Islamist Threat Still Present

September 2008 | Political Risk Alert

Saudi Arabia has apparently arrested five users of Islamist chatrooms, accusing them of 'spreading misleading propaganda on the internet' and 'playing with young people's religious sentiments and goading them to visit troubled zones and facilitating this'. Although it is unclear to what extent these arrests reflect an overall trend, and information is limited - while Reuters uses the word al-Qaeda in its reporting, there is nothing in the Saudi statement to suggest they were directly linked to the group - this adds to a general picture of underground opposition in Saudi Arabia. While the government clearly has a firm grip

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