Some of you may have noticed that I did not post anything about the counter-terrorism conference which takes place in Riyadh these days. I think such conferences are useless as long as the government — and the people — are not admitting that we have some serious problems in the religious establishment and the educational system. Prince Abdullah said that we must attack the grassroots of terrorism, but I’m not seeing any action to do so. The way the officials here talk about terrorism gives you the feeling that we have an attack every five or ten years, while a quick look to this report will tell you something totally different. The extreme mentality has been in control in this part of the world for more than 200 years, and it will take a very long time to be changed.
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Saudi Jeans 
Hi Ahmed, this is my first time reading your blog, which I came into via http://foreigndispatches.typepad.com
The counter-terror conference may not be completely useless. In listening to Saudi liberals such as Dr Mai Yamani, I’m less certain that changes to the education or administration will have a useful effect in anything but the short-term.
I’d expect that Saudi will follow the path of Egypt, Algeria and other countries where fundamentalists have made a violent grab for power and just alienated the people, allowing ruthless government repression to work.
Also, probably these governments will probably hear from the British and other countries about better policing showing more respect for human rights.