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Generational Dynamics Web Log for 6-Mar-2011
6-Mar-11 News -- Saudi Arabia locks down in advance of Friday's 'Day of Rage'

Web Log - March, 2011

6-Mar-11 News -- Saudi Arabia locks down in advance of Friday's 'Day of Rage'

Senior commander in Iran's Revolutionary Guards warns of violence

Saudi Arabia locks down in advance of Friday's 'Day of Rage'

It appears that the string of uprisings that Arab countries have been experiencing will finally reach Saudi Arabia on Friday.

Saudi Arabia <font size=-2>(Source: CIA Fact Book)</font>

Saudi Arabia (Source: CIA Fact Book)

Several thousand people have joined Facebook groups calling for a "day of rage" in the kingdom, with the first one planned for Friday, according to the LA Times.

Hoping to head off the protests, the government announced on Saturday that it would enforce existing laws that prohibit protests, according to the Arab News. According to the statement:

"Laws and regulations in the Kingdom totally prohibit all kinds of demonstrations, marches and sit-in protests as well as calling for them as they go against the principles of Shariah and Saudi customs and traditions. ... [Such] demonstrations not only breach the Kingdom’s law and order but also encroach on the rights of others. ...
They will also lead to spreading chaos and confusion in the country, causing bloodshed, breaching honor, pillaging wealth and destroying public and private properties."

The Saudis have also drafted as many as 10,000 security personnel to try to control Friday's protests, according to Robert Fisk in the Independent.

The protests are expected to be heaviest in the northeast of the country, in the region closest to Iran. That's where a large Shia Muslim population is living, within this mostly Sunni Muslim kingdom. It's thought that the riots and demonstrations pitting Shias against Sunnis in neighboring Bahrain have been the trigger for the protests in Saudi Arabia.

The Iranians are positively gloating over this development. An article in the Tehran Times begins:

"Saudi Arabia's musk revolution
“The king is dead, long live the king,” is a call which, in its Arabic form, is sure to be heard before too long in Saudi Arabia. In the latest chapter of the saga of the House of Saud, the ailing and aged King Abdullah returned to the kingdom on Feb. 23 after a three-month absence, which included two back operations in New York City and a month's recuperation at his palace in Morocco.
It wasn't quite a triumphant return. Upon his arrival in Morocco, the king was brought down to earth in a wheelchair, carried from his aircraft in a scissor-lift disabled-passenger vehicle modeled on the design of a catering truck. A similar contraption was employed on his return home to Riyadh. The gerontocratic monarch is, obviously, on his last legs."

However, the article does add that "it is unlikely that much will come" of the protests planned for Friday.

Widespread unrest in Saudi Arabia could have a major effect on the world economy, since Saudi Arabia supplies much of the world's oil.

Additional links

The Green Movement protests in Iran in 2009 were triggered by an election that many people believed had been "fixed" in advance. There's a new parliamentary election coming up this year, and a senior commander of Iran's Revolutionary Guards is warning that the election may bring "bloodshed." This would be consistent with what happened in America's Awakening era protests. The Summer of Love took place in 1967, and then there were very violent protests at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago in 1968. Radio Zamaneh

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez is leading a proposed commission of several Latin American nations to provide support for Muammar Gaddafi of Libya. CNN

(Comments: For reader comments, questions and discussion, see the 6-Mar-11 News -- Saudi Arabia locks down in advance of Friday's 'Day of Rage' thread of the Generational Dynamics forum. Comments may be posted anonymously.) (6-Mar-2011) Permanent Link
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Generational Dynamics Web Log for 6-Mar-2011 6-Mar-11 News -- Saudi Arabia locks down in advance of Friday's 'Day of Rage'

Saudi Arabia locks down in advance of Friday's 'Day of Rage'

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Generational Dynamics Web Log for 6-Mar-2011
6-Mar-11 News -- Saudi Arabia locks down in advance of Friday's 'Day of Rage'