Saudis trying to choke Arab Spring

SAUDI ARABIA has stepped up efforts to contain the Arab Spring that toppled the rulers of Tunisia and Egypt and is challenging regimes across the Arab world.

On the domestic front, Saudi minister of labour Adel Fakieh has said work permits of eight million foreign labourers who have spent six years in the country working for private firms not employing Saudis will not be renewed.

The aim of this policy, reported in yesterday's pan-Arab daily al-Hayat, is to provide jobs for nationals and head off popular discontent.

If implemented, this policy could have a devastating impact on post-uprising Egypt as millions of Egyptians could be forced to return home, boosting unemployment, already soaring after thousands fled Libya.

Riyadh had earlier responded to the Arab Spring by pledging billions of dollars for housing, education, and projects benefiting low- income Saudis and ordering internal security forces to crack down hard on protests.

On the regional front, the Saudis seek to maintain the status quo by trying to halt the drive for change, which they blame on the influence of Tehran rather than any genuine demand for reform.

Saudi Arabia accomplished both tasks earlier this year when it deployed 1,200 national guardsmen – some with British training – to help Sunni-ruled Bah- rain crush a rebellion demanding equal rights mounted by the Shia majority.

Riyadh is promoting expansion of the six-member Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) by admitting Jordan and Morocco. Its purpose is to establish a coalition of monarchs to counter the rise of people power in the Arab world, as well as the regional influence of Shia Iran.

Prince Bandhar bin Sultan, head of the Saudi national security council, has also tried to persuade Pakistan, Indonesia and Malaysia to join an alliance against Iran.

Riyadh offered sanctuary to Tunisia’s ousted president Zine al-Abidine bin Ali and attempted to intervene in favour of President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt before the uprising ended his reign in mid-March. It has also angered Egyptians by proposing that Mr Mubarak settle in Saudi Arabia and escape prosecution for corruption and abuse of power.

The Saudis have expressed disapproval of Egypt’s caretaker government’s brokering of the reconciliation and unity deal between Fatah and Hamas and its attempt to revive relations with Tehran.

While favouring the Arab League call for foreign intervention in Libya, Riyadh has not contributed planes or funds to the coalition.

The Saudis have sent confused signals to Yemen’s President Ali Abdullah Saleh, who has refused to step down in spite of growing unrest and GCC calls for his departure.

King Abdullah issued an early declaration backing Syria’s president Bashar al-Assad but has offered no support or aid. Some in the ruling family detest Dr Assad, accused of the 2005 assassination of former Lebanese premier Rafik al-Hariri. But Riyad fears Syria could collapse into chaos if the Assad regime is ousted and that Lebanon would soon follow suit.

Riyadh has distanced itself from US efforts to court the new rulers of Egypt and Tunisia and to ride other wild tigers freed by the Arab Spring.