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The real pucker factor is in the White House. How can Obama condemn Gaddafi and ignore Saudi Arabia shooting protestors? No way he can afford to on Abdulla and support the Shiites...
You think oil is expensive now, you haven't seen anything compared to what would happen if Saudi Arabia implodes.
Haven't checked oil prices this afternoon, but I would be willing to bet this shock to the collective brain of traders will cause a jump.--RG
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by SARAH EL DEEB, Associated Press Sarah El Deeb, Associated Press – 41 mins ago
CAIRO – Saudi police opened fire Thursday to disperse a protest in the mainly Shiite east, leaving at least one man injured, as the government struggled to prevent a wave of unrest sweeping the Arab world from reaching the kingdom.
The rare violence raised concern about a crackdown ahead of more planned protests after Friday prayers in different cities throughout the oil-rich kingdom. The pro-Western monarchy is concerned protests could open footholds for Shiite powerhouse Iran and has accused foreigners of stoking the protests, which are officially forbidden.
Despite the ban and a warning that security forces will act against them, protesters demanding the release of political prisoners took to the streets for a second day in the eastern city of Qatif. Several hundred protesters, some wearing face masks to avoid being identified, marched after dark asking for "Freedom for prisoners."
Police, who were lined up opposite the protesters, fired percussion bombs, followed by gunfire, causing the crowd to scatter, a witness said, speaking on condition of anonymity for fear of government retaliation.
The witness said at least one protester was injured and lifted by others to a car for treatment. It was not clear how the protester was injured.
Scores of protesters in Qatif had also marched in the city streets Wednesday night.
Mainly Sunni Saudi Arabia has struggled to stay ahead of the unrest that has led to the ouster of the Egyptian and Tunisian leaders in recent months.
Last month, the ultra-conservative government announced an unprecedented economic package worth an estimated $36 billion that will give Saudis interest-free home loans, unemployment assistance and debt forgiveness. It also has reiterated that demonstrations are forbidden in the kingdom because they contradict Islamic laws and society's values and said security forces were authorized to act against anyone violating the ban.
So far the demonstrations have been small and concentrated in the east among Shiites demanding the release of detainees. But activists have been emboldened by other uprisings have set up Facebook groups calling for protests in the capital, Riyadh, on Friday to demand democratic reforms. One such group garnered more than 30,000 supporters.
The spread of calls for protests, particularly outside the generally tense eastern Saudi Arabia, home to the country's Shiite minority, has prompted government officials to issue strong warnings that it will act against activists taking to the streets.
Amnesty International called on Saudi authorities to reverse the ban on peaceful protests in the kingdom.
Philip Luther, a spokesman for the international rights group, said authorities should address the need for major human rights reforms and heed the growing calls for change instead of trying to intimidate protesters.
"Reports that the Saudi authorities plan to deploy troops to police upcoming demonstrations are very worrying," he said.
The Interior Ministry has banned demonstrations, saying they contradict Islamic laws and society's values and adding that some people have tried to go around the law to "achieve illegitimate aims."
"Reform cannot be achieved through protests ... The best way to achieve demands is through national dialogue," Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saudi al-Faisal said Wednesday.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110310/...saudi_protests
(edit)
To be clear:
This seems to be fairly minor, for now. No indications that protests/violence will spread, other than the fact mentioned in the article that more widespread protests are planned.
I guess we all get to take that rollercoaster ride, if/when.
The real pucker factor is in the White House. How can Obama condemn Gaddafi and ignore Saudi Arabia shooting protestors? No way he can afford to on Abdulla and support the Shiites...
Easy, it's Saudi Arabia and not Gaddafi.
If you read the article, no protestors were actually shot.
Yet.
No one really knows if the gunfire was rubber bullets, into the air or what as of now.
Time to grab your ankles, folks. I hope Obama can act presidential over this within the week. That is if he has no parties planned for today.
... and Beijing. They get a uva lot more oil from Saudi than we do.
I've been calling this for weeks but you guys weren't listening...First Bahrain, then Saudi Arabia. It's the Sunni/Shiite deal all over again.
What do you expect a president to do at this point?
Be specific.
you're a work of art.
Would you be that calm if that happened at a tea party? <-----rhetorical
I agree with Chump. We can't do .
I know. Just wanted chump to use his "?"
"act presidential"
That's the classic "Let's You And Him Go Fight". I expect you to enlist as soon as Barry invades more countries. AND have your income tax rate go up 25% to pay for it.
UCA is already bogged own in 2 wars it can't/won't extract itself from, for $100B+ per year.
Unlike Poppie Bush who encouraged the Marsh Shiites to rise up against Saddam and then turned his back as they were slaughtered, UCA hasn't encouraged any of these revolutionaries. They were inflamed by a Tunisian kid inflaming himself.
It looks like Khadafi's gonna slaughter Libyan revolutionaries, which will be an excellent lesson for other countries' revolutionaries not to do anthing.
No surprise, the same neo-cons who lied the UCA into Iraq are calling for Barry to attack Kadafi.
Not sure if anyone here really expressed any strong doubts about that.
I think it is more likely than not that Saudi Arabia will probably escape this without too much radical change or protests.
Not probable, mind you, but it is the most likely of outcomes IMO.
That's what I thought. Just not enough Shiites.
Please show me where in the article it says they shot anything more than stun bombs at the protestors.
Would you be that calm if that happened at a tea party? <-----rhetorical
Reading fail.
The Shiites protesting in Saudi Arabia are backed by Iran. Just wait till it really starts getting nasty and Iran shuts down the Persian Gulf to stop Saudi oil shipments.
Long ass way from anything like that.
I doubt they are that stupid.
opened fire ON protestORS (actively aiming guns at people)
is not
opened fire at protest (gunfire at the location, quite possibly in the air)
It is not safe to assume much at this point. Simply because gunfire was heard, does not imply that either live rounds were heard, nor was that gunfire actively aimed at people.
The reporter very carefully parsed her words.
Grammar, sons, grammar.
Seriously? That's what you are going with?
Iran doing that would cause a full out war, and one Iran would lose badly.
Not even Achmedini-dork is that stupid.
Please provide the evidence that the Shiites in SA are being supported by Iran in some way.
They sure might do it short term just as a power play to with everyone. What do they have to lose? They don't actually have to SINK a tanker...they can just fire across the bow and stop them...they are loaded with silkworm missiles and can close the gulf anytime they decide to. Run oil up to $200+ a barrel for a few weeks and starve some concessions out of the Saudi's and then open it back up...
Haven't checked oil prices this afternoon, but I would be willing to bet this shock to the collective brain of traders will cause a jump.--RGOIL FUTURES: Crude Lower Despite Reports Of Saudi Protests
http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-...10-713857.html
Maybe the speculators read RG's link and noticed only a few hundred protested but to hype up the story they mention a facebook group has a whole 30K people.
and you think this is really a possibility?
That reminds me of something you said to me once... what was it... oh yes. "Dumb "
What do you think China's reaction to that would be?
or for that matter the rest of the world?
A bunch of ships, millions to billions through embargoes or sanctions of one kind or another. Internal stability. You know, little things like that.
Uh-hun.
Do you actually read anything beyond the headlines?Crude futures settled lower Thursday, despite a late-afternoon surge on reports of protests in Saudi Arabia, the world's largest oil exporter.
It happened late the day, after a marked decline due to reports of economic softness in China.
Sorry, my "probably" was proved to be "did".
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