Saudi Arabia

Ever since the Sept. 11 attacks on the United States, U.S.-Saudi relations have been under extreme stress. After a half-century of cooperation and friendship, the giant oil kingdom and the world's biggest superpower are fast reaching a point of crisis, unless both take steps to decrease tension. After months of reticence, Saudi Arabia took a first step last week when Crown Prince Abdullah reached out to the U.S. to make amends about the role of Saudi citizens in the September attacks.

WASHINGTON — The CIA takedown of an Al Qaeda plot to blow up a U.S.-bound airliner involved an international sting operation with a double agent tricking terrorists into handing over a prized possession: a new bomb purportedly designed to slip through airport security. U.S. officials Tuesday described an operation in which Saudi Arabia's intelligence agency, working closely with the CIA, used an informant to pose as a would-be suicide bomber. His job was to persuade Al Qaeda bomb makers in Yemen to give him the bomb.

ONE OF the best developments in contemporary crime fiction of late is how willing, even eager, writers are to explore uncharted territory. What with the mini-boom of translated Scandinavian novels by Arnaldur Indridason, Karin Fossum and Jo Nesbo (to name just a handful), Deon Meyer's and Michael Stanley's criminal investigations in the wilds of Africa and Matt Beynon Rees' elegant mysteries set in Palestinian territories, readers have an embarrassment of global riches to choose from.

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia — Mohammad Fahad Al-Qahtani is a busy man with a dangerous passion. A human rights activist and relentless writer of letters and legal briefs, he challenges a kingdom that demands unquestioned authority. He slips videos onto the Internet and fires off missives to King Abdullah, calling for the freeing of political prisoners and the arrest of the king's half brother and heir apparent. He smiles at such audaciousness at a time when Saudi authorities are trying to contain calls for change encouraged by Arab rebellions, but turns somber when pondering the consequences.

King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia surprised his ultraconservative nation Sunday by announcing bold reforms that for the first time will give women the right to vote, run for local office and serve on the Shura Council, the king's advisory board. The measures by an aging monarch who has battled Islamic hard-liners for years will marginally improve the standing of women in a country that still forbids them to drive or leave the house without their faces covered. The moves appear likely to enrage religious conservatives while advancing at least a veneer of change in one of the world's most repressive states.

The government acknowledged for the first time today that 15 of the 19 Sept. 11 hijacking suspects were Saudi citizens. "The names that we got confirmed that," Interior Minister Prince Nayif ibn Abdulaziz said. "Their families have been notified." Saudi Arabia previously said the citizenship of the 15 suspects was in doubt despite U.S. insistence that they were Saudis. Osama bin Laden, the chief suspect in the attacks, was born in Saudi Arabia but was stripped of his citizenship in 1994.

Yemen's embattled president left the country for treatment of injuries suffered in a rocket attack, a dramatic turn after two weeks of heavy fighting that signaled a drive by Saudi Arabia to quell the chaos on its southern border and could result in a change of leadership. A source close to the Saudi government said President Ali Abdullah Saleh arrived late Saturday in Saudi Arabia for treatment. Yemeni officials also confirmed that the Saudis had brokered a truce in the fighting that has racked the capital.

I am writing to take exception to "Experts Ask: Did Saudi Crackdown Light Fuse of Bomb?" (Nov. 14), about the car bombing that killed five Americans in Saudi Arabia. At this point, we do not yet know the identity or nationality of the terrorist who committed this horrible act. Yet Robin Wright wrote that "the eruption of violence in Saudi Arabia was almost predictable." On what basis did she link the bombing with this kind of blanket statement? The internal situation that Wright described--which is not accurate--did not cause this car bombing any more than the U.S. budget crisis caused the Oklahoma City bombing.

Women in Saudi Arabia won a small but promising victory this year. No, they aren't being allowed to drive; that's still forbidden. Most of the time, they still can't work, travel or even open bank accounts without the approval of a male guardian. But they do have this: Saudi women can now buy lingerie in stores from female salesclerks, instead of the sometimes leering men who used to staff the counters. If this modest wave of liberalization continues, they may even get fitting rooms. It doesn't sound like much, but in the glacial process of modernization in the tradition-bound kingdom, it's an important step.

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia - The Saudi royal family prizes stability as much as the oil that secures its wealth, but political upheaval across the Middle East has shaken the kingdom's sense of balance, forcing it to press for radical change in Syria and confront a bid by longtime nemesis Iran to wield greater influence. The decades-old rivalry between Sunni Muslim Saudi Arabia and Shiite-controlled Iran for prominence in the region is one of the volatile subplots embedded in the "Arab Spring.

Just when you thought Saudi Arabia might be edging its way into the 21 st century - or even the late 20 th - the country's sports minister dispelled that notion with the disappointing and troubling announcement that no women will officially represent the country at the 2012 Olympics.  Only last week, Prince Nayef ibn Abdulaziz had said women could represent Saudi Arabia as long as their participation did not conflict with Islamic laws....

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia - The Saudi royal family prizes stability as much as the oil that secures its wealth, but political upheaval across the Middle East has shaken the kingdom's sense of balance, forcing it to press for radical change in Syria and confront a bid by longtime nemesis Iran to wield greater influence. The decades-old rivalry between Sunni Muslim Saudi Arabia and Shiite-controlled Iran for prominence in the region is one of the volatile subplots embedded in the "Arab Spring.

Declaring the United States the "Saudi Arabia of natural gas," President Obama began pushing Thursday for greater use of the fuel resource under domestic soil as he continued to pitch his economic plan on a tour of battleground states. Speaking to a crowd of United Parcel Service workers at a facility here, Obama said the government should encourage U.S. shipping companies and other large users to reduce reliance on foreign oil to power their fleets. Tapping natural gas sources in the U.S. could "power our cars and our homes and our factories in a cleaner and cheaper way," Obama said.

President Obama declared the United States the "Saudi Arabia of natural gas" Thursday as he plugged an energy policy that would offer incentives to companies that power their vehicles with natural gas. Speaking to a crowd at a UPS facility here, Obama praised the company for being among the first to respond to an administration call last year to reduce the use of fossil fuels. "That's how they roll," Obama said of UPS. The remarks come as the White House is rolling out more details of its energy proposals, which administration officials call the "all of the above" plan for reducing reliance on foreign oil. Officials on Thursday also announced an oil and natural gas lease sale in the central Gulf of Mexico, scheduled for late June.

  An Arab League peace plan for Syria appeared to be near collapse Tuesday as six Persian Gulf nations announced their intention to withdraw monitors from the country and urged the United Nations Security Council to take "all needed measures" to pressure Syrian President Bashar Assad to relinquish power. The gulf monarchies, including regional giant Saudi Arabia, said in a statement that Assad's government had failed to comply with demands by the 22-member regional bloc designed to curb months of bloodshed in Syria.

Women in Saudi Arabia won a small but promising victory this year. No, they aren't being allowed to drive; that's still forbidden. Most of the time, they still can't work, travel or even open bank accounts without the approval of a male guardian. But they do have this: Saudi women can now buy lingerie in stores from female salesclerks, instead of the sometimes leering men who used to staff the counters. If this modest wave of liberalization continues, they may even get fitting rooms. It doesn't sound like much, but in the glacial process of modernization in the tradition-bound kingdom, it's an important step.

In a new effort to persuade Iran to halt its nuclear program, the Obama administration and its European allies are asking Saudi Arabia to help them squeeze Iran's vital oil sector without driving up world energy prices and damaging the global economy. Officials in the United States, France, Britain and other countries have been lobbying the Saudis in recent weeks to produce billions more barrels of oil to provide an alternative source for buyers of Iranian oil. The goal is to keep global prices stable while cutting Iran's ability to sell oil on world markets.

A compound on a lot once owned by Saudi royal family member Abdul Aziz bin Abdullah has sold in Beverly Park for $16.875 million. The two-house Mediterranean compound on more than three acres was built in 2002 in the gated community. Its combined 29,069 square feet of living space include 18 bedrooms and 28 bathrooms. The grounds include a swimming pooling, sun deck, cabana and a changing area. For the Record, 11:04 a.m. Nov. 18: An earlier version of this online article said that Prince Abdul Aziz bin Abdullah was the seller of the Beverly Park property.