arabia, where booze and New Year's celebrations are banned, flooded into neighboring Bahrain in search of festivities to ring in 2013.
�� (AP, 1/1/13)

2012�� In Saudi Arabia the Abraj Al-Bait Towers, also known as the Mecca Royal Hotel Clock Tower, was completed. It was the tallest clock tower in the world, the world's largest clock face and the building with the world's largest floor area. The hotel tower became the second tallest building in the world, surpassed only by Dubai's Burj Khalifa.
�� (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abraj_Al_Bait)
2012�� Germanys� Bild am Sonntag reported that Saudi Arabia wanted to buy 600-800 Leopard battle tanks from Germany, more than twice as many as originally envisaged.
�� (AFP, 4/13/14)

2013�� Jan 9, Saudi authorities beheaded a Sri Lankan domestic worker for killing a Saudi baby in her care in 2005. Rizana Nafeek, 17 at the time of the killing, had denied strangling the 4-month-old boy.
�� (AP, 1/9/13)(SFC, 1/10/13, p.A2)

2013�� Jan 11, Saudi Arabia�s King Abdullah issued two royal decrees granting women 30 seats on the Shura Council, which has 150 members plus a president. The council reviews laws and questions ministers, but doesn't have legislative powers.
�� (AP, 1/11/13)

2013�� Jan 15, A Saudi court convicted an Egyptian human rights lawyer for smuggling drugs into the kingdom. He was sentenced to five years in prison and 300 lashes. The case of Ahmed el-Gezawi caused an outcry in Egypt where rights groups claimed he was initially detained in April 2012 for criticizing the kingdom's monarch. They claimed he confessed to the smuggling charges under duress.
�� (AP, 1/15/13)
2013�� Jan 15, In Saudi Arabia dozens of conservative clerics picketed the royal court� to condemn the recent appointment of 30 women to the 150-member Shura Council.
�� (Econ, 1/19/13, p.52)

2013�� Feb 25, Jordan said it has no official word from Saudi Arabia about one of its citizens, youth activist Khaled Natour, apprehended by authorities there 50 days ago.
�� (AP, 2/25/13)

2013�� Mar 13, In Saudi Arabia 7 men convicted of theft, looting and armed robbery were beheaded, more than a week after their families and a rights group appealed to the king for clemency. One of the men told The Associated Press in early March that he was only 15 when he was arrested as part of a ring that stole jewelry in 2004 and 2005. Nasser al-Qahtani said he was tortured to confess and had no access to lawyers.
�� (AP, 3/13/13)

2013�� Mar 19, A British court ruled that two Saudi princes involved in litigation in London over a business dispute did not have immunity from being sued, a new blow to the royal pair after they failed in an attempt to have the case heard in secret. The litigation, which has been going through British courts since December 2011, stems from sales in 2010 and 2011 of shares in Fi Call Ltd, a company jointly owned by Prince Abdulaziz and Jordanian businessman Faisal Almhairat.
�� (Reuters, 3/19/13)

2013�� Mar 26, Saudi Arabia said investigations have shown that members of a spy ring arrested last week were working for Iranian intelligence.
�� (AP, 3/26/13)

2013�� Apr 1, A Saudi newspaper said the kingdom's religious police are now allowing women to ride motorbikes and bicycles but only in restricted, recreational areas. They also have to be accompanied by a male relative and dressed in the full Islamic head-to-toe abaya.
�� (AP, 4/1/13)

2013�� Apr 14, Saudi billionaire Prince Alwaleed bin Talal indicated support of allowing women there to drive. He also said that he would help the kingdom's campaign to cut down on the number of foreign workers.
�� (AP, 4/14/13)

2013�� Apr, A subsidiary of Saudi Arabia's Kingdom Holding Co agreed to refinance the debt it used to buy London's Savoy Hotel with a new 200 million-pound loan.
�� (AP, 5/4/13)
2013�� Apr, Saudi media said an Eritrean military pilot sent by Asmara to reclaim a jet stolen by two fellow officers when sought asylum in the kingdom had herself defected.
�� (Reuters, 11/12/13)

2013�� May 2, Saudi Arabia's Health Ministry said that five people have died and two other patients were in critical condition with confirmed cases of a new respiratory coronavirus related to SARS. The new virus was first identified last year in the Middle East and several of the people infected had all traveled to Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Jordan or Pakistan.
�� (AP, 5/2/13)

2013�� May 3, The Saudi Justice Ministry said a special security court has issued 2,145 jail sentences for "supporting terrorism" since it was formed four and a half years ago.
�� (AP, 5/4/13)

2013�� May 5, In Tanzania a bomb thrown from a motorcycle on a Catholic church in Arusha left 2 people dead. 4 Saudi Arabian citizens were among 6 people arrested.
�� (AP, 5/6/13)

2013�� May 14, Saudi Arabia confirmed four new cases of the deadly new coronavirus virus related to SARS that appears centered in the Arabian Peninsula but that has also been reported in Europe.
�� (AP, 5/14/13)

2013�� May 16, In Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, vegetable seller Muhammad Harissi set himself on fire after police confiscated his goods for standing in an unauthorized area.� He died the next day.
�� (AP, 5/19/13)(Econ, 7/13/13, SR p.10)

2013�� May 20, Saudi Arabia recorded another death from a new respiratory virus related to SARS, bringing the total number of deaths in the kingdom to 16. More than 20 people have died from the virus worldwide.
�� (AP, 5/21/13)

2013�� May 21, Saudi Arabia executed five Yemenis convicted of crimes and displayed their bodies in public as a deterrent for future criminals. A sixth man, a Saudi, was executed for murder.
�� (AP, 5/21/13)

2013�� May 30, Saudi Arabia reported that 3 more people have died from a new respiratory virus related to SARS, bringing the total number of deaths globally to 30.
�� (AP, 5/30/13)

2013�� Jun 2, Saudi Arabia reported that 3 more people have died from a new respiratory virus related to SARS, bringing the total number of deaths in the kingdom to 24.
�� (AP, 6/2/13)

2013�� Jun 17, A Gulf source told Reuters that Saudi Arabia had equipped fighters for the first time with shoulder-fired anti-aircraft missiles. Rebels said Riyadh had also sent them anti-tank missiles.
�� (Reuters, 6/17/13)

2013�� Jun 19, Doctors investigating a new respiratory virus related to SARS, said it spreads easily between people and appears to be more deadly than SARS. The biggest outbreak of the virus, now called MERS,� was in Saudi Arabia.
�� (SFC, 6/20/13, p.A2)

2013�� Jun 20, Saudi Arabia said it plans to deport Lebanese citizens who support Hezbollah because of the militant group's role in the Syrian civil war.
�� (AP, 6/20/13)

2013�� Jul 3, Saudi businessmen, expatriates and several countries welcomed a four-month extension to an amnesty for foreign workers with visa violations, saying it allowed businesses to operate as usual in the world's top oil exporter.
�� (Reuters, 7/3/13)

2013�� Jul 6, In Saudi Arabia two more people died from the new respiratory virus related to SARS, bringing to 38 the number of deadly cases in the kingdom at the center of the growing outbreak.
�� (AP, 7/7/13)

2013�� Jul 9, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirate promised $8 billion in grants, loans and badly needed gas and oil to Egypt.
�� (AP, 7/10/13)

2013�� Jul 18, The European Union's top court ruled that EU authorities unfairly froze assets of Yassin Kadi, a Saudi businessman who was accused of financing al-Qaida, by failing to explain why he was targeted.
�� (AP, 7/18/13)

2013�� Jul 27, In Saudi Arabia one more man died from a new respiratory virus related to SARS, bringing to 39 the number of deadly cases in the kingdom at the center of the growing outbreak.
�� (AP, 7/27/13)

2013�� Jul 29, In Saudi Arabia Raif Badawi, editor of the "Free Saudi Liberals" website, was sentenced to seven years in prison and 600 lashes for founding an Internet forum that violates Islamic values and propagates liberal thought. Badawi has been held since June 2012 on charges of cyber crime and disobeying his father.
�� (Reuters, 7/30/13)

2013�� Aug 9, Saudi Arabia's Interior Ministry said police have arrested two foreign residents suspected of having contacts with al-Qaida's offshoot in Yemen over imminent suicide attacks in the region.
�� (AP, 8/9/13)

2013�� Aug 25, Saudi Arabia said a Saudi man (51) has died of the coronavirus MERS, bringing the kingdom's death toll from the SARS-like virus to 41, while two new cases were registered.
�� (AFP, 8/25/13)

2013�� Aug 28, Saudi health authorities said another Saudi man has died of the coronavirus MERS, bringing the kingdom's death toll from the SARS-like virus to 42, adding a new case was registered.
�� (AFP, 8/28/13)

2013�� Aug 30, In Saudi Arabia another Saudi man died of the coronavirus MERS, bringing the kingdom's death toll from the SARS-like virus to 43.
�� (AP, 8/30/13)

2013�� Sep 6, Saudi Arabia�s health ministry said 2 women have died of MERS, bringing the total number of fatalities in the kingdom to 44.
�� (AFP, 9/6/13)

2013�� Sep 8, In Saudi Arabia another three people were reported dead after contracting the MERS coronavirus, bringing the kingdom's total fatalities of the SARS-like virus to 47.
�� (AFP, 9/8/13)

2013�� Sep 20, US prosecutors dropped charges against Meshael Alayban, a Saudi princess accused of enslaving a Kenyan woman as a housemaid, forcing her to work in abusive conditions and withholding her passport. Lawyers for the Saudi royal accused the 30-year-old Kenyan, who has not been named, of lying in an attempt to obtain a visa to stay in the US.
�� (AFP, 9/20/13)

2013�� Sep 27, A Saudi diplomat, involved in a fatal road accident, left Iran. An Iranian citizen was killed mid-March when the diplomat's car reportedly hit another vehicle on a expressway in Tehran while speeding at 130 kph (80 mph). Iranian authorities said the accident happened because the diplomat had been driving while drunk.
�� (AFP, 10/30/13)

2013�� Oct 4, The World Health Organization said the global number of infections with the deadly MERS virus has risen to 136, after hard-hit Saudi Arabia confirmed six new cases.
�� (AFP, 10/4/13)

2013�� Oct 8, A Saudi court sentenced a preacher convicted of raping his five-year-old daughter and torturing her to death to eight years in prison and 800 lashes. The court also ordered Fayhan al-Ghamdi to pay his ex-wife, the girl's mother, one million riyals ($270,000) in "blood money.� Ghamdi's second wife, accused of taking part in the crime, was sentenced to 10 months in prison and 150 lashes.
�� (AFP, 10/8/13)

2013�� Oct 10, Saudi authorities beheaded a citizen in the western province of Taif after he was convicted of shooting dead another man.
�� (AFP, 10/10/13)

2013�� Oct 13, In Saudi Arabia Muslims from across the world poured into a sprawling tent city in the Saudi desert before the start of the annual Islamic hajj pilgrimage. The number of the pilgrims this year has been reduced in part by concerns over a respiratory virus centered in Saudi Arabia.
�� (AP, 10/13/13)

2013�� Oct 17, In Saudi Arabia some 1.4 million Muslim pilgrims from 188 countries started to leave Mecca at the end of what authorities hailed as a successful and incident-free hajj. The hajj now brings in $16.5 billion, about 3% of Saudi GDP.
�� (AFP, 10/17/13)(Econ, 10/12/13, p.74)
2013�� Oct 17, The UN General Assembly elected five new members to the Security Council. The uncontested seats included Chad, Chile, Lithuania, Nigeria and Saudi Arabia.
�� (AP, 10/17/13)

2013�� Oct 18, Saudi Arabia, in an unprecedented show of anger at the failure of the international community to end the war in Syria and act on other Middle East issues, said it would not take up its seat on the UN Security Council.
�� (Reuters, 10/18/13)

2013�� Oct 22, A source close to Saudi policy said Saudi Arabia's intelligence chief has said the kingdom will make a "major shift" in relations with the United States in protest at its perceived inaction over the Syria war and its overtures to Iran.
�� (Reuters, 10/22/13)

2013�� Oct 24, Saudi Arabia warned it will take measures against activists who go ahead with a planned weekend campaign to defy a ban on women drivers in the conservative Muslim kingdom.
�� (AFP, 10/24/13)

2013�� Oct 26, Saudi activists said more than 60 women claimed to have answered their call to get behind the wheel in a rare show of defiance against a ban on female driving. At least 16 Saudi women received fines for taking the wheel in defiance of the traditional ban on female driving.
�� (AP, 10/26/13)(AFP, 10/27/13)

2013�� Oct 27, Saudi police detained Tariq al-Mubarak, a columnist who supported ending his country's ban on women driving.
�� (AP, 10/30/13)

2013�� Oct 28, Saudi Arabia said one more person has died from a new respiratory virus related to SARS, bringing to 52 the number of deaths in the kingdom at the center of the outbreak.
�� (AP, 10/28/13)

2013�� Nov 3, A Kuwaiti newspaper reported that a Kuwaiti woman was arrested in Saudi Arabia for trying to drive her father to hospital.
�� (Reuters, 11/3/13)

2013�� Nov 4, Saudi authorities began a clampdown on illegal immigrants after the end of an amnesty that gave overstayers and workers a grace period to leave or legalize their status.
�� (AFP, 11/4/13)

2013�� Nov 5, Saudi media said authorities have rounded up over four thousand of illegal foreign workers at the start of a nationwide crackdown ultimately aimed at creating more jobs for locals.
�� (Reuters, 11/5/13)(SFC, 11/6/13, p.A2)

2013�� Nov 6, A Saudi-owned newspaper reported that authorities have detained more than 16,000 migrant workers in the first 48 hours of a security sweep targeting foreigners working illegally in the kingdom.
�� (AP, 11/6/13)
2013�� Nov 6, Saudi authorities beheaded a Pakistani man in the eastern Qatif province after he was convicted of drug trafficking in the kingdom.
�� (AFP, 11/6/13)

2013�� Nov 10, In Saudi Arabia thousands of illegal migrants targeted in a nationwide crackdown surrendered to police. In Riyadh 2 people were killed when a police raid targeting Ethiopian residents sparked a minor riot.
�� (AFP, 11/10/13)(SFC, 11/11/13, p.A2)(Econ, 11/16/13, p.52)
2013�� Nov 10, Saudi Arabia announced another fatality from the MERS virus, taking its toll to 53, as neighbouring Oman recorded its first death from the respiratory disease.
�� (AFP, 11/10/13)

2013�� Nov 12, Saudi media said 3 Eritrean military officers have asked for political asylum in Saudi Arabia after Saudi air force jets forced their aircraft to land in the southern part of the kingdom.
�� (Reuters, 11/12/13)
2013�� Nov 12, In Saudi Arabia thousands of Africans, mostly Ethiopians, surrendered to authorities for a second day Ethiopia announced the death of three citizens during clashes in the Gulf kingdom.
�� (AFP, 11/12/13)
2013�� Nov 12, China, Cuba, Russia and Saudi Arabia won seats on the UN Human Rights Council, despite fierce international criticism of their records.
�� (AP, 11/13/13)

2013�� Nov 13, In Saudi Arabia Ethiopia�s ambassador in Riyadh said some 23,000 Ethiopians have handed themselves in since Saudi authorities clamped down on illegal foreign workers 10 days ago. A Sudanese man was killed in a second flare of clashes since Nov 9 between Saudi riot police, citizens and foreign workers in Riyadh.
�� (AFP, 11/13/13)(Reuters, 11/13/13)

2013�� Nov 20, Saudi health authorities announced a new MERS death, raising to 54 the number of people killed by the coronavirus.
�� (AFP, 11/20/13)

2013�� Nov 21, Saudi local media reported that religious police have arrested two young men in Riyadh for offering a "free hug" to passers-by.
�� (AFP, 11/21/13)

2013�� Nov 24, Saudi press said a court has sentenced a man to death and 19 others to prison terms of up to 25 years in connection with the 2004 armed assault on the US Consulate in Jiddah that killed five employees in an attack blamed on al-Qaida.
�� (AP, 11/24/13)
2013�� Nov 24, Saudi Arabia said one more person has died from a new respiratory virus related to SARS, bringing to 55 the number of deaths in the kingdom at the center of the outbreak.
�� (AP, 11/24/13)

2013�� Nov 30, Sudanese media said more than 11,000 Sudanese workers have returned voluntarily from Saudi Arabia after an amnesty for foreign employees to legalise their status.
�� (AFP, 11/31/13)

2013�� Dec 4, OPEC leaders meeting in Austria agreed to hold its crude production ceiling at 30 million barrels per day despite oversupply concerns and competition from cheaper shale oil.
�� (AP, 12/4/13)

2013�� Dec 5, Ethiopia said it has repatriated over 100,000 citizens from Saudi Arabia, following a violent crackdown against illegal immigrants in the oil-rich kingdom.
�� (AFP, 12/5/13)
2013�� Dec 5, In Yemen a suicide bomber detonated his explosives-laden car at the Defense Ministry in Sanaa, killing 18 soldiers and wounding at least 40. Officials said 11 gunmen also were killed in a firefight between troops and a carload of attackers who arrived after the blast. Gunmen shot and killed a Western doctor and a Filipina nurse in front of their colleagues in a hospital inside the compound of the defense ministry. A total of 56 people were killed in the attack. Most of the attackers were Saudi nationals. Yemen�s branch of al-Qaida took responsibility.
�� (AP, 12/5/13)(Reuters, 12/5/13)(Reuters, 12/6/13)(SFC, 12/7/13, p.A4)

2013�� Dec 8, Saudi authorities beheaded Mohammed Zayer Khan Qol, a Pakistani man, after he was convicted of smuggling drugs into the ultra-conservative Gulf state. An AFP count put this as� no. 73.
�� (AFP, 12/8/13)

2013�� Dec 10, A Saudi court jailed an Al-Qaeda-linked jihadist for 16 years for plotting to kill the kingdom's grand mufti, Sheikh Abdul Aziz bin Abdullah al-Sheikh, and other clerics. The sentence which includes 40 lashes and a 16-year travel ban.
�� (AFP, 12/11/13)
2013�� Dec 11, Saudi Arabia and its Gulf Arab neighbors wrapped up a summit meeting in Kuwait by agreeing to establish a joint military command, paving the way for tighter security coordination.
�� (AP, 12/11/13)

2013�� Dec 12, Saudi Arabia's Grand Mufti, the highest religious authority in the birthplace of Islam, condemned suicide bombings as grave crimes, reiterating his stance in unusually strong language in the Saudi-owned Al Hayat newspaper.
�� (Reuters, 12/12/13)

2013�� Dec 16, US officials said two Saudis from Guantanamo have been transferred to the custody of their own government after a security review. The men are Saad Muhammad Husayn Qahtani (35) and Hamood Abdulla Hamood (48).
�� (AP, 12/16/13)

2013�� Dec 17, Saudi authorities beheaded a Syrian man convicted of smuggling drugs to the ultra-conservative kingdom.
�� (AFP, 12/17/13)

2013�� Dec 19, Saudi Arabia�s Al-Hayat newspaper reported that a Saudi court has jailed a man for 15 years after convicting him of recruiting 14 nationals to join Al-Qaeda's affiliate in neighbouring Yemen.
�� (AFP, 12/19/13)

2013�� Dec 20, Saudi Arabia beheaded another drug trafficker. 77 people have been executed in Saudi Arabia this year, according to an AFP count.
�� (AFP, 12/20/13)

2013�� Dec 21, Saudi Arabia said one more person has died from a new respiratory virus related to SARS, bringing to 56 the number of deaths in the kingdom at the center of the outbreak.
�� (AP, 12/21/13)

2013�� Dec 22, Saudi Arabia's official news agency says King Abdullah has appointed his son, Prince Mishaal, as the new governor of Mecca.
�� (AP, 12/22/13)

2013�� Dec 23, A Saudi court sentenced a citizen to 30 years in prison for leading demonstrations in 2011 against a crackdown on Shiite Muslims in neighboring Bahrain.
�� (AP, 12/23/13)

2013�� Dec 26, In Saudi Arabia a 73-year-old man died from a new respiratory virus related to SARS, bringing to 57 the number of deaths in the kingdom at the center of the outbreak.
�� (AP, 12/26/13)

2013�� Dec 27, An oil platform belonging to Saudi oil giant Aramco sank as it was being used to carry out maintenance work at an oil well in Safaniya. The bodies of 3 Asian workers who went missing were recovered over the next 24 hours.
�� (AFP, 12/28/13)

2013�� Dec 28, Saudi police pulled over a woman minutes after she got behind the wheel in the Red Sea city of Jeddah after activists called for a new challenge to a driving ban.
�� (AFP, 12/28/13)

2013�� Dec 29, French President Francois Hollande arrived in Saudi Arabia for a visit aimed at boosting prospects of commercial cooperation between the countries and addressing escalating tensions in the Middle East.
�� (AFP, 12/29/13)
2013�� Dec 29, Lebanon's President Michel Suleiman said Saudi Arabia is giving the Lebanese army $3 billion to buy equipment from France, calling it the largest grant ever given to the country's armed forces.
�� (Reuters, 12/29/13)(SSFC, 1/5/14, p.A5)

2014�� Jan 1, Lebanon�s defense minister said Lebanese troops have arrested Saudi citizen Majid al-Majid, the "emir" of the Abdullah Azzam Brigades, an al-Qaeda-linked group that claimed a double suicide bombing at the Iranian embassy in Beirut in November. DNA testing confirmed the identity of al-Majid.
�� (AFP, 1/1/14)(AP, 1/3/14)

2014�� Jan 4, The Lebanese army said Saudi citizen Majid al-Majid, the "emir" of the Abdullah Azzam Brigades fighting in Syria, died while undergoing treatment at the central military hospital.
�� (AP, 1/4/14)

2014�� Jan 5, In Saudi Arabia human body parts fell from the sky in the city of Jeddah, with police saying they could be the remains of a person trapped in an airplane's wheel bay.
�� (AFP, 1/5/14)
2014�� Jan 5, A Saudi court jailed five people for up to 30 years on charges including plotting to blow up an oil refinery on behalf of Al-Qaeda.
�� (AFP, 1/6/14)

2014�� Jan 12, A Saudi court sentenced to death an Al-Qaeda militant and jailed 10 others over the May 1, 2004, attack that killed six Westerners and a policeman.
�� (AFP, 1/13/14)

2014�� Jan 29, Saudi health authorities announced a new MERS death, bringing to 59 the number of people who have died from the coronavirus in the country with the most fatalities.
�� (AFP, 1/29/14)

2014�� Feb 2, Saudi Arabia put into effect jail terms of up to 20 years for belonging to "terrorist groups" and fighting abroad, as it struggles to deter Islamist Saudis from becoming jihadists.
�� (AFP, 2/3/14)(SFC, 2/3/14, p.A4)

2014�� Feb 3, Saudi Arabia�s King Abdullah issued a royal decree that punishes citizens who fight in conflicts outside the kingdom with prison sentences ranging from 3 to 20 years.
�� (SFC, 2/4/14, p.A2)

2014�� Feb 4, Saudi authorities beheaded two citizens after convicting them of two separate murders.
�� (AFP, 2/4/14)
�2014�� Feb 4, Saudi officials signed an agreement with SunEdison Inc. of Belmont, Ca., to explore building a $6.4 billion solar panel factory in Saudi Arabia. SunEdison moved from Maryland to Belmont in 2011.
�� (SFC, 2/5/14, p.C4)

2014�� Feb 8, In Saudi Arabia a hotel fire in Medina killed 13 people including 9 Egyptian pilgrims.
�� (AP, 2/9/14)

2014�� Feb 10, Saudi state media said a court has sentenced a man to 10 years in prison for protesting and disseminating photos of demonstrations online.
�� (AP, 2/11/14)

2014�� Feb 13, Saudi Arabia said Yemen has handed over 29 Saudis wanted for suspected links to Al-Qaeda.
�� (AFP, 2/13/14)

2014�� Feb 18, Saudi crown prince Alwaleed bin Talal and deputy prime minister Salman Bin Abdulaziz Al Saud concluded a three-day-visit to Pakistan. Pakistani Finance Minister Ishaq Dar announced the creation of the new fund, the Pakistan Development Fund, to channel money from "friendly countries" like Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
�� (Reuters, 3/13/14)
2014�� Feb 18, Human Rights Watch said Saudi Arabian authorities have deported more than 12,000 migrants held under "appalling conditions" back to their native Somalia. The International Organization for Migration said the Somali government expects Saudi Arabia to deport another 30,000 people in the coming weeks.
�� (AP, 2/19/14)

2014�� Feb 19, Europe's largest defense contractor BAE Systems says the governments of the United Kingdom and Saudi Arabia have agreed on new pricing for a massive sale of 72 Eurofighter Typhoon jets.
�� (AP, 2/19/14)

2014�� Feb 20, Two Saudi security officers and two people they were trying to detain were killed in a gunfight in the eastern town of al-Awamiya, an area where minority Shi'ite Muslims have staged regular anti-government protests.
�� (Reuters, 2/20/14)
2014�� Feb 20, The Organization of Islamic Cooperation, the world's largest bloc of Islamic countries, agreed to send a high-level fact-finding mission to the Central African Republic. The Saudi Arabia-based OIC also agreed to appoint a special representative to coordinate efforts with the African Union and the United Nations.
�� (AP, 2/20/14)
2014�� Feb 20, Rights groups criticized an agreement between Indonesia and Saudi Arabia aimed at giving Indonesian maids more protection in the kingdom, with one saying "justice is still far away" for them.
�� (AFP, 2/20/14)

2014�� Feb 23, In Saudi Arabia a woman (81) died from a new respiratory virus related to SARS, bringing to 61 the number of deaths in the kingdom at the center of the outbreak.
�� (AP, 2/23/14)

2014�� Feb 24, In Saudi Arabia three security officers were wounded, one critically, by gunfire outside a police station in a flashpoint village in the mostly Shi'ite Muslim area of Qatif.
�� (Reuters, 2/25/14)

2014�� Feb 26, Saudi Arabia beheaded one its citizens in Eastern Province after he was convicted of murdering a compatriot.
�� (AFP, 2/26/14)

2014�� Mar 2, In Saudi Arabia a foreign detainee died and nine others were injured in a riot at a center housing people awaiting deportation. Yemeni online forums reported that 10 Yemenis were killed when police opened fire on rioters demanding that Saudi authorities speed up their deportation.
�� (AP, 3/3/14)

2014�� Mar 5, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain withdrew their ambassadors from Qatar in an unprecedented public split between Gulf Arab allies who have fallen out over the role of Islamists in a region in turmoil.
�� (Reuters, 3/5/14)

2014�� Mar 6, Saudi state news said a court has sentenced three men to death and jailed two others for up to 17 years for their part in a series of militant attacks including the deadly bombing of a foreign housing compound on Nov 8, 2003.
�� (Reuters, 3/7/14)

2014�� Mar 7, Saudi Arabia identified the Muslim Brotherhood as a terrorist group along with al-Qaida and two Syrian jihadist groups, warning those who join them or support them they could face five to 30 years in prison.
�� (AP, 3/7/14)(AFP, 3/7/14)

2014�� Mar 14, Saudi Arabia said a man (19) has died from a new respiratory virus related to SARS, bringing to 63 the deaths in the kingdom at the center of the outbreak.
�� (AP, 3/14/14)

2014�� Mar 16, In Saudi Arabia the local Okaz daily reported that organizers at the Riyadh International Book Fair had confiscated "more than 10,000 copies of 420 books" during the exhibition, which began March 4. Organizers had announced ahead of the event that any book deemed "against Islam" or "undermining security" in the kingdom would be confiscated.
�� (AFP, 3/16/14)

2014�� Mar 20, Saudi Arabia said it has deported 370,000 foreign migrant workers over the past five months.
�� (SFC, 3/21/14, p.A2)

2014�� Mar 24, A Saudi man convicted of shooting dead a compatriot in a dispute was beheaded by the sword. His execution in Hafr al-Batin brings to 12 the number of death sentences carried out this year in Saudi Arabia.
�� (AFP, 3/24/14)

2014�� Mar 27, Saudi Arabia�s reigning King Abdullah (~89) appointed by royal decree his youngest surviving brother, Muqrin (b.1945), as 2nd in line to the throne after ailing crown prince Salman (78).
�� (Econ, 4/5/14, p.40)

2014�� Mar 28, President Barack Obama opened a fence-mending visit to Saudi Arabia, arriving in the oil-rich Gulf nation for meetings to reassure its elderly monarch of the US commitment to the Arab world.
�� (AP, 3/28/14)

2014�� Apr 2, A Saudi Arabian court sentenced Faris al-Zahrani, a top al-Qaeda strategist, to death and jailed 15 others for their role in a series of attacks in the kingdom last decade. Zahrani was arrested in Abha, a city near the Yemeni border, in August 2004.
�� (Reuters, 4/3/14)

2014�� Apr 8, Saudi Arabia�s Shura Council recommended that a longstanding ban on sports in girls' state schools, relaxed in private schools last year, be ended altogether.
�� (AFP, 4/12/14)
2014�� Apr 8, The Organization of Islamic Cooperation said that 14 non-governmental organizations have pledged $300,000 dollars to establish a new office at its headquarters in Jiddah, Saudi Arabia, that seeks to improve international coordination to assist Muslims affected by natural disasters and wars around the world.
�� (AP, 4/8/14)

2014�� Apr 9, Two Saudi border guards were killed by unidentified gunmen who fired shots from inside Yemen.
�� (AP, 4/10/14)
2014�� Apr 9, Saudi health authorities said that 11 people in the western city of Jiddah have contracted the Middle East respiratory syndrome, resulting in two recent deaths, bringing to at least 66 the number of people who have died of MERS in the kingdom.
�� (AP, 4/9/14)

2014�� Apr 12, In Saudi Arabia the death of a foreign man (45) due to MERS brought the nationwide toll in the world's most-affected country to 68.
�� (AFP, 4/13/14)

2014�� Apr 13, German media citing official sources said the government will not approve a reported deal to sell up to 800 Leopard-2 battle tanks to Saudi Arabia.
�� (AFP, 4/13/14)
2014�� Apr 13, A Malaysian man (54), who went on a pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia, became the first death in Asia from Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS).
�� (AP, 4/16/14)

2014�� Apr 14, In Yemen suspected smugglers shot dead a Saudi Arabian border guard and wounded another in the early hours today, in what would be the second such incident in five days. Saudi troops seized 14 guns left behind by the smugglers at the site of the clash.
�� (Reuters, 4/14/14)(AFP, 4/15/14)

2014�� Apr 20, Saudi Arabia's health ministry said three more patients who contracted a potentially fatal Middle East virus related to SARS have died amid a recent increase in infections.
�� (AP, 4/21/14)

2014�� Apr 21, Saudi media reported that a court has sentenced to death five people over deadly 2003 attacks that marked the start of a wave of Al-Qaeda violence.
�� (AFP, 4/21/14)
2014�� Apr 21, Saudi Arabia announced 17 new cases of MERS, bring the total number of Saudi infections to 261, of whom 81 have died. King Abdullah fired health minister Abdullah al-Rabiah.
�� (SFC, 4/22/14, p.A2)(Reuters, 4/22/14)

2014�� Apr 23, Saudi Arabia announced 11 new cases of MERS, including a 13-year-old child. Acting health minister Adel Fakieh vowed to keep the public better informed on the coronavirus.
�� (AFP, 4/23/14)

2014�� Apr 24, Saudi Arabia's health ministry said two more patients who became infected with a Middle East virus related to SARS have died, and that 13 others have contracted the MERS virus. The deaths bring to 83 the number of people who have died in the kingdom since contracting the virus in September 2012.
�� (AP, 4/24/14)

2014�� Apr 25, Saudi Arabia's Health Ministry said that five more people in the kingdom have died from MERS. The ministry says 92 people have died and 313 have contracted the virus in Saudi since September 2012.
�� (AP, 4/26/14)

2014�� Apr 26, Two Saudi nationals died from MERS, taking the death toll from the coronavirus in the worst-hit country to 94.
�� (AFP, 4/27/14)

2014�� Apr 30, Saudi Arabia launched an experimental Internet site for Saudi citizens to petition King Abdullah (90) directly and lodge complaints at the initiative of the monarch himself.
�� (AFP, 5/2/14)

2014�� May 4, Saudi Arabia's health ministry said one more patient who contracted the potentially fatal Middle East virus related to SARS has died and that 14 new cases have been detected. The new 14 cases raised the number of those infected in Saudi Arabia to 411.
�� (AP, 5/514)
2014�� May 4, In Saudi Arabia a maid (23) from the Philippines was allegedly scalded with water deliberately poured down her back. An investigation was launched jointly by Riyadh police and the Philippines embassy after images of burns allegedly suffered by the woman, who had arrived in the kingdom in March, surfaced on social media and online.
�� (Reuters, 5/22/14)

2014�� May 6, Saudi Arabia said it had uncovered an al Qaeda militant group with links to "extremist elements" in Syria and Yemen that had been plotting to assassinate officials and attack government and foreign targets.
�� (Reuters, 5/6/14)

2014�� May 7, A state-linked Saudi newspaper said Saudi blogger Raif Badawi has been sentenced to ten years in prison and 1000 lashes on charges related to accusations that he insulted Islam on an online forum. He was also ordered to pay a fine of about $266,000.
�� (SFC, 5/8/14, p.A2)
2014�� May 7, Saudi health authorities said four more people have died after contracting MERS, a Middle East respiratory virus. Saudi Arabia has reported 449 cases and 121 deaths from MERS.
�� (AP, 5/8/14)

2014�� May 9, Saudi Arabia's health ministry said the death toll from MERS has risen by five to 126 fatalities since the mystery respiratory virus first appeared in the kingdom in 2012.
�� (AFP, 5/9/14)

2014�� May 11, Saudi Arabia reported that three new deaths from MERS had taken its death toll from the disease to 142.
�� (AFP, 5/12/14)

2014�� May 13, Saudi health authorities reported another 5 deaths from MERS. The potentially fatal Middle Eastern respiratory virus has sickened hundreds in the kingdom. A total of 152 people have now died and 495 have been confirmed to have contracted the virus in Saudi Arabia since it was discovered in 2012.
�� (AP, 5/13/14)

2014�� May 27, Saudi media said a court has sentenced to death Rida Rabih, son of Shiite cleric Jaafar Rabih. The Shiite protester was convicted of opening fire on a police patrol during unrest in the kingdom's east.
�� (AP, 5/27/14)

2014�� May 29, Saudi Arabia's Health Ministry said 13 people have died over the last two weeks from the Middle Eastern respiratory virus and that 186 people in total have died from the MERS virus since it was discovered in 2012.
�� (AP, 5/29/14)

2014�� Jul 3, Saudi-owned al-Arabiya television said the government has deployed 30,000 soldiers to its border with Iraq after Iraqi soldiers abandoned the area. Baghdad denied this and said the frontier remained under its full control.
�� (Reuters, 7/3/14)

2014�� Jul 4, Six Saudi members of al Qaeda, already wanted by authorities, struck the town of al-Sharurah between Yemen and Saudi Arabia in an attack that left 4 border guards and 3 of the gunmen dead. Two of the militants grabbed 10 hostages and fought their way into a government building where they blew themselves up the next day.
�� (AP, 7/5/14)(Reuters, 7/6/14)(Reuters, 7/8/14)

2014�� Jul 6, In Saudi Arabia Waleed Abul Khair, a lawyer and founder of a local rights center, was sentenced to 15 years in jail and a 15 year travel ban upon release for allegedly �distorting the kingdom�s reputation� and �inflaming public opinion.
�� (Econ, 7/12/14, p.41)

2014�� Jul 7, In Saudi Arabia three mortar bombs landed near Arar, close to the northern border with Iraq, where Islamist militants have grabbed land in a lightning advance.
�� (Reuters, 7/8/14)

2014�� Aug 4, Saudi authorities in Arar beheaded a Nepalese housemaid convicted of murdering a two-year-old boy by slitting his throat. Saudi national Hamad al-Ahmadi was decapitated in Medina for stabbing his wife to death while she was asleep.
�� (AFP, 8/4/14)

2014�� Aug 5, Saudi Arabian King Abdullah granted $1 billion to help the Lebanese army to bolster security as they battle militants who have seized the border town of Arsal on the Syrian frontier.
�� (Reuters, 8/6/14)

2014�� Aug 6, A Saudi Arabian who had travelled to Sierra Leone and had symptoms similar to those found in Ebola sufferers died of a heart attack. Samples submitted to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention came back negative for the Ebola virus.
�� (AFP, 8/6/14)(AP, 8/10/14)
2014�� Aug 6, In Saudi Arabia the Makkah newspaper said Saudi men have been banned from marrying women from Bangladesh, Pakistan, Myanmar and Chad as the Gulf state toughens the rules restricting marriage with foreigners.
�� (AFP, 8/6/14)

2014�� Aug 10, King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia discussed developments in Syria, Iraq, Gaza and Libya with Egypt�s Pres. Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, during Sisi's first visit to his regime's powerful ally since winning May elections.
�� (AFP, 8/11/14)

2014�� Aug 15, The UN Security Council unanimously adopted a resolution intended to weaken the Islamic State - an al Qaeda splinter group that has seized swaths of territory in Iraq and Syria and declared a caliphate - and al Qaeda's Syrian wing, Nusra Front. Saudi Arabia and Kuwait the next day agreed to comply with the resolution after four of their nationals were named among a group blacklisted by the international body.
�� (Reuters, 8/17/14)

2014�� Aug 17, In Saudi Arabia the local al-Medina newspaper reported that a judge has upheld a sentence of a month in prison and 50 lashes for a businesswoman convicted of insulting members of the morality police during an argument.
�� (Reuters, 8/17/14)

2014�� Aug 17, In France heavily armed robbers attacked the motorcade of a Saudi prince in Paris, making off with 250,000 euros ($335,000) in cash and reportedly stealing "sensitive" documents.
�� (AFP, 8/18/14)

2014�� Aug 18, Saudi Arabia executed four people from the same family for attempting to smuggle "large quantities" of hashish into the kingdom.
�� (AP, 8/18/14)

2014�� Aug 20, Siluria Technologies of California said a $30 million fundraising round was led by Saudi Aramco. Siluria said it can make gasoline from gas for about $1 per gallon.
�� (SFC, 8/21/14, p.C1)

2014�� Aug 21, Saudi police arrested at least 400 mostly African illegal migrants south of Riyadh. Authorities have been cracking down on illegal migrants since the expiration in November of a seven-month amnesty during which they had to regularize their status or leave the kingdom.
�� (AFP, 8/22/14)

2014�� Aug 22, The US imposed sanctions on Abdul Mohsen Abdallah Ibrahim al Sharekh, a Saudi citizen and allegedly the head of Al-Qaeda operations in Syria, and Hamid Hamad Hamid al-Ali of Kuwait.
�� (AFP, 8/22/14)

2014�� Aug 27, Saudi authorities beheaded three citizens after they were convicted of murder in separate cases, bringing to 41 the number of executions there this year.
�� (AFP, 8/27/14)

2014�� Aug 30, A Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) meeting in the Saudi Red Sea resort of Jeddah ended. An Omani minister said the Gulf Arab monarchies have resolved a six-month dispute with Qatar, which they had accused of destabilizing the region by supporting the Muslim Brotherhood.
�� (AFP, 8/30/14)

2014�� Sep 1, A Saudi Arabian court jailed 17 men for up to 26 years for seeking to fight in Iraq and funding militants.
�� (Reuters, 9/1/14)

2014�� Sep 2, A top Saudi security official said that police had arrested 88 men suspected of being part of an al-Qaida cell that was plotting attacks inside and outside of the kingdom.
�� (AP, 9/2/14)

2014�� Sep 3, A court in Saudi Arabia sentenced an American and 23 other people to prison on charges they created a terrorist cell and planned attacks on foreigners and oil pipelines.
�� (AFP, 9/3/14)

2014�� Sep 5, Saudi Arabia�s King Abdullah announced the launch of the first stage of a border security program, covering 900 km (560 miles) of the northern frontier. Saudi police raided a house in Khafji, near the Kuwaiti border, and charged 27 Asian Christians with holding a church ceremony. Saudi Arabia forbids non-Muslim religious practice.
�� (AFP, 9/6/14)(Econ, 9/20/14, p.43)

2014�� Sep 21, Saudi Arabia�s official SPA news agency reported that four Saudi men have been sentenced to death for their role in one of the kingdom's "bloodiest terror cells." A special criminal court in Riyadh also jailed "as many as 20" others for between two and 23 years for a variety of crimes that included embracing "deviant" thinking contrary to the Koran..
�� (AFP, 9/22/14)

2014�� Sep 23, The United States and its Arab allies bombed Syria for the first time. Bahrain, Jordan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates participated in or supported the strikes against Islamic State targets. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said at least 70 Islamic State fighters were killed in strikes that hit at least 50 targets in Raqqa and Deir al-Zor and Hasakah provinces. It also said at least 50 fighters and 8 civilians were killed in strikes targeting al Qaeda's Syrian affiliate, the Nusra Front, in northern Aleppo and Idlib provinces.
�� (Reuters, 9/23/14)

2014�� Sep 27, Air strikes hit Islamic State and other Islamist groups in eastern Syria. US strikes hit the besieged area around Kobani and forces from Saudi Arabia, Jordan and the UAE contributed to strikes around the country.�
�� (Reuters, 9/27/14)(SSFC, 9/28/14, p.A8)

2014�� Oct 4, In Saudi Arabia some two million Muslims ritually stoned the devil in the last major rite of this year's hajj, while fellow believers around the world celebrated Eid al-Adha, the feast of sacrifice.
�� (AFP, 10/4/14)

2014�� Oct 8, France said it will soon provide weapons and military equipment to the Lebanese army as part of a $3 billion grant from Saudi Arabia to help it fight jihadis encroaching into Lebanon from Syria.
�� (Reuters, 10/8/14)

2014�� Oct 12, The US Central Command said warplanes from the United States, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates conducted four airstrikes in Syria over the weekend, including three in Kobani that destroyed an Islamic State fighting position and staging area.
�� (AP, 10/12/14)

2014�� Oct 13, US Central Command said the US and Saudi Arabia launched eight airstrikes yesterday and today against Islamic State targets in Syria, including seven near Kobani.
�� (Reuters, 10/13/14)

2014�� Oct 14, In Saudi Arabia a US national was shot dead and another wounded in Riyadh. Police later shot and wounded an assailant and then arrested him.
�� (Reuters, 10/14/14)

2014�� Oct 15, A Saudi court sentenced prominent Shiite cleric and anti-government protest leader Nimr Bakir al-Nimr to death after convicting him of sedition.
�� (AFP, 10/15/14)(Econ, 10/18/14, p.49)

2014�� Oct 16, Saudi Arabia�s health ministry said it is seeing "sporadic" cases of the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV), which has killed 324 people in the country since 2012.
�� (AFP, 10/16/14)

2014�� Oct 21, A Saudi court sentenced 13 people to prison for planning a series of attacks against US forces in Qatar and Kuwait. 11 Saudis, a Qatari and an Afghan national were given varying sentences of between 18 months to 30 years in prison.
�� (AP, 10/22/14)

2014�� Oct 23, Saudi Arabia authorities said female drivers will be dealt with "strictly", before a right-to-drive campaign culminates at the weekend.
�� (AFP, 10/23/14)

2014�� Nov 3, In Saudi Arabia gunmen shot dead at least 6 people in eastern al-Ahsa district. Local residents said it was an attack on Shi'ite Muslim worshippers.
�� (Reuters, 11/4/14)(AFP, 11/5/14)

2014�� Nov 4, In Saudi Arabia 2 policemen and 2 suspects, allegedly linked to the deadly gun attack in eastern al-Ahsa district, were killed. Saudi authorities arrested 15 people in connection with the shooting that left 6 people dead.
�� (AP, 11/4/14)(AFP, 11/5/14)
2014�� Nov 4, Saudi Arabia ordered closed the offices of Wesal TV, a religious television channel accused of fomenting sectarian tension, after at least eight people were killed in an attack on Shi'ite Muslims marking a major religious anniversary.
�� (Reuters, 11/5/14)
2014�� Nov 4, France and Saudi Arabia signed an agreement for Paris to provide the Lebanese army with $3 billion worth of weapons paid for by Riyadh.
�� (AP, 11/4/14)

2014�� Nov 7, A Saudi Arabia advisory committee recommended that the government lift its ban on female drivers for women over 30. It said the women must be off the road by 8pm and cannot wear makeup behind the wheel.
�� (SFC, 11/8/14, p.A2)

2014�� Nov 18, Saudi press reported that a court has found eight men guilty of involvement in a series of deadly attacks against foreigners in 2004, among them an assault that killed a BBC cameraman and paralyzed the news organization's correspondent.
�� (AP, 11/18/14)

2014�� Nov 19, Saudi Arabia executed Salih bin Yateem bin Salih al-Qarni. He had donned women's clothing in a bid to escape after shooting dead a soldier and police officer.
�� (AFP, 11/19/14)
2014�� Nov 16, Gulf states agreed to welcome Qatar back to the fold following a row over its support for Islamists. Last March Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and the UAE announced the withdrawal of their envoys from Qatar in protest at its "interference" in their internal affairs by supporting Islamists.
�� (AFP, 11/19/14)

2014�� Nov 22, In Saudi Arabia Danish national Thomas Hopner was shot and wounded in Riyadh. On Dec 11 Saudi Arabia�s interior ministry said three supporters of the Islamic State group have been arrested for the shooting.
�� (AP, 12/11/14)
2014�� Nov 22, The Pentagon said Saudi citizen Muhammad al-Zahrani, who has spent the past 12 years detained at Guantanamo Bay, has been released to return to Saudi Arabia. 142 men now continued to be held, including 73 already cleared for release.
�� (AP, 11/22/14)

2014�� Nov 23, Saudi telecommunications company Etihad Etisalat, known as Mobily on the Saudi stock exchange, said it has suspended its chief executive officer after accounting errors forced the operator to restate 18 months of earnings.
�� (AP, 11/23/14)

2014�� Nov 27, Saudi Arabia led the 12-member OPEC oil ministers meeting in Austria. OPEC opted to keep their production target at 30 million barrels a day, despite an oversupply of crude and plunging prices.
�� (AP, 11/27/14)

2014�� Nov 29, A Saudi man was arrested after he stabbed a Canadian citizen shopping in a mall with his family in Saudi Arabia�s oil-rich Eastern Province.
�� (AP, 11/30/14)

2014�� Dec 4, Yemeni and Western sources said Saudi Arabia has suspended most of its financial aid to Yemen, in a clear indication of its dissatisfaction with the growing political power of Shi'ite Houthi fighters friendly with Riyadh's regional rival, Iran.
�� (Reuters, 12/4/14)

2014�� Dec 8, Saudi King Abdullah announced a Cabinet shakeup, naming new ministers to key portfolios overseeing the kingdom's universities and mosques where ultraconservative clerics and their supporters hold sway.
�� (AP, 12/8/14)

2014�� Dec 9, The six-member Gulf Cooperation Council (Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, UAE) agreed to create a joint naval force based out of Bahrain and announced a police force based in Abu Dhabi.
�� (SSFC, 12/14/14, p.A22)

2014�� Dec 11, Saudi Arabia-based Islamic Development Bank said the Saudi king has pledged $35 million to help fight Ebola in hard-hit West African countries.
�� (AP, 12/11/14)

2014�� Dec 12, A Saudi woman arrested for attending a soccer game at� Jiddah's new al-Jawhara stadium.
�� (AP, 12/15/14)

2014�� Dec 14, A Saudi security officer was killed in an operation to free three foreign laborers taken hostage by a gunman in Riyadh. The attacker was wounded and captured in the shoot-out. A Saudi policeman was shot and killed in the eastern town of al-Awamiya by an unidentified assailant.
�� (AP, 12/15/14)

2014�� Dec 15, Saudi Arabia's Interior Ministry said a Yemeni man convicted of robbery has had his right hand cut off, the first such punishment carried out in the kingdom this year.
�� (AP, 12/15/14)
2014�� Dec 15, In Austria school officials in Vienna ordered the closure of a Saudi Arabian school accused of teaching anti-Semitism, after it refused to comply with a request to identify the institution's director and teachers.
�� (AP, 12/15/14)

2014�� Dec 20, Saudi security forces killed 4 militants in a clash in Awamiya region. An ministry spokesman said the dead were behind the killing of a member of the security forces and wounding of another on Dec 14. Residents said a teenager was accidentally killed during the raid.
�� (Reuters, 12/20/14)(AFP, 12/21/14)

2014�� Dec 24, A Saudi Arabian court sentenced a man to death for links to a 2006 attack claimed by Al-Qaeda on the kingdom's biggest oil facility. Two other Saudis were jailed for 33 and 27 years respectively.
�� (AFP, 12/24/14)

2014�� Dec 25, Saudi Arabia's Cabinet endorsed a 2015 budget that projects a slight increase in spending and a significant drop in revenues due to sliding oil prices, resulting in a nearly $39 billion deficit.
�� (AP, 12/25/14)
2014�� Dec 25, Saudi activists said two detained women's rights campaigners have been transferred to a special tribunal for terrorism.
�� (AFP, 12/25/14)

2014�� Dec 31, Saudi authorities beheaded a Pakistani man convicted of smuggling "large quantities" of heroin. An Associated Press tally showed 83 people have been beheaded in Saudi Arabia in 2014.
�� (AP, 12/31/14)

2014�� Pascal Menoret authored Joyriding in Riyadh: Oil, Urbanism, and Road Revolt in Saudi Arabia.
�� (Econ, 5/31/14, p.75)
2014�� Ziauddin Sardar authored �Mecca: The Sacred City.�
�� (Econ, 10/25/14, p.85)
2014�� In Saudi Arabia the first female-run law firm opened this year after authorities lifted a ban preventing women law graduates from practicing.
�� (Econ, 5/17/14, p.45)

2015�� Jan 1, Saudi security forces arrested Montadhar Ali Saleh Alsbaitiin, a man believed to belong to a Shi'ite Muslim group blamed for instigating protests and unrest in the country's Eastern Province.
�� (Reuters, 1/2/15)

2015�� Jan 4, In Saudi Arabia a general and two soldiers were killed in a rare attack and suicide bombing by "terrorists" on the border with Iraq. 4 attackers were also killed in the clash, 2 in suicide blasts.
�� (AFP, 1/5/15)(Econ, 1/10/15, p.43)

2015�� Jan 9, In Saudi Arabia blogger Raif Badawi was flogged 50 times, the first set of 1000 lashes over 20 weeks. He was sentenced in 2014 to 10 years in prison plus the lashes for criticizing clerics.
�� (SFC, 1/10/15, p.A2)

2015�� Jan 12, Saudi Arabia said it has beheaded a Myanmar female child-killer, bringing to 7 the number of death sentences it has carried out this year. Layla bint Abdul Mutaleb Bassim is later seen screaming her innocence in a video posted on the Internet on Jan 17.
�� (AFP, 1/12/15)(AFP, 1/17/15)

2015�� Jan 14, Saudi Arabia beheaded a convicted Pakistani drug trafficker and one of its own citizens who killed a soldier.
�� (AFP, 1/14/15)

2015�� Jan 16, Saudi Arabia postponed the 2nd round of flogging for blogger Raef Badawi, sentenced to 1,000 lashes for insulting Islam, because his wounds from last week's 50 lashings have not yet healed.
�� (AFP, 1/16/15)
2015�� Jan 16, Saudi Arabia beheaded one of its citizens for shooting dead a compatriot with a machine gun, bringing to 10 the number of executions in just over two weeks.
�� (AFP, 1/16/15)

2012�� Jan 21, Germany�s Chancellor Angela Merkel and eight ministers decided to halt arms exports to Saudi Arabia because of instability in the region.
�� (AP, 1/25/15)

2015�� Jan 22, Saudi Arabia postponed the flogging of blogger Raef Badawi, whose case has sparked international criticism, for a second week on medical grounds.
�� (AP, 1/22/15)
2015�� Jan 22, Saudi Arabia�s King Abdullah (b.1924) died after a short illness. He was immediately succeeded by Crown Prince Salman (79).
�� (Reuters, 1/23/15)

2015�� Jan 23, Saudi King Salman pledged to maintain existing energy and foreign policies and settled the succession by appointing his youngest half-brother Muqrin (69) as Crown Prince and nephew Mohammed bin Nayef (55) as Deputy Crown Prince.
�� (Reuters, 1/23/15)

2015�� Jan 30, In Saudi Arabia two US citizens came under gunfire, and one of them was wounded but in stable condition.
�� (AFP, 1/30/15)
2015�� Jan 30, Saudi Arabia postponed for a third week in a row the flogging of blogger Raef Badawi.
�� (AFP, 1/30/15)

2015�� Feb 1, Outspoken billionaire Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal launched a pan-Arab satellite news channel aimed at challenging established networks in the region. The Bahrain-based Alarab News Channel took to the air, leading with a story about Japanese hostage Kenji Goto.
�� (AFP, 2/1/15)
2015�� Feb 1, In Saudi Arabia the daughter of Suad al-Shammari, co-founder of the Saudi Liberal Network Internet discussion group with blogging activist Raef Badawi, said her mother has been freed after about three months in prison.
�� (AFP, 2/1/15)
2015�� Feb 1, In Pakistan an advance party arrived in a C-130 transport plane for Saudi Prince Fahd bin Sultan bin Abdulaziz to visit the southwestern desert region to hunt the Houbara bustard, a bird supposedly protected by law. He led a hunting party to Baluchistan last year that officials said killed more than 2,000 bustards.
�� (AFP, 2/2/15)

2015�� Feb 4, Saudi Arabia beheaded two convicted rapists and a murderer, bringing to 21 the number of people it has executed so far this year.
�� (AFP, 2/4/15)

2015�� Feb 7, An alleged audiotape aired on a Brotherhood-allied TV station� in which Egypt�s Pres. Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi and a top aide purportedly banter about how rich Persian Gulf Arabs are and add up the billions they intend to seek. Financial help, estimated at some $32 billion, has helped keep Egypt afloat after years of instability. On Feb 9 el-Sissi called leaders of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and the UAE, praising their wisdom and saying relations won�t be undermined by �nefarious attempts� to do so.
�� (http://tinyurl.com/lyprfja)(SFC, 2/11/15, p.A2)

2015�� Feb 13, Saudi Arabia, Germany and Italy became the latest countries to withdraw embassy staff from Yemen as an exodus of foreign diplomats gathered pace due to growing insecurity.
�� (AFP, 2/13/15)

2015�� Feb 18, In Saudi Arabia military chiefs from 26 nations involved in the US-led coalition battling the Islamic State group began a two-day meeting aimed at giving military leaders an opportunity to exchange views about the fight against the extremist group.
�� (AP, 2/18/15)

2015�� Feb 21, Saudi media reported that morality police have detained a group of young men for dancing at a birthday party and referred them to prosecutors.
�� (AP, 2/22/15)
2015�� Feb 21, Saudi Arabia's Health Ministry said two more people have died after contracting Middle East Respiratory Syndrome or MERS, pushing the total number of deaths from the virus in the kingdom to 385.
�� (AP, 2/22/15)

2015�� Feb 24, Saudi newspapers said a court has jailed at least 13 men on counts including the recruitment of al Qaeda militants for the September 11, 2001 attacks on the US and sheltering Osama bin Laden in Pakistan.
�� (Reuters, 2/24/15)

2015�� Feb 27, Saudi Arabia said ten more people have died from MERS over the past week, after an international mission urged extra measures to combat the virus.
�� (AFP, 2/27/15)

2015�� Mar 3, In Saudi Arabia three beheadings today, one for rape and two for murder, took the total so far this year to 38.
�� (AFP, 3/5/15)

2015�� Mar 9, Saudi Arabia beheaded a Filipino convicted of murdering his boss, bringing to 40 the number of executions this year. Joven Esteva was found guilty of stabbing the Saudi in the chest in 2007.
�� (AFP, 3/9/15)
2015�� Mar 9, Swedish Foreign Minister Margot Wallstroem accused Saudi Arabia of blocking her speech at an Arab League meeting due to her stance on human rights in the region.
�� (AFP, 3/9/15)
2015�� Mar 9, In southern Yemen Al-Qaida militants overran and held the city of Mahfad for hours before an army counterattack pushed them out. Saudi Arabia agreed to host a peace talks with the Houthis requested by Pres. Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi.
�� (AP, 3/9/15)

2015�� Mar 10, Sweden scrapped a long-standing military deal with the Saudis after accusing the country of blocking Swedish Foreign Minister Margot Wallstroem from speaking at an Arab League meeting. Saudi Arabia in response recalled its Stockholm ambassador.
�� (AFP, 3/11/15)

2015�� Mar 12, In Saudi Arabia a gang leader was beheaded raising the number of executions carried out this year to 44.
�� (AFP, 3/12/15)

2015�� Mar 13, Egypt opened an int�l. conference to promote an ambitious recovery plan. Kuwait, the UAE and Saudi Arabia all promised investments and aid of $4 billion each.
�� (SFC, 3/14/15, p.A2)

2015�� Mar 19, A senior Saudi official said that the kingdom will no longer issue business visas to Swedes or renew the current visas of Swedish nationals living in the country in response to Swedish Foreign Minister Margot Wallstrom's recent criticism of human rights and women's rights in Saudi Arabia.
�� (AP, 3/19/15)

2015�� Mar 25, The Saudi ambassador to the United States announced that his country had initiated airstrikes against the Houthi rebels in Yemen. The Saudi operation was called �Decisive Storm.� King Salman gathered a 10-country coalition of Sunni states to bomb the Houthis.
�� (AFP, 3/25/15)(SSFC, 4/5/15, p.A4)(Econ, 5/23/15, p.18)

2015�� Mar 26, Warplanes from a Saudi-led Arab coalition bombed Huthi Shiite rebels in support of Yemen's embattled president, as regional rival Iran warned the intervention was a "dangerous" move. Egypt participated in the Saudi-led campaign against Shi'ite Houthis militias in Yemen with its naval and air forces. The US military rescued two Saudi pilots who ejected from their jet off Yemen's coast.
�� (AFP, 3/26/15)(Reuters, 3/26/15)(AFP, 3/27/15)

2015�� Mar 27, In Yemen at least 21 Shiite rebels were killed when residents in a tribal southern region opened fire at their vehicles. Warplanes targeted Houthi forces controlling Sanaa and their northern heartland and, in a boost for Riyadh, fellow monarchy Morocco said it would join the rapidly-assembled Sunni Muslim coalition against the Shi'ite Muslim group.
�� (AFP, 3/27/15)(Reuters, 3/27/15)
2015�� Mar 27, Egyptian and Saudi Arabian warships deployed to the Bab al-Mandab strait off Yemen to secure the strategic sea passage.
�� (SFC, 3/28/15, p.A3)

2015�� Mar 28, Saudi Arabia's navy evacuated dozens of diplomats from Yemen and the United Nations pulled out international staff after a third night of Saudi-led air strikes trying to stem advances by Iranian-allied Houthi fighters.
�� (Reuters, 3/28/15)

2015�� Mar 29, Saudi Arabia accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of hypocrisy, telling an Arab summit that he should not express support for the Middle East while fuelling instability by supporting Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad.
�� (Reuters, 3/29/15)
2015�� Mar 29, In Yemen at least 38 people were killed in clashes between rebel forces and tribes near a southern oil region. Saudi-led warplanes bombed the main international airport and struck a renegade troop base in Sanaa.
�� (AFP, 3/29/15)

2015�� Mar 31, Saudi-led airstrikes pounded Yemen's Shiite rebels for the sixth day, destroying missiles and weapons depots controlled by the rebels. The UN human rights office in Geneva said that in the past five days, at least 93 civilians have been killed and 364 wounded in five Yemeni cities. Airstrikes hit a dairy factory near Hodeida killing 23.
�� (AP, 3/31/15)(Econ., 4/4/15, p.44)

2015�� Apr 1, In Yemen Saudi-led coalition warplanes bombed Shiite rebel positions in both the north and south, setting off explosions and drawing return fire from anti-aircraft guns.
�� (AP, 4/1/15)(SFC, 4/2/15, p.A3)

2015�� Apr 3, In Yemen Houthi forces pulled back from a central Aden district. Warplanes from the Saudi-led coalition dropped weapons and medical aid to fighters defending the southern Yemeni city. An air strike on a village near Sanaa killed a family of nine in what appeared to be a hit by the Saudi-led military campaign against Houthi militia. Local militia forces said they killed 10 Houthis during the fighting which pushed the Shi'ite movement out of Crater. They also said Houthis killed two medics and two patients when they opened fire on an ambulance ferrying casualties from Aden peninsula to hospital on the mainland.
�� (Reuters, 4/3/15)(Reuters, 4/4/15)

2015�� Apr 4, A Saudi adviser said Saudi Arabian special forces are involved in the military operation against Shiite Houthi rebels in neighboring Yemen. A Saudi-led coalition pounded rebels in the south and dropped more arms to loyalist fighters.
�� (AFP, 4/4/15)

2015�� Apr 5, In eastern Saudi Arabia a policeman was killed and three were wounded during a raid in al-Awamiya, a predominantly Shiite town.
�� (AP, 4/6/15)
2015�� Apr 5, In Yemen warplanes from a Saudi-led coalition bombed Sanaa overnight on the eleventh day of a campaign against Iran-allied Houthi. A senior Houthi member said Yemen's Houthis are ready to sit down for peace talks as long as a Saudi-led air campaign is halted and the negotiations are overseen by "non-aggressive" parties.
�� (Reuters, 4/5/15)

2015�� Apr 6, Saudi Arabia beheaded Saleh al-Yami for drug trafficking, raising to 57 the number of executions it has carried out so far this year.
�� (AFP, 4/6/15)

2015�� Apr 7, In central Yemen warplanes from a Saudi-led air coalition bombed a military base controlled by Houthi fighters and their army allies. A website of the Houthi-run defense ministry said two students were killed at a neighboring school. Suspected al Qaeda militants stormed a remote border post with Saudi Arabia, killing at least two soldiers including the senior border guard officer.
�� (Reuters, 4/7/15)

2015�� Apr 8, In Saudi Arabia two policemen were shot dead in Riyadh. Yazid bin Mohammed Abdulrahman Abu Niyan (23) later confessed that he was following orders received from IS in Syria. A 2nd Saudi suspect was identified as Nawaf bin Sharif Samir al-Anzi. Three bomb-laden cars had been seized during investigations into the killings.
�� (AFP, 4/24/15)
2015�� Apr 8, In southern Yemen warplanes from a Saudi-led coalition struck al-Anad airbase overnight and targets in areas around the southern port city of Aden. At least 22 people were killed in tank and mortar shelling by rebel forces on residential areas in Aden. Warships from the Saudi-led coalition blocked a vessel carrying more than 47,000 tons of wheat from entering a Yemeni port, demanding UN guarantees that the cargo would not go to military personnel.
�� (Reuters, 4/8/15)(AFP, 4/8/15)(Reuters, 4/10/15)

2015�� Apr 9, The Pentagon said the US has begun daily aerial refueling for planes in the Saudi-led coalition carrying out air strikes in Yemen.
�� (SSFC, 4/12/15, p.A4)

2015�� Apr 10, Yemen�s Houthi rebels killed 3 Saudi border guards in a mortar attack in Saudi Arabia�s Najran province.
�� (SSFC, 4/12/15, p.A9)

2015�� Apr 11, In Iran hundreds of citizens defied a government ban and protested against Saudi Arabia over the alleged abuse of two Iranian pilgrims visiting the Sunni kingdom.
�� (AP, 4/11/15)

2015�� Apr 12, In Yemen suspected Al Qaeda militants killed an army colonel in central Shabwa province. Saudi Arabia dismissed Iranian calls to end air strikes on Yemen as Saudi-led attacks hit a military camp in Taiz, killing 8 civilians. Al Qaeda leader Ibrahim al-Rubaish, released from Guantanamo in 2006, was killed along with others in an apparent US drone strike on a group of militants west of the port city of Mukalla.
�� (Reuters, 4/12/15)(SFC, 4/15/15, p.A3)

2015�� Apr 14, Iran proposed a four-point peace plan for Yemen and called for an end to Saudi-led air strikes against Houthi rebels allied to Tehran. It comprised of a ceasefire, humanitarian assistance, an intra-Yemeni dialogue and the establishment of a broad-based government.
�� (Reuters, 4/14/15)(Reuters, 4/15/15)

2015�� Apr 15, Saudi Arabia beheaded one of its citizens for drug trafficking. Khalid al-Rowaili was the 61st person executed in the kingdom so far this year.
�� (AFP, 4/15/15)

2015�� Apr 16, Saudi Arabia's stock market regulator said foreign investors will be allowed to trade shares on the oil-rich kingdom's exchange beginning on June 15.
�� (AP, 4/16/15)

2015�� Apr 18, Saudi Arabia pledged to cover the entire $274 million in humanitarian aid sought by the UN for conflict-torn Yemen, where a Saudi-led coalition has been bombing Shiite rebels for three weeks.
�� (AFP, 4/18/15)

2015�� Apr 19, A Saudi border guard was killed and two troops wounded by heavy gun and mortar fire from Yemen.
�� (Reuters, 4/20/15)

2015�� Apr 20, Lebanon received the first installment of $3 billion worth of French weapons paid for by Saudi Arabia, part of a four-year plan to help arm Beirut in its battle against jihadi groups.
�� (AP, 4/20/15)
2015�� Apr 20, In Yemen Saudi-led air strikes on a missile depot in Sanaa, the rebel-held capital, sparked explosions that left at least 18 people dead and 300 wounded.
�� (AFP, 4/20/15)

2015�� Apr 21, Saudi Arabia announced that it would end almost a month of air strikes against the Iranian-allied Houthis. Hours later Houthi fighters captured an army brigade base loyal to the government in Yemen's central city of Taiz following heavy fighting. A Saudi air strike hit the brigade headquarters shortly afterwards.
�� (Reuters, 4/22/15)
2015�� Apr 21, The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists issued its annual list of the world's top 10 most censored countries: Eritrea tope the list followed by North Korea, Saudi Arabia, Ethiopia, Azerbaijan, Vietnam, Iran, China, Myanmar and Cuba.
�� (AP, 4/21/15)

2015�� Apr 22, In Yemen rival forces fought on despite a declared halt to a Saudi-led bombing campaign, showing how tough it may be to find a political solution to a war stirring animosities between rival Gulf powers Saudi Arabia and Iran. The Houthi rebel movement said it wanted to return to UN-sponsored peace talks but only after a complete halt to a month of Saudi-led air strikes on the group. The Saudi-led coalition bombed southern Houthi positions carrying out at least 12 air strikes.
�� (Reuters, 4/22/15)

2015�� Apr 23, Warplanes from a Saudi-led coalition pounded Houthi militiamen and military bases with at least 20 air strikes throughout Yemen, despite Riyadh saying it was winding down its campaign.
�� (Reuters, 4/23/15)

2015�� Apr 26, In Saudi Arabia a plane affiliated with the King Faisal Air Academy, a military flight school in Riyadh, crashed and killed the instructor and a student pilot.
�� (AP, 4/26/15)

2015�� Apr 27, In Yemen Saudi-led aircraft pounded Iran-allied Houthi militiamen and rebel army units in central Yemen and Sanaa despite a formal end to the air strikes.
�� (Reuters, 4/27/15)

2015�� Apr 28, Saudi Arabia said it has arrested 93 people suspected of belonging to the Islamic State militant group, including two people who planned a failed suicide car bombing against the US embassy in Riyadh.
�� (Reuters, 4/28/15)

2015�� Apr 29, Saudi King Salman appointed a new heir and made his young son second in line to rule, a major shift in power toward two princes who have overseen a more assertive stance at a time of almost unprecedented regional turmoil. Muhammad bin Nayef (55) was named the new crown prince.
�� (Reuters, 4/29/15)(Econ., 5/2/15, p.41)

2015�� Apr 30, A Saudi national who murdered his father and a drug trafficker were beheaded, bringing to 71 the number of executions carried out this year in the kingdom.
�� (AFP, 4/30/15)

2015�� May 1, Saudi Arabia said its forces have killed dozens of Iran-backed rebels from Yemen who launched their first major attack on the kingdom since Saudi-led air strikes began last month.
�� (AFP, 5/1/15)

2015�� May 4, Senegal said it will send 2,100 troops to Saudi Arabia as part of an international coalition combating Houthi rebels in Yemen.
�� (Reuters, 5/4/15)

2015�� May 5, Saudi King Salman announced the establishment of a center to coordinate humanitarian assistance for Yemen, and invited the United Nations to join in relief work for the Arab country.
�� (Reuters, 5/5/15)
2015�� May 5, It was reported that Indonesia will stop sending new domestic workers to 21 Middle Eastern countries, after the recent execution of two Indonesian women in Saudi Arabia angered Jakarta.
�� (AFP, 5/5/15)
2015�� May 5, Yemen's Houthi rebels fired mortars and Katyusha rockets at the Saudi city of Najran, killing at least 3 civilians. A husband and wife were killed as a missile from war-torn Yemen struck their building in the Jazan region. Five soldiers were reported captured.
�� (AP, 5/5/15)(Reuters, 5/6/15)(AFP, 5/6/15)

2015�� May 6, Saudi-led coalition warplanes struck Yemeni provinces near the Saudi border overnight, killing at least 43 civilians. Another 9 people were killed and 18 were wounded in air strikes on a police academy in Dhamar province. Aid agencies warned that fuel shortages could halt their efforts to tackle Yemen's humanitarian crisis. Houthi fighters entered Aden's al-Tawahi district, one of the last strongholds of supporters of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi. Fighting across Yemen killed 120 people, mostly civilians, including at least 40 who were trying to flee Aden in a boat that was struck by Houthi shells.
�� (Reuters, 5/6/15)(AFP, 5/6/15)(Reuters, 5/7/15)

2015�� May 7, Saudi Arabia offered a five-day humanitarian truce to the Houthi militia it has hit with weeks of air strikes in neighboring Yemen, on condition that fighting across Yemen stops.
�� (Reuters, 5/7/15)

2015�� May 8, In Yemen the Saudi-led coalition declared the rebel stronghold of Saada a war zone and said its entire territory would from now on be considered a "military target," urging all civilians to leave by 7 p.m. local time.
�� (AP, 5/8/15)

2015�� May 9, The Saudi-led coalition struck northern provinces of Yemen in a third consecutive night of heavy air strikes. More than 100 air strikes hit areas of Saada and Hajjah provinces, including the districts of Haradh, Maidi and Bakil al-Mir.
�� (Reuters, 5/9/15)

2015�� May 11, Saudi-led warplanes pressed air strikes against rebel positions in Yemen, 36 hours before a scheduled five-day pause to allow the delivery of much-needed humanitarian aid. The air strikes on a rocket base in Sanaa killed 90 people and wounded 300.
�� (AFP, 5/11/15)(Reuters, 5/12/15)

2015�� May 12, In Yemen at least 69 people were killed and 250 others were wounded by explosions after Saudi-led warplanes hit an arms depot a day earlier on the outskirts of Sanaa as bombing continued today.
�� (AFP, 5/12/15)

2015�� May 13, King Salman doubled Saudi Arabia's aid commitment to Yemen to $540 million on the first day of a humanitarian pause in a bombing campaign it has led. A jet-fighter from the Saudi-led coalition struck a military convoy belonging to Shiite rebels and their allies in southern Yemen, straining the humanitarian, five-day cease-fire.
�� (AFP, 5/13/15)(AP, 5/13/15)

2015�� May 19, Saudi Arabia advertised vacancies for eight executioners after beheading 84 people, nearly as many people since the start of the year as it did in the whole of 2014.
�� (AFP, 5/19/15)

2015�� May 21, In southern Yemen Saudi-led coalition warplanes carried out fresh raids on rebel positions as pro-government tribesmen advanced on Shiite Huthi strongholds in the north. Saudi shells hit an international humanitarian aid office in northern Yemen, killing 5 Ethiopian refugees and wounding ten.
�� (AFP, 5/21/15)(Reuters, 5/21/15)

2015�� May 22, In eastern Saudi Arabia a suicide bomber blew himself up at the Shi'ite Imam Ali mosque during Friday prayers, killing 21 people and wounding more than 50 in the village of al-Qadeeh.
�� (Reuters, 5/23/15)

2015�� May 24, In Yemen Saudi forces and Houthi militia traded heavy artillery fire overnight, which destroyed part of the Haradh border crossing, the main border crossing between the two countries. In Taiz Houthi forces and pro-Hadi fighters fired tank and artillery shells at each other throughout the city overnight, killing 5 civilians. Local fighters combating the Houthis in the south said they killed 8 Houthi fighters in an ambush in Dalea province.
�� (Reuters, 5/24/15)

2015�� May 26, In northern Yemen 7 members of a family were killed in an overnight strike by Saudi-led warplanes on a border village. In the south the Saudi-led air force launched nearly 20 raids on Houthi fighters in the port city of Aden.
�� (Reuters, 5/26/15)

2015�� May 27, Saudi-led air strikes killed at least 80 people near Yemen's border with Saudi Arabia and in the capital Sanaa, the deadliest day of bombing in over two months of war in Yemen.
�� (Reuters, 5/27/15)
2015�� May 27, Saudi Arabia said it is sanctioning two senior members of Hezbollah, Khalil Yusif Harb and Muhammad Qabalan, accusing them of leading terrorist operations in the Middle East.
�� (AP, 5/27/15)

2015�� May 29, In Saudi Arabia an Islamic State jihadist disguised as a woman killed 4 other people when he blew himself up in a car outside the Al-Anoud Shiite mosque in Dammam, Eastern Province. This was the second such attack in a week. The Interior Ministry later identified bomber as Saudi citizen, Khalid al-Wahbi al-Shemmari (20).
�� (AFP, 5/29/15)(SFC, 5/30/15, p.A4)(Reuters, 6/3/15)

2015�� May 31, In Yemen aircraft from a Saudi-led coalition bombed Houthi outposts throughout the country. Yemen's exiled government in Saudi Arabia said that senior Houthi officials are holding talks with the United States in neighboring Oman to help end the nine-week conflict. Human Rights Watch published new evidence alleging a Saudi-led coalition is using internationally banned cluster bombs in Yemen.
�� (Reuters, 5/31/15)(AFP, 5/31/15)

2015�� Jun 1, In Yemen at least 8 civilians were killed and 20 wounded in explosions sparked by Saudi-led air strikes on rebel arms depots in Sanaa.
�� (AFP, 6/1/15)

2015�� Jun 3, In Yemen Saudi-led air strikes killed a group of around 20 Houthi fighters outside the southern port city of Aden and also shook the capital Sanaa in the north.
�� (Reuters, 6/3/15)

2015�� Jun 4, Israel and Saudi Arabia admitted at a conference in America that they have held a series of meetings over shared interests.
�� (Econ, 6/13/15, p.47)
2015�� Jun 4, In central Yemen warplanes from the Saudi-led coalition pounded rebel positions as air raids intensified amid attempts to revive UN-proposed talks in Switzerland.
�� (AFP, 6/4/15)

2015�� Jun 5, Four Saudi troops, including an officer, were reported killed after an attack was launched from the Yemeni side on border areas in Jizan and Najran.
�� (Reuters, 6/6/15)

2015�� Jun 6, Yemen's dominant Houthi group and its army allies fired a Scud missile at Saudi Arabia which the kingdom says it shot down. Eyewitnesses said around 10 Arab air strikes pounded Houthi positions in Aden's northwest suburbs.
�� (Reuters, 6/6/15)

2015�� Jun 7, Saudi state-linked news websites reported that the Supreme Court has upheld an internationally condemned verdict against Raif Badawi (31), a liberal blogger who was publicly flogged after being found guilty of insulting Islam.
�� (AP, 6/7/15)
2015�� Jun 7, In Yemen 20 civilians were among at least 45 people killed in Saudi-led air strikes on the rebel-held armed forces headquarters in Sanaa early today.
�� (AFP, 6/7/15)

2015�� Jun 9, In Yemen a series of airstrikes from the Saudi-led military coalition targeted the Defense Ministry building, which is under control of Shiite rebels who control Sanaa. The airstrikes also targeted the homes of military commanders allied with the rebels in the northwest Sanaa district of Hamdan.
�� (AP, 6/9/15)

2015�� Jun 11, In Yemen a Saudi-led airstrike hit a public bus on a highway north of the southern city of Aden, splitting the vehicle in half and killing at least 20 civilian passengers. Airstrikes over the last 48 hours also hit a family traveling in a private car and a farmer driving a pick-up truck loaded with potatoes, also near Aden.
�� (AP, 6/11/15)

2015�� Jun 12, In Yemen Saudi-led airstrikes targeting Shiite rebels and their allies destroyed historic houses in the center of, Sanaa, a UNESCO world heritage site. The Saudi-led coalition denied claims that it carried out the strike, suggesting a rebel ammunition cache may have exploded.
�� (AP, 6/12/15)�� (AFP, 6/12/15)

2015�� Jun 13, In Yemen 9 people were killed when Saudi-led coalition warplanes bombed a district in Sanaa inhabited by relatives of ex-president Ali Abdullah Saleh. At least 60 people were reported wounded.
�� (Reuters, 6/13/15)

2015�� Jun 15, Saudi Arabia beheaded a Syrian drug trafficker and a national convicted of murder, taking to 100 the number of executions in the kingdom this year.
�� (AFP, 6/15/15)

2015�� Jun 17, Saudi Arabia beheaded two of its citizens for murder, adding to what a rights group calls a "campaign of death" in which 102 people have been executed this year compared to 87 in 2014.
�� (AFP, 6/17/15)
2015�� Jun 17, Al Qaeda militants in Yemen killed two alleged Saudi spies, accusing them of planting tracking devices which enabled the assassination of the group's leader in a suspected US drone strike last week. Four car bombs hit three mosques and the political headquarters of the Houthi movement in Sanaa, killing and wounding dozens of people.
�� (Reuters, 6/17/15)

2015�� Jun 19, In Yemen Saudi-led warplanes bombed elite Republican Guard forces allied with the dominant Houthi faction. Houthis reported that 9 civilians were killed in air strikes on the Razeh district of the northern province of Saada. UN-sponsored ceasefire talks broke off in Geneva without a deal to end nearly three months of fighting.
�� (Reuters, 6/19/15)

2015�� Jun 24, Yemen's Shiite rebels launched two late night attacks along the Saudi Arabia border, killing three Saudi soldiers and one from the United Arab Emirates.
�� (AP, 6/25/15)(Reuters, 6/26/15)

2015�� Jun 26, The US Periodic Review Board, which has been re-evaluating dozens of Guantanamo prisoners, said Abdul Rahman Shalabi (39) can be released to take part in a Saudi government rehabilitation program for militants and would be subject to monitoring afterward. Shalabi began a hunger strike in 2005 and prison officials had fed him with a nasogastric tube daily for nine years.
�� (AP, 6/26/15)
2015�� Jun 26, In Kuwait a suicide bombing killed 27 people at a packed Shi'ite mosque. The Islamic State claimed responsibility. On June 28 the interior ministry named the bomber as Fahd Suliman Abdul-Muhsen al-Qabaa (Fahad Suleiman Abdulmohsen Al-Gabaa, born 1992) of Saudi Arabia. Saudi brother Majed al-Zahrani and Mohammad al-Zahrani had smuggled in the explosives in an icebox by car through Nuwaiseeb border post from Saudi Arabia, a day before the bombing. On August 4 Abdulrahman Sabah Saud, who drove Fahad al-Qaba'a to the mosque in Kuwait City and was arrested two days after the blast, confessed in court to having joined the jihadist Islamic State group on June 25.
�� (Reuters, 6/26/15)(Reuters, 6/27/15)(Reuters, 6/28/15)(SFC, 6/29/15, p.A2)(AFP, 7/7/15)(AFP, 8/5/15)
2015�� Jun 26, In Yemen air strikes by a Saudi-led force hit military bases across Yemen. 10 people were killed in air raids in Jawf.
�� (Reuters, 6/26/15)

2015�� Jul 1, Saudi tycoon Prince Alwaleed bin Talal promised his entire $32 billion (28.8 billion euro) fortune to charitable projects in coming years, in one of the biggest ever such pledges.
�� (AFP, 7/1/15)

2015�� Jul 2, Saudi Arabia officially opened a billion-dollar aviation gateway aimed at Muslim pilgrims, in the kingdom's first airport privatization.
�� (AFP, 7/2/15)

2015�� Jul 6, In Yemen Saudi-led warplanes bombed the Sanaa headquarters of the party headed by rebel-allied former president Ali Abdullah Saleh overnight. More than 45 civilians were reported killed in a Saudi-led airstrike in Fayoush.
�� (AP, 7/6/15)(SFC, 7/7/15, p.A4)

2015�� Jul 10, Saudi Arabia's Prince Saud al-Faisal (b.1940), formerly the world's longest-serving foreign minister, died in the US. He oversaw four decades of turbulent diplomacy for the oil-rich kingdom.
�� (AFP, 7/10/15)

2015�� Jul 11, In Yemen a UN-proposed truce, aimed at delivering desperately needed aid to millions threatened with famine, failed to take hold. The spokesman for the Saudi-led coalition targeting Yemen's Shiite rebels in airstrikes since March said the coalition is not bound by the new truce deal.
�� (AFP, 7/11/15)(AP, 7/11/15)

2015�� Jul 16, In Saudi Arabia a suicide bomber wounded two policemen at a checkpoint near a high-security prison in Riyadh in an attack claimed by the Islamic State jihadist group. The bomber, identified as Abdullah al-Rashid (19), had also killed his uncle, a colonel in the interior ministry, before blowing himself up.
�� (AFP, 7/17/15)
2015�� Jul 16, In Yemen fighting intensified in the southern port city of Aden as Saudi-backed troops pushed to drive Shiite rebels out of several neighborhoods. The Shiite rebels meanwhile fired rockets at the city's airport, killing at least 3 people. Senior members of the exiled administration flew into Aden to make preparations for the government's return.
�� (AP, 7/16/15)(Reuters, 7/16/15)

2015�� Jul 18, Saudi Arabia announced it has broken up planned Islamic State attacks in the kingdom and arrested 431 suspects in an anti-terrorism sweep.
�� (AP, 7/18/15)(Reuters, 7/18/15)

2015�� Jul 19, Beach lovers on the French Riviera expressed their anger over the imminent arrival of the Saudi royal family, who have ordered a long stretch of beach to be closed off to the public.
�� (AFP, 7/19/15)

2015�� Jul 22, In Yemen a Saudi military plane loaded with arms for fighters loyal to Yemen's deposed president landed at Aden airport, the first flight to reach the embattled port city in four months.
�� (Reuters, 7/22/15)

2015�� Jul 24, In Yemen Saudi-led coalition airstrikes killed more than 120 civilians and wounded more than 150 after shelling a residential area in the Taiz province.
�� (AP, 7/24/15)

2015�� Jul 25, King Salman of Saudi Arabia arrived in France for a Riviera beach holiday at the family's seafront villa in Vallauris, bringing with him no fewer than 1,000 people from his entourage.
�� (Reuters, 7/25/15)
2015�� Jul 25, Saudi-led coalition forces announced a five-day humanitarian ceasefire would take effect starting July 26 evening at the request of exiled president Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi.
�� (Reuters, 7/25/15)

2015�� Jul 26, Saudi Arabian gas prices were reported to be about 60 cents per gallon.
�� (SSFC, 7/26/15, p.A4)

2015�� Jul 27, Yemeni military sources Saudi-led coalition warplanes hit positions of pro-government forces in south Yemen by mistake, killing 12 people on the first day of a humanitarian truce.
�� (AFP, 7/27/15)

2015�� Jul 28, A Saudi lawman was killed and two others were wounded during an attack in a Shiite-dominated area of Eastern Province. Two suspects were arrested after the patrol came under fire in al-Jesh village of Qatif district.
�� (AP, 7/29/15)
2015�� Jul 28, In Yemen Saudi-led warplanes resumed raids on rebels, who clashed with loyalists. Air strikes targeted rebels north of Aden, rebels in nearby Lahj province and a rebel convoy near Sabr. Other raids hit a building occupied by insurgents in Jaawala. An overnight strike hit rebels in Marib east of Sanaa.
�� (AFP, 7/28/15)

2015�� Jul 29, From Saudi Arabia Yemen's exiled President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi ordered that militias battling Shiite rebels in Yemen be merged with his national army, in an apparent attempt to unify ground forces.
�� (AP, 7/29/15)
2015�� Jul 29, In Yemen Saudi-led warplanes bombed targets in northerly Saada province. A car bomb exploded outside the Ismaili Al Faydh Alhatemy mosque in an eastern district of Sanaa, killing 3 people and wounding seven. The Islamic State militant group claimed responsibility. Ismailis are a minority Shi'ite Muslim sect, as are the Zaydi Shi'ites, a community whose interests the Houthi group says it defends.
�� (Reuters, 7/29/15)

2015�� Jul 31, In southern England a pilot and three passengers died when a Saudi-owned executive jet crashed into a parking lot and burst into flames while trying to land at Blackbushe Airport. The dead included a sister, brother-in-law and stepmother of Osama bin Laden as well as the plane's Jordanian pilot.
�� (AP, 8/1/15)

2015�� Aug 6, In in south-west Saudi Arabia a suicide bomb attack on the mosque of a local security force headquarters in Abha city killed 15 people, including 12 members of the force.
�� (Reuters, 8/6/15)

2015�� Aug 7, A Saudi soldier was killed by shelling from across the Yemeni border, becoming the third death this week.
�� (AFP, 8/7/15)

2015�� Aug 8, In Yemen pro-government forces, strengthened by tanks newly supplied by a Saudi-led coalition, launched an offensive to retake Zinjibar, the rebel-held capital of Abyan province. A Saudi-led coalition airstrike hit allied fighters in a friendly fire incident, killing at least 20 fighters on a coastal road as they headed toward Zinjibar.
�� (AFP, 8/8/15)�� (AP, 8/9/15)

2015�� Aug 11, Russia and Saudi Arabia failed in talks to overcome their differences on the fate of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, a central dispute in Syria's civil war that shows no sign of abating despite renewed diplomacy.
�� (Reuters, 8/11/15)

2015�� Aug 17, The Saudi military said 2 soldiers have been killed along the border by a missile fired from inside Yemen.
�� (AP, 8/17/15)

2015�� Aug 19, Saudi authorities said they have closed an emergency ward in King Abdulaziz Medical City after at least 46 people, including hospital staff, contracted the potentially fatal Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS). The Health Ministry recorded three new MERS deaths in Riyadh. That brings the total number of deaths to 483 since the virus was first identified in 2012.
�� (AP, 8/19/15)

2015�� Aug 20, Saudi authorities executed two alleged Chadian militants for murdering a French engineer in the Red Sea city of Jeddah 11 years ago.
�� (AP, 8/20/15)

2015�� Aug 21, In Yemen a helicopter from the Saudi-led forces battling anti-government fighters crashed along the Saudi border, killing the two pilots. Huthi rebels said they have shot down a Saudi Apache helicopter.
�� (AFP, 8/21/15)

2015�� Aug 25, In Yemen about 100 Saudi forces arrived in Aden to help rebuild the local police force. The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said it has temporarily suspended its activities in Aden after its office was raided by unidentified gunmen a day earlier. Al-Qaeda dynamited a headquarters of the secret police in Mukalla.
�� (Reuters, 8/25/15)(AFP, 8/26/15)

2015�� Aug 26, The Saudi-owned Asharq al-Awsat daily reported that Ahmad Ibrahim al-Mughassil (48), a key suspect in the bombing of a housing complex in Saudi Arabia that killed 19 US airmen almost two decades ago, was detained in Beirut and sent to Saudi Arabia where he is being interrogated.
�� (AFP, 8/26/15)
2015�� Aug 26, In Yemen al-Qaeda militants blew up an army headquarters and set up checkpoints in the jihadist network's southeastern stronghold of Mukalla, Hadramawt province. Yemeni army units allied to the Houthi militia fired a ballistic missile toward southern Saudi Arabia but the Saudi military said it intercepted it and retaliated with air strikes on Yemeni territory.
�� (AFP, 8/26/15)(Reuters, 8/26/15)

2015�� Aug 27, Saudi Arabia's Health Ministry said 15 more people have died in the last seven days after contracting the Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS).
�� (AP, 8/27/15)

2015�� Aug 30, Saudi Arabia allowed women to register to stand in local elections, in a historic first for the ultra-conservative Muslim kingdom.
�� (AFP, 8/30/15)
2015�� Aug 30, Saudi authorities executed a Pakistani man for attempting to smuggle drugs into the ultra-conservative kingdom. Up to 129 people have been executed in Saudi Arabia so far this year.
�� (AFP, 8/30/15)
2015�� Aug 30, In eastern Saudi Arabia a large fire broke out in the basement of a residential complex in Khobar, killing at least 11 people and injuring more than 200.
�� (AP, 8/30/15)

2015�� Aug, Iran's most expensive movie, "Muhammad", opened nationwide in the Shiite Islamic republic last week. It depicted the prophet on screen, an act that is prohibited in Sunni Islam. Saudi Arabia's top cleric soon hit out at the film describing its portrayal of the prophet's childhood as a "hostile act" and a "distortion" of Islam.
�� (AFP, 9/2/15)

2015�� Sep 4, A Saudi policeman was killed and two others wounded when a terrorist attacked a security site in the Abqaiq region in the country's Eastern province.
�� (AP, 9/5/15)
2015�� Sep 4, President Barack Obama hosted Saudi Arabia's new monarch for the first time and said that the US shares King Salman's desire for an inclusive government in Yemen that can relieve that impoverished Arab country's humanitarian crisis.
�� (AP, 9/4/15)
2015�� Sep 4, In Yemen Iranian-allied Houthis attacked a weapons storage facility in Marib killing 45 soldiers from the United Arab Emirates (UAE), 5 Bahrainis, 10 Saudis and 4 Yemenis.
�� (Reuters, 9/4/15)(AFP, 9/5/15)(Reuters, 9/6/15)

2015�� Sep 6, Saudi-led coalition jets bombed a Houthi military position and army bases in the Yemeni capital Sanaa through the night and into this morning in what appeared to be further retaliation for the killing of dozens of coalition soldiers two days ago.
�� (Reuters, 9/6/15)

2015�� The population of Saudi Arabia was about 30 million.
�� (Econ, 1/31/15, p.39)

2050�� The population of Saudi Arabia was expected to reach 45 million by this time.
�� (Econ, 5/23/15, p.20)

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