Saudi Arabia Defies Mideast Upheaval - Glen Carey - Bloomberg
►http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-05-17/saudi-arabia-defies-mideast-upheaval.html
Saudi Arabia is leading a counter-revolution against the sweeping political changes in the Middle East by using money, force and religion.
As popular movements for democracy toppled leaders in Egypt and Tunisia and began threatening neighboring Bahrain and Yemen, Saudi Arabia’s Al Saud royal family strengthened control over the Arab world’s biggest economy. Once restrictive of the Muslim clerics, King Abdullah offered money and new censorship powers for their loyalty as he doled out 500 billion riyals ($130 billion) nationally in housing grants and other sweeteners.
The Al Saud have “positioned themselves as the guardians of the status quo,” Christopher Davidson, author of “Power and Politics in the Persian Gulf Monarchies,” said in response to e-mailed questions. “We are seeing a resistance to genuine reform by using a mixture of carrots and sticks.”
Bloomberg publie (étonnamment ?) un très intéressant article de Glen Carey sur la contre-révolution menée par l’Arabie séoudite. À noter, au milieu de la répression pure et simple :
– la participation des entreprises américaines, des banques et des agences de notation :
In Riyadh yesterday, Finance Minister Ibrahim al-Assaf told 1,200 conference delegates, including officials from JPMorgan Chase & Co., Moody’s Investors Service and BNP Paribas SA, that the Saudi economy was on track for stronger growth.
– l’achat des religieux wahabites (avec des sommes totalement délirantes) :
Political loyalties have their costs. Of the expenditure announced by Abdullah in February and March, $67 billion went to funds for housing, religious groups and the military, according to a royal decree issued by the king.
[...]
Abdullah issued a royal decree banning media services from publishing anything that “violates” Islamic law, “harms the reputation” of clerics, and threatens internal security, the official Saudi Press Agency in Riyadh said on April 29.
Un article qui ne pousse pas le bouchon, d’où son intérêt : des faits simples et clairs, plutôt incontestables. Qui montre que l’intérêt du big bizness international (ou « occidental ») passe par la répression de la démocratie, l’agitation sectaire et par le fait de filer des dizaines de milliards aux pires fondamentalistes religieux de la planète.