Abd al-Aziz ibn Saud (1880-1953) was an Arab political leader who founded the kingdom of Saudi Arabia. During his rule, from 1932 to 1953, much of the Arabian peninsula developed from a group of desert sheikhdoms to a politically unified kingdom with...

Indications are that the Saudi regime is beginning to experience some economic and political difficulty. The royal family is finding money less plentiful, about 110 Saudi citizens have been arrested for threatening national security, and there are stories of government corruption. NEVER underrate...

The car bombing at an American facility in Riyadh, the first such terrorist attack in Saudi Arabia, reflected the growing discontent with the Saud royal family and its vulnerability to attack. Islamic fundamentalists oppose the royalty's lifestyle, the US presence and recent social-service cutbacks....