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Saudi Blogger Misses Chance to Meet Karen Hughes

Ahmed Al-Omran · 12:29

Much controversy has surrounded the mission of Ambassador Karen Hughes, undersecretary of state for public diplomacy and Public Affairs at the US Department of State, to the Middle East. Most of Arab media said the visit is useless, because they don't believe that this woman will be able to improve the US government's ruined image in the region.

“[I]t seems not only foolish but impossible to think that any change could have been effected in so short a time,” Arab News said. Abdul-Rahman Al-Rashed, a Saudi columnist who is said to be pro-American, has called Hughes “George W. Bush’s cleaner in the Arab region.” He thinks she is “deluding herself if she thinks anyone will believe her or show interest in the good deeds she will enumerate.”

After visiting Egypt, Hughes went to Saudi Arabia, where she had met with King Abdullah, Crown Prince Sultan, ministers, officials, students and their families, intellectuals, and journalists. There were six different meetings, and Saudis were told to speak their minds because Hughes is not only an American official, but also a close friend of the president whom he trusts and listens to

The Saudi blogger Fouad Al-Farhan was invited to one of these meetings at the house of the prominent Saudi scholar Dr. Osama Angawi in Jeddah. His main motivation to attend the meeting was what he found on the internet about the special bond between Hughes and Bush, and because “it is rare to get the chance to meet someone who is close to the most human being I hate on earth,” he said.

Al-Farhan was surprised by the large number of guests, but he did not care because he went there to deliver his message. However, he could not stand the existence of many Saudi liberals and Saudi women, so he left the meeting before it was even started. “I felt that those people cannot represent the Saudi society,” he said.

At the end of his post (Arabic) about the meeting, Al-Farhan says he did not know if he made the right decision when he left, and asks the readers: “What do you think?”

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Echoes from the Tunisian blogosphere

Mohamed Marwen Meddah · 12:26

TuniZika, the first bi-monthly Tunisian musical podcast, releases it's second show, featuring music from a number of new artists.

Zizou from Djerba attends his first Lebanese blogger meetup since he went there to study in the AUB. He's also writing about his discovery of Lebanon (in French), the different places there, the life, the culture and more.

Marwen is profiled in a feature article about blogs in Computer Idee magazine, the number one computer magazine in the Netherlands.

Adib writes (in French) about how his friend Anis Ltaeif was chosen to pass to the second round of SuperStar, the Arab version of Pop Idol, and how he attended a photoshoot with him at Latina restaurant in Les Berges du Lac.

K-pax blogs from Montreal, Canada (in French) , after a 10 hour flight there and over 2 hours of immigration paperwork at the airport. He's looking forward to resting and then getting started with his integration there.

Thysdrus writes about a picture of an old man in front of the El Jem colisseum that he found on the internet, and wonders if the man, who he personally knows, has any idea that his picture is online now making it's way around the world.

Keitaro complains (in French) about how bad the ADSL service is in the Hammam Chott zone, and how the ISPs never have a good answer when he calls them for support, just saying that they're debating with the telecom operator. He's annoyed that ISPs think the connection is an added privilege, while it's a right that he's paying money for.

Hatem writes about the holy month of Ramadan and how some people have forgotten what it's all about, making it a month of food. He thinks they should go back to the Quran to be reminded of all the benefits of this month.

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