Thousands of Missing Saudis in the USA.

Saudi Fort Demolition creates diplomatic dispute with Turkey

Riyadh; The demolishion of the Ajyad fortress built during the Ottoman era on the Bulbul Mountain overlooking the Grand Mosque in Makkah to make way for a multibillion riyal commercial project has created tension between Turkey and Saudi Arabia. The two friendly countries have already locked horns over the demolition, which took place last week, and the dispute has reached UNESCO. Already the demolition case created a diplomatic row between Saudi Arabia, a hardcore Islamic countries and Turkey, a NATO member. The fact that Saudi Arabia has already created a number of diplomatic disputes with the Western alliance over the September 11 terrorrist attack adds more seriousness to the dispute for regional peace and security.

Turkey has condemned the demolition and brought the issue to UNESCO, the United Nations cultural body. According to the Turkish Foreign Ministry, Turkey had urged Saudi officials not to demolish the fort and preserve their common historical heritage. "We have expressed our sorrow and stressed our sensitivity on the issue," a Turkish spokesman said. However, Saudi Arabia hit back at Turkish protests telling Ankara not to meddle in its internal affairs. A Saudi spokesman said the fort would be rebuilt in due course. "The Kingdom was only exercising its sovereignty over its territory," Minister of Islamic Affairs and Endowments Saleh Al-Sheikh said in a press statement. "No one has the right to interfere in what comes under the state's authority," the minister said in a statement published by Arab News.

"What the government did does not violate Vienna, Paris or Islamabad agreements on heritage sites," Al-Sheikh said. According to the Saudi Research Center, thecontroversial fort was built around 225 years ago on the highest point overlooking Makkah to defend Islam's holiest place of worship from outside attacks.It stood atop the 150-meter-high Bulbul Hill, southwest of the Grand Mosque, forming a powerful defense line with two other forts, Lala and Hindi, to the west and north.

Recently, Saudi King Fahd gave the green light to a SR6 billion construction project on the site. The project will also see the renovation of a historic castle at a cost exceeding SR2 billion ($533 million). Plans to demolish the 23,000-square meter castle also invited opposition from Makkah residents and others who called for preserving the historic site.

Therefore Saudi authorities decided to protect the castle and introduce changes in the plan for the construction of the commercial complex. According to the Turkish foreign ministry the Saudi authorities had assured them that the fort, created during the Ottoman Empire, would be conserved in the new project. The housing project, due to be completed in 2005, includes the construction of 11 high-rise residential towers consisting of 942 apartments, and a twin-tower five-star hotel with 1,200 rooms. It also involves the reconstruction of the 230-year-old Ajyad fortress .

The revenue generated from the project, which includes a commercial center and covers 23,000 square meters will be used for the upkeep of the Grand Mosque. According to the Saudi Minister of Islamic Affairs, Endowments, Call and Guidance the project is part of a broad government plan to serve the two holy mosques in Makkah and Madinah. Saudi Arabia spent SR70 billion ($18.7 billion) on the expansion of the Grand Mosque and the Prophet's Mosque.

Will the fort demolition be like the Ayodhya temple demolition in India? Unlike the Ayodhya dispute, the fort demolition has created an international dispute involving two friendly countries. The mute point is whether this opportunity will be utilised by the Western alliance, who are eagerly waiting to precipitate tension and crisis in the Gulf region.

Thousands of Missing Saudis in the USA.

A number of Saudi Students in the US have been victims of police torture and harassment. Recently, the US authorities released 22 Saudi citizens who were in the US prisons following the September 11 attacks. The search is going on for thousands of Middle Eastern men in the United States, mostly Saudi Citizens, who have disappeared after being ordered to leave the country. The US Justice Department has identified about 6,000 young men from the Middle East who have ignored deportation orders. The Bush administration has been allegedly practicing racial profiling in its war on terrorism. The US Immigration and Naturalization Service is engaged in a crack down on "absconders". More than 300,000 foreign nationals have remained in the country illegally after they were ordered deported.

Recently, the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) condemned the Justice Department policy to place special attention on 6,000 of the 300,000 deportation "absconders" in the US because they are young men from the Middle East. ADC believes that the new program to focus deportation efforts on Middle Eastern men reflects a bias already expressed in a number of other policies developed since the Sept. 11 attacks.