TheNewsGuru

Tag: Saudi

  • #FreeZainab: Nigerians protest as Saudi Arabian Govt detains student for drug trafficking

    #FreeZainab: Nigerians protest as Saudi Arabian Govt detains student for drug trafficking

    With #FreeZainab campaign – Nigerians have taken to social media to protest the illegal detention of Zainab Aliyu, a student detained in Saudi Arabia for drug trafficking.

    Zainab, a student of Maitama Sule University, Kano, was arrested after a banned drug, tramadol, was found in her bag. She claimed it was planted in her luggage by unknown persons.

    The student had travelled from Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport in company with her mother, Mrs. Maryam Aliyu, and sister, Hajara Aliyu, but she was arrested over allegations that a bag bearing her name tag contained the unlawful substance.

    Zainab, who was accused of entering Saudi Arabia with an illegal dosage of Tramadol was later discovered to be a victim of a cartel that specialised in keeping hard drugs in travellers’ bags, some of whom were already in the custody of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency.

    The father of the alleged drug courier, Habib Aliyu, had appealed to the Federal Government, the Saudi authorities and the international community as well as well-meaning individuals to intervene in her daughter’s case and save her from being executed unjustly.

    Habibu had expressed outrage over the continued detention of his daughter despite the discovery that she was framed by some drug cartel.

    #FreeZainab: See reactions from Nigerians:

  • Saudi prosecutor reveals who gave order for Khashoggi’s killing

    Saudi Arabia’s public prosecutor said on Thursday the person who ordered the killing of prominent journalist Jamal Khashoggi was the head of the negotiating team sent to repatriate him

    The prosecutor, Shaalan al-Shaalan, also said the whereabouts of Mr Khashoggi’s body remained unknown.

    The prosecutor told reporters in Riyadh that investigations were still ongoing to locate the remains of the slain journalist.

    The public prosecutor had earlier said he was seeking the death penalty for five out of 11 suspects charged with the murder of Mr Khashoggi.

    He said 11 out of 21 suspects had been indicted and that their cases would be referred to court, while the investigation with the remaining suspects would continue in order to determine their role in the crime.

    Mr Khashoggi, a critic of Saudi policy, was killed in the country’s Istanbul consulate in Turkey on October 2.

    He was killed after a struggle by a lethal injection dose and his body was dismembered and taken out of the building, Mr Shaalan told reporters in Riyadh.

    Riyadh had offered numerous contradictory explanations for Khashoggi’s disappearance before saying he was killed in a rogue operation.

    The case sparked global outcry, opened the kingdom to possible international sanctions and tarnished the image of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

    Turkish officials had accused Prince Mohammed of ordering the murder while President Erdogan said the killing was ordered at the “highest levels” of the Saudi government.

    U.S. President Donald Trump had suggested ultimate responsibility lay with the prince as de facto ruler.

    A travel ban had been imposed on a top aide to the crown prince, Saud al-Qahtani, while investigations continued over his role, Mr Shaalan said.

    He said Mr Qahtani had met the team ordered to repatriate Mr Kashoggi ahead of their journey to Istanbul to brief them on the journalist’s activities.

    Mr Qahtani has already been fired from the royal court.

    Turkey says it has a recording related to the killing which it has shared with Western allies.

    President Tayyip Erdogan said the recordings are “appalling” and shocked a Saudi intelligence officer who listened to them.

  • Khashoggi’s death: Amnesty International ‘begs’ AC Milan, Juventus FCs to shun Italian Super Cup in Saudi

    Sequel to the gruesome murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, Amnesty International on Saturday urged football clubs AC Milan and Juventus to shun the Italian Super Cup scheduled to be hosted in Saudi Arabia in January.
     
    “Even before the horrific killing of Jamal Khashoggi, Saudi Arabia had a truly appalling human rights record,” said Allan Hogarth, Amnesty International UK’s head of policy.
     
    “Big clubs like Juventus and AC Milan need to understand that their participation in sporting events in the country could be used as a form of ‘sportswashing’,” Hogarth said.
     
    Khashoggi, a Saudi journalist critical of his government, was killed after entering his country’s Istanbul consulate on October 2 to obtain paperwork to marry his Turkish fiancee.
     
    “We’d urge these Italian clubs to think twice about the signal this sends out to sports fans across the world and the brave activists who stand up for human rights in Saudi Arabia,” Hogarth said.
     
    Gruesome reports have alleged that Khashoggi’s body was dismembered by a team sent from Saudi Arabia to silence the journalist, whose columns were frequently critical of powerful Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
     
    The murder has dealt a serious blow to Saudi Arabia’s image, which Prince Mohammed has sought to improve since his appointment as heir to the throne last year. He has ended a ban on women driving and loosened other restrictions in the kingdom.
     
    The 2018/2019 Italian Super Cup is scheduled for January 2019 in the Saudi capital Riyadh, and pits last year’s Italian Cup winner — Juventus — against the runner-up, AC Milan.
     
     

  • 'Trump threatens to punish Saudi Arabia severely if…'

    The U.S President, Donald Trump, said in a CBS interview on Saturday that there would be “severe punishment” for Saudi Arabia if it turns out that missing Saudi journalist, Jamal Khashoggi, was killed in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul.
    Khashoggi, a prominent critic of Riyadh and legal resident of the United States, disappeared on October 2 after visiting the consulate, reports the News Agency of Nigeria on Saturday.
    “We’re going to get to the bottom of it and there will be severe punishment,” Trump said.
    Asked whether Saudi Crown Prince, Mohammed bin Salman, gave an order to kill him, Trump said “nobody knows yet but we will probably be able to find out.”
    Trump added in excerpts of a 60-minute interview that will be aired on Sunday today that, “we would be very upset and angry if that was the case”.
    Trump said that there was much at stake with Khashoggi case, because he was a reporter.
    Trump signaled that cutting off U.S. military sales to the kingdom may not be an option, saying, “I don’t want to hurt jobs.”
    Turkish sources have told the Media that the initial assessment of the police was that Khashoggi was deliberately killed inside the consulate.
    Riyadh has dismissed the claims.

  • Lebanese allegedly swindles Saudi man out of $250,000

    Lebanese allegedly swindles Saudi man out of $250,000

    Russian authorities have identified a Lebanese suspect believed to have swindled a Saudi Arabian football fan out of the equivalent of 250,000 dollars, the Interfax news agency reported Wednesday.

    The Lebanese man, aged between 49 and 50 and registered in Moscow, had promised the Saudi fan that he would organize a flight from Moscow to the southern Russian city of Volgograd for him and his friends, the report said, citing police.

    Authorities believe the Saudi man gave the Lebanese suspect 110,000 dollars and 120,000 euros (140,000 dollars) in central Moscow on June 24, the report said, adding that efforts are under way to detain the suspect.

    The incident happened the day before Saudi Arabia were to play Egypt in Volgograd in their final World Cup group phase match. Saudi Arabia went on to win 2-1.

    dpa/NAN

  • Oil prices fall as Saudi, Russian output rises

    Oil prices fell on Monday as supplies from Saudi Arabia and Russia rose while economic growth stumbled in Asia amid an escalating trade dispute with the U.S.

    Benchmark Brent crude oil LCOc1 fell 1.24 dollars a barrel to a low of $77.99 before recovering to $78.40, down 83 cents, by 7.35 GMT.

    U.S. light crude CLc1 was 50 cents lower at 73.65 dollars.

    Oil prices rose strongly in June, with the U.S. crude contract hitting its highest in years and a hafd years at 74.46 dollars.

    But a flurry of U.S. announcements over the weekend unsettled oil markets.

    U.S. president, Donald Trump tweeted on Saturday that Saudi Arabia’s King, Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud had agreed to pump more oil, “maybe up to 2,000,000 barrels”.

    The White House later walked back on the comments.

    Saudi Arabia’s output is up by 700,000 barrels per day (bpd) from May, a Reuters survey showed, and close to its 10.72 million bpd record from November 2016.

    Russian output rose to 11.06 million bpd in June from 10.97 million bpd in May, the Energy Ministry said on Monday.

    U.S. production C-OUT-T-EIA has soared 30 per cent in the past two years, to 10.9 million bpd, meaning the world’s three biggest oil producers now churn out almost 11 million bpd each, meeting a third of global oil demand.

    Also weighing on oil demand are trade disputes between the United States and other major economies including China, the European Union, India and Canada.

    Asia’s main economic hubs of China, Japan and South Korea reported a slowdown in export orders in June amid escalating trade disputes with the United States.

    “Recurring salvos in the trade war and falling asset prices raise the question of how much tariffs could damage the global economy,” U.S. bank JPMorgan said.

    The bank said a “medium-intensity (trade) conflict would likely reduce global economic growth by at least 0.5 per cent, “before accounting for tighter financial conditions and sentiment shocks”.

    In spite of the relief from Saudi Arabia and Russia, oil markets remain tense because of unplanned outages from Canada to Venezuela and Libya.

    Looming U.S. sanctions against Iran further contribute to expected tightness.

    Mr Trump threatened in an interview that aired on Sunday to put sanctions on European companies that do business with Iran.

    “The Trump administration’s plan for Iran sanctions is now abundantly clear. They seek to push Iranian exports of crude, condensate, and oil products to zero,” energy consultancy FGE said in a note.

     

    (Reuters/NAN)

  • Saudi king goes on holiday, crown prince takes charge

    Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, named heir to the region’s most powerful throne last month, took temporary charge of the country Monday as the king left on holiday.

    TheNewsGuru.com reports that Prince Mohammed’s father, King Salman, issued a royal decree deputising his son to “manage state affairs and guard the interests of the people” during the monarch’s “personal break”, state news agency SPA reported.

    On June 21, King Salman stripped the title of crown prince from his nephew Mohammed bin Nayef, naming 31-year-old Prince Mohammed, often known as MBS, as heir to the throne.

    The crown prince has earned a reputation as a reformist in the ultra-conservative kingdom but is seen by some as lacking experience.

    Sunni-ruled Saudi Arabia, a key US ally and the world’s largest oil exporter, heads an alliance that last month cut ties with Qatar over accusations Doha was too close to Saudi rival Iran and bankrolled Islamist extremist groups.

    Qatar has denied the allegations.

    The suspension of diplomatic and trade ties with Qatar has sparked the largest crisis to ever hit the Gulf Cooperation Council.

  • Qatar row: Saudi, Egypt to cut Doha links

    Qatar row: Saudi, Egypt to cut Doha links

    A number of Arab countries including Saudi Arabia and Egypt have cut diplomatic ties with Qatar, accusing it of destabilising the region.

    They say Qatar backs militant groups including so-called Islamic State (IS) and al-Qaeda, which Qatar denies.

    The Saudi state news agency SPA said Riyadh had closed its borders, severing land, sea and air contact with the tiny peninsula of oil-rich Qatar.

    Qatar called the decision “unjustified” and with “no basis in fact”.

    The unprecedented move is seen as a major split between powerful Gulf countries, who are also close US allies.

    It comes amid heightened tensions between Gulf countries and their near-neighbour, Iran. The Saudi statement accused Qatar of collaborating with “Iranian-backed terrorist groups” in its restive eastern region of Qatif and in Bahrain.

    The diplomatic withdrawal was first put into motion by Bahrain, then Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Egypt, Yemen, Libya’s eastern-based government and the Maldives all followed suit.

    SPA cited officials as saying the decision was taken to “protect its national security from the dangers of terrorism and extremism”.

    Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Bahrain have given all Qatari visitors and residents two weeks to leave their territory. The three countries have also banned their citizens from travelling to Qatar.

    However, Saudi Arabia says it will still allow Qataris to take part in the annual Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca.

    So far, there has been no sign of reciprocal moves by Qatar.

     

  • OPEC reports big Saudi oil cut, boosting compliance with deal

    OPEC reports big Saudi oil cut, boosting compliance with deal

    Top OPEC oil producer Saudi Arabia made a large cut in its crude output in January to support prices and lessen a glut, helping boost compliance with the group’s supply-reduction deal to a record high of more than 90 per cent.

    The Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries is curbing its output by about 1.2 million barrels per day (bpd) from Jan. 1. Russia and 10 other non-OPEC producers agreed to cut half as much.

    Supply from the 11 OPEC members with production targets under the deal fell to 29.888 million bpd last month, according to figures from secondary sources that OPEC uses to monitor its output.

    OPEC published the data in its monthly report on Monday.

    Oil prices pared an earlier decline after the release of the report, trading above 56.45 dollars a barrel.

    The reductions amount to 93 per cent compliance, according to a Reuters calculation based on the OPEC figures.

    Last month’s report pointed to a 985,000-bpd surplus.

    In its report, OPEC gave no compliance figure.

    Media saw an earlier version of the secondary-source figures last week that put compliance at 92 per cent.