Tag: Saudi Arabia

NOVANEWS BARRY HATTON and ARITZ PARRA MADRID (AP) — A Saudi cargo ship that Spanish arms control groups suspect is carrying European weapons for possible use in Yemen left the port of Santander on Monday and sailed for Genoa, Italy. The Bahri Yanbu left the northern Spanish port after loading two containers, Alberto Estevez, of the Control Arms Coalition of human rights and aid groups which is trying to stop arms reaching conflict zones, told The Associated Press. A Spanish government spokesman said the ship took on cargo contracted from private companies that he said wasn't illegal nor contravened any international laws. A company called Instalaza, from Zaragoza, sent weaponry for a trade exhibition in the United Arab Emirates and it will be returned t...

NOVANEWS Court filings show some executed by Saudi Arabia recanted confessions, said they were tortured Documents show some men repeatedly claimed confessions were obtained via torture, CNN report says De facto ruler of Saudi Arabia, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (AFP/File) By: MEE and agencies Amid outrage at the 37 activists Saudi Arabia executed on Tuesday, CNN has obtained documents showing that some of the suspects had recanted their confessions, claiming they were obtained under torture. Executed Saudi student had 'bright future' ahead of him in Michigan Read More » Hundreds of pages of documents from three 2016 trials provide details for 25 of the 37 men executed by the kingdom. CNN did not publish the documents themselves but provided a fully redacted page that shows t...

NOVANEWS By Andrew Korybko Global Research, The US’ decision to revoke the visas of 21 Saudis who it claims are responsible for dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi’s killing and possibly impose Magnitsky Act sanctions against them proves that Saudi Arabia isn’t exactly the “American puppet” that many people had previously thought that it was if Washington is willing to punish its so-called “ally” in such a humiliating way, but this realization also risks shattering the worldview that many in the Alt-Media Community worked for years to reinforce. Analysis is an art, and just like any other, its practitioners’ final product is rarely perfect. This understanding is more apt than ever when it comes to deciphering the ins and outs of contemporary Saudi geostrategy amidst the paradi...

NOVANEWS A former high-ranking MEK official confirmed long-held suspicions that Saudi Arabia has been financing the political-militant group bent on violent regime change in Iran through sophisticated channels to provide the group with valuables like gold and Rolex watches, according to a new report. In an interview with Jordanian news outlet Al-Bawaba Tuesday, a former MEK member who oversaw the transfer of hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of materials explained how the group has stayed financially afloat. Massoud Khodabandeh explained that 3 tons of solid gold, a minimum of four suitcases of customized Rolex watches and fabric that had been used to cover the Muslim holy site of Kaaba in Mecca were among the commodities shipped from Saudi Arabia to MEK operatives in Baghdad as part...

NOVANEWS King Salman's historic visit to Indonesia is the culmination of a long campaign for influence. Saudi King Salman shakes hands with Indonesian President Joko Widodo.Achmad Ibrahim / Reuters KRITHIKA VARAGUR  The Atlantic When Saudi Arabia’s King Salman landed in Indonesia on Wednesday, he became the first Saudi monarch to visit the world’s largest Muslim-majority country since 1970. Officials in Jakarta had hoped the visit would help them strengthen business ties and secure $25 billion in resource investments. That’s largely been a bust—as of Thursday, the kingdom has agreed to just one new deal, for a relatively paltry $1 billion. But Saudi Arabia has, for decades, been making investments of a different sort—those aimed at influencing Indonesian culture and reli...

NOVANEWS By James M. Dorsey There is much debate about what spurs political violence. The explanations are multi-fold. There is one aspect that I’d like to discuss as it relates to Africa, and that is the role of Saudi Arabia. Let me be clear: With the exception of a handful of countries, none of which are in Africa, Saudi Arabia, that is to say the government, the religious establishment and members of the ruling family and business community, does not fund violence. Promoting intolerance and supremacism It has, however, over the last half century launched the single largest public diplomacy campaign in history, pumping up to $100 billion into ultra-conservative interpretations of Islam.1 That campaign has succeeded in making ultra-conservatism a force in Muslim religious communities ac...