Global Fueled Revolutions Spread to Saudia Arabia

Saudi Arabian Security Forces Quell 'Day of Rage' Protests

March 11, 2011

Guardian - Saudi security forces came out in strength in Riyadh on a "day of rage" organised by pro-democracy campaigners who managed only small demonstrations in the eastern provinces.

Expectations that the unrest sweeping the Arab world in the last few weeks would spread to its most conservative kingdom appeared to have been dashed by pre-emptive security measures and stern official warnings against any protests.

Far larger demonstrations rocked Yemen, where tens of thousands of pro and anti-government protesters took to the streets as President Ali Abdullah Saleh struggled to maintain his grip.

Clashes broke out in the nearby island state of Bahrain, where Shia protesters were confronted by riot police guarding the royal court in Manama. Demonstrations were also held in Kuwait by stateless people demanding their rights.

The calm in the Saudi capital may have been achieved partly by an incident on Thursday in the eastern city of al-Qatif, where police shot and wounded at least two protesters. Unconfirmed reports described trouble there again.

Protesters rallied in Hofuf, close to the eastern Ghawar oil field and major refinery installations. The city has seen scattered protests by Shias who complain of discrimination by the Sunni majority.

Saudi sources also reported marches involving hundreds of people in al-Ahsa and Awwamiya near al-Qatif.

Security in Riyadh was high-profile and intense, with helicopters hovering overhead and police checks on cars and individuals heading for mosques, where protests were expected after prayers.

"Police cruisers were given orders to pull over any car," tweeted Mohammed al-Qahtani, president of the Saudi Civil and Political Rights Association. "I saw several cars being searched by officers, and they checked IDs."

Disappointed activists counted more policemen and journalists than demonstrators.

"Where were all these policemen and helicopters when Jeddah was drowning?" asked one Saudi — a sardonic reference to the floods that devastated the Red Sea coastal city twice in the last two years and fuelled anger and resentment at government incompetence.

Last week Saudi Arabia banned public protests following demonstrations by Shia groups in the eastern areas during which 22 people were arrested and later freed.

Activists had used a Facebook page to call for protests but many reformist Saudis said they did not know who the organisers were and raised concerns of a possible provocation by the secret police in a country where demonstrations are rare.

Characteristically, the government mobilised religious leaders to speak out.

"Islam strictly prohibits protests in the kingdom because the ruler here rules by God's will," Sheikh Abdel Aziz Alasheikh told worshippers in Riyadh's central mosque. Leading scholars had earlier issued a fatwa banning protests.

Rumours were rife in Riyadh, with anonymous text messages carrying dire warnings of huge fines, loss of nationality and expulsion from the country.

"The messages are not coming from official channels, and are obviously scare tactics employed to discourage large numbers from showing up and adding to the tensions," one resident told the Guardian.

Last month King Abdullah, who is 87, sought to defuse opposition demands for change by unveiling an unprecedented package worth about $37bn (£23bn) to pay for unemployment benefits, education and housing subsidies the day after he returned from three months of medical treatment in the US and Morocco.

But critics said he was resorting to a familiar tactic of throwing money at a problem and not addressing its root causes — a lack of significant political reform.

Since then the streets of Riyadh have been festooned with flags and large green posters of a smiling King Abdullah welcoming him home.

"If you are well, we are all well," one read. "Welcome king of humanity," said another. Before a soccer match on Thursday, a message was circulated among fans urging them not to wear their team's colours but the green of the Saudi national flag.

For some Middle East analysts the extent of unrest in Saudi Arabia has been seen as a possible indicator of whether the popular unrest across the region will begin to ebb or continue to intensify. But a low turnout in protests may lead the king and his advisers to conclude that internal pressure for reform can be ignored.

Protests Bubble Up in Gulf, Police Out in Force

March 11, 2011

Reuters – Small protests rattled Saudi Arabia and Kuwait on Friday, Bahrain warned that a planned rally threatened its security and Yemen witnessed huge demonstrations in continued unrest that has roiled the Arab world.

Friday rallies have proved decisive in popular uprisings that have overthrown the rulers of Tunisia and Egypt and are now having an impact on the oil-rich Gulf region -- long thought to be immune to mass civil disturbances.

Police turned out in large numbers on the streets of the Saudi capital, hoping to deter a day of protests announced on Internet social media sites by a loose coalition of activists seeking political reform in the conservative kingdom.

The heavy security presence appeared to keep Riyadh quiet, but locals reported that around 200 people demonstrated in the city of Hofuf, which is close to the eastern Ghawar oil field and major refinery installations.

A similar-sized demonstration by stateless Arabs in Kuwait was met with volleys of tear gas as police swiftly dispersed the small crowd that had gathered after Friday prayers.

Some of the world's biggest oil reserves sit under the Gulf states and Saudi Arabia is the top global oil exporter. Fears that the violent unrest seen in north Africa could seep south have put markets on edge.

However, oil prices dropped on Friday, with traders betting against significant disturbances in Saudi and also concerned about the impact of a massive earthquake in Japan.

Far bigger protests rocked Yemen, with tens of thousands of pro- and anti-government demonstrators flooding many towns and cities as President Ali Abdullah Saleh struggled to maintain his 32-year grip on the Arabian Peninsula's poorest country.

"Leaving means leaving. There isn't a better option," crowds in the capital Sanaa chanted. The violence in Yemen has led to almost 30 deaths in recent weeks with neither side looking ready to concede defeat.

Hardline opposition groups in tiny Bahrain, which is connected to Saudi Arabia by a causeway, said they would march on the royal court in the capital Manama, upping the stakes in month-long demonstrations there that have cost seven lives.

Bahrain's interior ministry warned that the march was a threat to internal security on the island, where the majority is Shi'ite Muslim but the ruling family is Sunni. It said its forces would intervene to head off violence.

"The march that some people are trying to hold today to the Riffa area threatens security and social peace," it said.

No more than a few hundred to a few thousand are expected to join the Bahrain march, but politicians and activists on all sides expect Sunni civilians to come out to block their advance.

Gulf rulers are struggling to hold back a new generation of Arabs who grew up in the Internet age of easy networking and have grown increasingly bold in their demands for change.

In an act of regional solidarity, Gulf Arab oil producers on Thursday launched a $20 billion aid package for Bahrain and Oman -- a job-generating measure that will enable the two countries to upgrade their housing and infrastructure.

Youth unemployment is high across the Gulf, but protests have often focused more on gaining greater political freedom and sweeping away rampant corruption than on economic discontent.

Sectarian tensions have also come to the fore, with the Shi'ite majority in Bahrain voicing anger against the domination of the ruling Sunni dynasty.

In Saudi Arabia, the Shi'ite minority say they have lower living standards than Sunnis, despite the fact that many of them come from a major oil-producing region in the east.

Saudi leaders have told foreign states not to interfere in their domestic affairs -- a veiled warning to Shi'ite, non-Arab Iran, often suspected of stirring discontent in the region.

"We will cut any finger that crosses into the kingdom," Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal said this week.

Saudi Arabia's `Day of Rage' Lures Record Bets on $200 Oil: Chart of Day

March 7, 2011

Bloomberg - Options traders are betting more than ever that crude oil is heading to $200 a barrel as some websites call for a “Day of Rage” in Saudi Arabia and anti- government protests spread in the Middle East and North Africa.

The CHART OF THE DAY shows open interest, or the number of outstanding contracts, for “call” options to buy New York crude for June delivery at $200 a barrel. The number has escalated, along with crude futures, to the highest since the options started trading in July 2009 amid worsening civil unrest in Libya and rare demonstrations in Saudi Arabia.

“If you look at the volatility and increase in money for call options in the last month or so, it does suggest that market participants are now more worried about the upside,” said Yingxi Yu, a Singapore-based commodity analyst with Barclays Plc. “People are also quite concerned about protests spreading across different parts of the region.”

Saudi Arabia produced 9.71 million barrels a day in 2009, one-third of OPEC output and almost six times as much as Libya, according to BP Plc’s Statistical Review of World Energy. Websites have called for a nationwide “Day of Rage” on March 11 and March 20, Human Rights Watch said Feb 28. Protests in five of the kingdom’s eight immediate neighbors have prompted King Abdullah to boost spending on housing, social welfare and education to curb unrest in his country.

“The price of oil is going to go up, whether you like it to or don’t,” said Juerg Kiener, chief investment officer at Swiss Asia Capital Ltd. in Singapore. “If Saudi Arabia fails, then I say you have a fire in the house. They gave out $30 billion of money so maybe they’ll buy time. But I don’t see the problems disappearing.”

Call options grant the holder the right, but not the obligation, to buy a security at an agreed price before a set date. The $200 June New York crude options expire May 17. Oil rose to $106.45 a barrel today, the highest intraday price since Sept. 29, 2008