Saudi Arabia Flexes Financial Muscle In $1.5b “Gift” To Pakistan

The $1.5 billion bailout surely comes with strings attached. Analysts believe this “gift” could be meant to force Pakistan to take a side in ongoing conflict in the Middle East and Gulf region.

Zofeen Ebrahim
By Zofeen Ebrahim

KARACHI, Pakistan --- The struggling State Bank of Pakistan got a shot in the arm early this month when it received a purported "gift" of $1.5 billion from Saudi Arabia. This was not the first time such a gift has arrived. In fact, Riyadh has been a consistent benefactor to Islamabad. Retracing history, political analyst Dr. Hassan Askari Rizvi

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EXCLUSIVE: Syrians In Ghouta Claim Saudi-Supplied Rebels Behind Chemical Attack

Rebels and local residents in Ghouta accuse Saudi Prince Bandar bin Sultan of providing chemical weapons to an al-Qaida linked rebel group.

Dale Gavlak and Yahya Ababneh
By Dale Gavlak and Yahya Ababneh
Ghouta Syria Feature photo

As the machinery for a U.S.-led military intervention in Syria gathers pace following last week’s chemical weapons attack, the U.S. and its allies may be targeting the wrong culprit. Interviews with people in Damascus and Ghouta, a suburb of the Syrian capital, where the humanitarian agency Doctors Without Borders said at least 355 people had died

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