Saudi Arabia

Violence broke out between security forces and militants in the northern town of al-Ras in April, with up to fourteen militants and one policeman killed in three days of fighting.... 2005-04-08

A gun battle between police and militants in the northern town of al-Ras in April clearly highlights ongoing security risks in the Kingdom. Given the downturn in violence since the... 2005-04-06

Although Saudi Arabia has said Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC) states should negotiate trade agreements as a single entity, every other GCC member is pursuing a bilateral deal with... 2005-04-06

The government hopes to attract investment into petrochemicals, transport and knowledge-based industry. BMI View: Major corporate tax cuts will help, but bureaucracy remains a

British intelligence services believe the government is making 'remarkable progress' in its campaign against militants, according to the UK's ambassador to Riyadh. Still, the private... 2005-03-11

A UK official tells us British intelligence reports offer a positive view of the Kingdom's internal 'war on terror'. BMI View: While domestic militancy is unlikely to topple the regime,... 2005-03-11

The municipal elections currently taking place are historically unprecedented, being the first nationwide elections in the country's history. Despite this, their impact will be limited.... 2005-02-11

This spring's municipal elections will set a historical precedent, but are unlikely to attract a large turnout. They will be the first nationwide polls in the country's history, although... 2005-02-10

We have revised our 2005 growth forecast up, in the light of higher-than-expected growth in 2004 and OPEC production cuts in 2005, but we still expect a dip further out in the forecast... 2005-02-01

We expect growth to dip to 1.4% in 2005 as falling oil prices hit demand, but growth should pick up to 3.09% in 2006 as the impact of expansionary development spending feeds through.... 2005-01-14