really smart to embolden this young crown prince i mean you know the recent foreign policy of saudi arabia has been nothing but utter disaster in that you know we can look at syria and we can look to yemen but it looks like the saudis are being prodded along early and given a green light from their allies does this worry you for the region and for saudi arabia itself go ahead sami. definitely that is in a new era in saudi arabia i mean some put it this is that of of appeasement that is definitely in change and. it's more. it's better for the young prince given what's going on was in yemen given the challenge of facing up to iran which is not an easy challenge given that it line in oil prices i mean the conditions of his leadership are not easy at all but however one has to keep in mind that. has been directly hit by. inside saudi arabia so that was very close to a yard and maybe this pushed the leadership to this new change in leadership and getting the fact that for the last decade iran's influence in that region has been increasing by the day let's not forget that in two thousand and thr

saudi arabia to be its point man in the region of course it has its israeli we have the saudis and the israelis very close together but there's one problem with all that and that is turkey and now a nato ally here i mean what's going to happen there because there is an enormous amount of friction here and it's all summed up in one word kurds go ahead sami. i think at the end in mind when it comes to the united states of america has been said to clearly by their chief of the pentagon general davis and he's kind of sitting there. for. interests in iran so the goal is facing iran now the problem is. america does not have the tools. to face to iran iraq and syria it's true that they could do on a proxy which is. in iraq but this has limit because supporting the kurds. and here i mean you can understand the position of secretary of state who try to. set the bridges with russia because washington needs russia to pressure on iran or to limit or or on iran at least in syria so because of obama administration policy or do it was that all were from. lack of clarity. washington lost a lot of tool

the past inclusion for saudi arabia is a volatile one. muhammad is the strategist and thinks the upgrade process will not provide a straight path to riches, but also his views of qatar. are saudi too expensive but worth it? guest: i think they are a little expensive. banks are cheaper than the rest of the market. is the growthg and saudi arabia will be weaker than emerging markets and weaker than egypt so that is justified to some extent about the premium has become expensive. if you look at the history, saudi arabia peaks around 16 times earnings so we are close to that level. there is little growth, more activity coming in. more pain for saudi corporates, more pain for ex-pats. domestic consumption from the local population, but ex-pats are feeling some pressure. i think the story in saudi arabia will be a little volatile in corporate earnings. yousef: we do have some of the big banks supporting this week. we will get into the spending story later but i want to ask you about the investment strategy here and about how you take into consi

. ♪ >> this week on q&a, saudi arabia and's women's rights -sharif talksal al about her book "daring drive: a saudi woman's awakening." calledou have a book "daring to drive." why did you write this? tough question. i never thought of writing a book. when i started the movement, i did a speech. people pride in that speech. people gave me two standing ovations and this never happen in the history of that conference. when i came on the stage this lady came to me and said, when you are going through your story -- and i thought who would ever be interested in reading about my insignificant life, but that really sparked the idea of writing this book. host: when was that? manal: i did the speech in 2012 and that is when i wrote it. a freedom forum hosted by humans rights foundation in new york during -- new york. they invite activists from all around the world to tell their of fighting for human rights. host: let's start from the beginning. where were you born? in -- in 1979.rn host: what are your parents light? manal: mom is from libya, that is north africa. she met my father in metcalf.

and saudi arabia. the saudi arabian ambassador to the u.s. and rachel bronson, an author.lso, another discusses the investigation into the kidnapping and death of journalist daniel pearl. you can watch these any times or search our video library at www.c-span.org. next, your calls and comments on washington journal. live at 10:00 a.m., tom cotton of arkansas talking about russia and europe's current military strategy. live at noon, general speeches on behalf of the house. tonight on the communicators -- >> private sector ceo's recognize that your i.t. group is not just a cost center but innovation ande the bottom line. we need the federal government to think that way. congressman will heard upgradebout his bill to i.t. and his puzzled for cyber national guard. >> the idea what center national guard is if you are in high school and want to study some thing around cyber security, we will give you scholarships. when you graduate, you have to work in the federal government. out at an essay or dod, but at the department of interior, department of social security, etc.. you will

saudi arabia had supported and ua is united states allies. i don't want to engaged in saudi bashing. i'm talking about the united states accusing iran of supporting terrorism while its own allies have been on the record. now they are exposing each other about who was first in supporting isis and other terrorists organizations. >> rose: let's make sure i have time to raise questions of america. do you believe that saudi arabia supports al-qaeda. do you believe saudi arabia supports -- which has new names now. do you believe saudi arabia supports isis. >> i believe that a lot of saui money -- >> rose: not by the government. >> in fact some of them are in charge of the saudi services. we know al-qaeda when they engaged the soviets was a child of saudi intelligence services. taliban will recognize, the taliban government which was sponsored al-qaeda was only recognized by three states. two of them were -- >> rose: the other was pakistan you said. >> that's a neighbor. i don't want to deal with them because they have their own, because as a neighbo

brian: what was the difference between living in the aramco compound and living in the rest of saudi arabia? as al when i joined in 2002, a saudi woman i was not allowed to live in the compound. i was not allowed to live a -- not even allowed to rent an apartment outside the compound. the government wouldn't allow me to rent an apartment as a woman. i was not even allowed to stay in a hotel because the government also would not allow me to rent a hotel room without a man. it was 2007, out of policy the company allowed women to live in the compound. that is when i got my divorce. when i found a place to stay, i eft my marriage. starting in 2007 at the company. brian: where is your son? from the first marriage? manal: he is in saudi arabia with his grandmother. brian: not with his father? manal: no, not with his father. he took him from me after i got married again and he is living with his grandmother. brian: when can you see him? manal: i always see him. he lives in my grandmother's -- his grandmother's house. more of my own mother too. brian: you can go in and out of saudi arabia even thou

do you believe saudi arabia supports al nostrum -- el nost ra? which has new names now? javad sharif: i believe a lot of saudi money went to support these organizations. are tribes of saudi intelligence services. --know that when al qaeda a arch builder and of saudi intelligence services. we know that al qaeda -- are children of saudi arabia intelligence services. aey were only recognized by three states. two were saudi arabia and the united arab emirates. charlie: the other was pakistan. javad sharif: well, that's a neighbor. as a neighbor, they have a problem. but for saudi arabia and united arab emirates, staying for behind the actual scene because iran is a neighbor, pakistan is a neighbor, some of the other countries in the former soviet union our neighbors, but saudi arabia and united arab emirates are not even close. but they support it. they recognize the government. the money -- and it's clear. ask any intelligence person. ,he money that went to isis most of it came from these countries. -- more importantly charlie: not from the government, per se. javad sharif:

do you believe that saudi arabia supports al qaeda? sorts al-nusra, which it -- which has new names now? do you believe they support isis? a lot of saudiat money went to support these organizations. are children of saudi intelligence services. was aw that al qaeda child of saudi intelligence services during the fight with the soviets. which wasn government sponsoring al qaeda, was only recognized by three dates -- two of them were saudi arabia and the united arab emirates. >> what about pakistan? >> that is a neighbor. as a neighbor they have a problem. but for saudi arabia and the united arab emirates, staying far behind and far away from the actual scene because iran is a neighbor and pakistan is a neighbor and other countries in the former soviet union our neighbors, -- they are not even close but they support it. they recognize the government. the money, ask any intelligence person, the money that went to isis to al-nusra, most of it from -- came from these countries. >> that not from the government, per se? >> that is to be investi

charlie: individuals or the state of saudi arabia? mr.arif: we know individuals came from saudi arabia. 15 of them. we also note the ideology came from saudi arabia. the wahabi ideology. if you check from 2001 until now or even 1998 to now, almost 94% if not more of terrorist incidents throughout the world have been instigated and perpetrated by people belonging to that school of thought, which is the official ideology of saudi arabia and promoted across the globe, spreading extremism everywhere. yousef: coming up, abu dhabi's national oil company has picked a team of banks to sell off its service stations units. an ipo which could bring $14 billion. we have the details next. this is bloomberg. ♪ yousef: welcome back to the "best of bloomberg markets: middle east." abu dhabi national oil company is said to have chosen underwriters for its sales, choosing several banks to help with its listing, and specifically of its service station unit. we get more from matthew martin. matthew: what we revealed yesterday is that they have now got on boa

this is going to begin the process of saudi arabia taking higher stakes of the company. by 1973, the saudi government will have 25%. by 1980, it will have complete control over aramco, and it will be a saudi company. this is the future, one that seems rather bright in 1960. but of course, there is this organization called opec formed in 1960. that is going to transform the politics of saudi arabia, along with iraq, iran, venezuela. that is going to raise tensions in the 1960's, leading to the 1967 war with israel, and 1973 war, as well. all which is going to fracture what was once this unified vision. it is benefiting ultimately the independent oilman who also see their futures in the 1960's and positive light. snapshots we can look forward to, 1964 the republican party will really shift. the control of it will shift to the wildcatters of the southwest. anyone recall who the gop candidate will be in 1964? barry goldwater. who will he defeat in the republican primaries? nelson rockefeller. in many ways, the politics of oil working its way into the politics of the republica

it comes down to saudi arabia and russia.sians are not a big fan of any amendments to the agreement. we want to stick with what they've got in terms of the deal. no further members at this stage , and in the second half you might see more rebalancing accelerating. that the is that the man will pick up, supply will come slightly down and oil prices will adjusted that has not completely materialized so far and we will have to wait and see. that is all we have for this edition of "bloomberg markets: middle east." >> yousef will be live from the region against income tomorrow. i am desiree humphrey, this is bloomberg. ♪ jonathan: from new york city, i'm jonathan ferro with 30 minutes dedicated to fixed income. this is "bloomberg real yield." ♪ draghi's president dovish words for european bonds. trade struggles to find buyers. a 10 year option has the weakest demand in nine years. and counting down to the fed decision. the inflationto goal undermining the case for another rate hike. we begin with the big issue, a dovish draghi. >>

and saudi arabia?rabia sits alongside you, pointing the finger at qatar, and the response has been very widespread criticism. tom wilson, who is a fellow at the centre to the response to radicalisation at terrorism at the think tank the henryjackson society, said, "saudi arabia is undoubtedly at the top of the list of countries who've been of advancing extremism." it is a very interesting distinction i would like to make between qatar —— this is a very interesting distinction i would like to make between qatar and saudi arabia. saudi arabia had a situation with the revolution in iran and the desire to build a more cohesive shia understanding. so, identity. because of that, american charitable organisations have set up schools and educated pupils. in sunni islam. so in 2017, under the current leadership of saudi arabia, is that still the case? there are so many ways in which the saudis have publicly clipped the wings of the clerical class in saudi arbia to make sure that they understand that there is a

critics are rightfully pointing out being numerous areas of concern that a bomb when it comes to saudi arabia earlier we are joined by so i knew by hussein a spokesperson for the our buckey organization a group lobbying the saudi government for minority civil rights and the preservation of heritage sites here's how dr hussein characterized her group struggle. that is so shameful the country that is supposed to be the head all. human rights council of united nations is the one that causes the most amount of human rights violations fourteen of these people that are up for exit q sions out of them while they're there juveniles and this one of them much the he was arrested when he was seventeen years old a juvenile a minor and the other one was a disabled person he is i think many are he is half blind and half deaf these people i mean that this is common common state for them twenty six teams fifty three executions. one hundred fifty three i take that back executions in twenty six to one hundred one hundred and fifty eight executions in twenty fifteen they started the year of twenty sixteen by ex

definitely that is in a new era in saudi arabia i mean some. of. appeasement that is definitely in change and. it's more. it's better for the young prince given what's going on was in yemen

and saudi arabia?a sits alongside you, pointing the finger at qatar, and the response has been very widespread criticism. tom wilson, who is a fellow at the centre to the response to radicalisation at terrorism at the think tank the henryjackson society, said, "saudi arabia is undoubtedly at the top of the list of countries who've been of advancing extremism." it is a very interesting distinction i would like to make between qatar and saudi arabia. saudi arabia had a situation in 1979. with the revolution in iran and the desire to build a more cohesive shia understanding. because of that, american charitable organisations have set up schools and educated pupils. in 2017, under the current leadership of saudi arabia, is that still the case? there are so many ways in which the saudis have clipped the wings of the clerical class to make sure that they understand that there is a limit to how much influence and decision—making the clerics can have. i would say there is a very big difference. the clerical cl

and saudi arabia?rabia sits alongside you, pointing the finger at qatar, and the response has been very widespread criticism. tom wilson, who is a fellow at the centre to the response to radicalisation at terrorism at the think tank the henryjackson society, said, "saudi arabia is undoubtedly at the top of the list of countries who've been of advancing extremism." saudi arabia had a situation in 1979 with the desire to build a cohesive sunni understanding, and identity. and it was as a result of that that funding has taken place and funding has been provided by the government of saudi arabia by various charitable organisations, setting up schools, educating people, in sunni islam, although the question today is in 2017 under the current leadership of saudi arabia, is it still the case? all there are so many ways in which the saudis have clipped the wings of the clerical class to make sure that they understand that there is a limit to how much influence and decision—making the clerics can have. i would

saudi arabia with doctors on. the national weather service in mount holly new jersey has issued a flash flood warning for central philadelphia county southeastern pennsylvania until one forty five pm at nine forty one pm local radar and automated rain gauges indicated summer storms had produced heavy rain across the area. up to three inches of has fallen flash flooding is expected to begin shortly in the areas of heaviest rain some locations that could experience flooding include philadelphia floodwaters are moving down frankfort creek and if flood crest is expected to exceed seven feet turn around don't drown when encountering flooded roads most flu deaths occur in vehicles a flash flood warning means that flooding is imminent bittering if you are in the warning area move to higher ground immediately residents living along include should take immediate action to protect life and property. just like. the world. saudi arabia has been a frequent topic of worldwide headlines in recent months from hosting president tr

here moscow breaking news coming in britain's controversial sales to saudi arabia have been ruled to be legal by the high court in london humanitarian groups had to challenge the government because of weapons being used to kill civilians in yemen to bring you more about this out. also making headlines this monday the german chancellor is under fire for underestimating the dangers posed by leftist radicals after this big riots blighted the g twenty summit in hamburg. iraq's prime minister declared victory over islamic state in mosul but the cities in ruins as its people pay a high price for liberation. why they kept it we did this. international just a little bit more on the breaking news coming through before we bring you much for full around about it but it seems as we here in the last few minutes the campaign is have lost a high profile case calling for a u.k. sales to saudi arabia to be stopped they're worried about the humanitarian concerns and how they'd be used in yemen it looks like judgments been made at the high court in london and the judge basically said we concluded the m

saudi arabia said today it will not lift its embargo of qatar after the gulf emirate rejected terms tockade. the saudi foreign minister described the decision as "painful" but necessary. he repeated the criticism that qatar supports terrorism. saudi arabia joined the uae, egypt and bahrain in imposing the embargo — the four countries say qatar doesn't understand the gravity of the dispute. we cannot have a country like qatar that is an ally militarily, and in the gcc, and in the arab league. and that hosts an airbase from which planes take off to fight isis and al-qaeda, and at the same time, it turns a blind eye to terror financiers who operate openly in qatar, turns a blind eye to extremists who advocate suicide bombings and advocate young men going to fight in war zones. we cannot have it both ways. we are not doing this because we wa nt we are not doing this because we want to hurt qatar, we are doing it to help qatar. it will help qatar, it will help us, it will help the region, it will help the world. in response, qatar's foreign minister again said that resolving the dispute wou

saudi arabia clearly has employment issues.live with a low growth environment or even a negative growth environment while continuing to offer employment opportunities for its nationals? i think that is where labor reform comes in. that is such an important part of the overall reform process. when we are looking at low or negative growth in saudi arabia, it doesn't necessarily mean higher unemployment. unemployment is a function of labor policy, which should help to compensate for the lower growth environment. sheri: we are getting breaking news out of china, hearing that banks there defunded set to halt new loans. hna, several chinese banks that help fund global acquisitions are losing their appetite for financing. three of the banks have decided to stop extending new loans, according to people familiar with hna and the ongoing acquisitions spree there. this could be part of china's wider deleveraging efforts. we will get you more details as soon as we get them. let's go back to farook and what you were talking about when it co

a women in saudi arabia cannot question why it was not okay in qatar with someone who is a similar and social background what woman could drive. in saudi she cannot. to distract from their own shortcomings the bucketing countries have chosen qatar for supporting terrorism. [inaudible] these are just a smokescreen created to infringe upon qatar 70 and punish us for our independence. our international partners know that qatar fight against terrorism and we are and will continue to be partners with united states in combating the spread with our troops working hand-in-hand in the fight against isis. our efforts have not gone unrecognized. a state department report emphasizes that the united states in qatar maintain a strong partnership in the fight against terrorism. [inaudible] secretary tillerson. qatar for being the first to respond to president trumps challenge at the summit of fighting terrorism. this is as a. [inaudible] that is why we will fight this threat and it's unwavering. terrorists are made, they are not born. that is why we have developed a holistic approach to combating ter

saudi arabia edging that higher.u ask investors, they would be more invest -- more worried ain.t boring -- bahr the asset price does not reflect the fundamentals. offering -- if you look at the fiscal data, you see hardly any change that reflects policymakers cutting the budget deficit. last year.21% of gdp that is the highest in the gcc. 10xpected to come down to this year, but we have not seen any signs in the numbers, spending is flat. i've not seen any sign that this is actually, you know, coming down. foreigners are making on -- they have space to borrow, but at what cost? you talk to investors and they will tell you, if they don't see a significant fiscal consolidation soon, they will be under more pressure. yousef: the gulf crisis came at an inconvenient time. the last thing they need was political anxiety or the split we are seeing. theo what is going on with gulf crisis, we saw the arrival of some foreign ministers in bahrain yesterday. are we at the edge of a cliff of a another set of sanctions, measures fr

a woman is saudi arabia cannot question why a qatar, a country with similar social background, women can drive, but in saudi she cannot. so aside from the shortcomings they have accused us of terrorism. these unsubstantiated actions are just a smokescreen created to infringe upon the sovereignty and independence. our international partners know that qatar is relentless in its fight against terrorism. we will be a steadfast partner to the united states in combating this problem in the fight against isis. effort have.got on recognize. the state department reports that the united states and qatar maintain a strong partnership in the fight against terrorism. after signing in mou with united states came after establishing a disabling finance flaws, signature to his tillerson prism the first to respond to president trumps challenge. it's just as much of a threat to qatar and every other nation and that is why our resolve to fight this threat is unwavering. tourists are made, not born. that is why we have developed holistic approach to combat terrorism and to have two bases. a military base

the high court has ruled that government arms sales to the saudi arabia are lawful.manitarian law. equipment sold to saudi arabia includes typhoon and tornado fighterjets, as well as precision—guided bombs. the sales contribute to thousands of engineering jobs in the uk, and have provided billions of pounds of revenue for the british arms trade. 0ur diplomatic correspondent is outside the high court. beck black this settles on a —— centres on a conflict in yemen at the moment a coalition of military forces have been attacking rebels to try and restore the legitimate government. but in the process, saudi arabia and others have been accused of breaches of international humanitarian law, above all by the number of scissors —— civilians that have been caught up —— civilians that have been caught up in this conflict. so arms campaigners here in the uk said that the decision by the british government to continue to sell arms to saudi arabia, missiles, aircraft, was in breach they argued of british law, which basically says, if you think there is a serious risk these weapon

trump's first stop this weekend was saudi arabia, where trump was greeted on the tarmac by king salmanhter ) no. "just call me, i'll be circling. just call me." the saudis know that the quickest way to trump's heart, of course is through his ego. so they put up trump-themed billboards everywhere. this is true. including one of his tweets, "great to be in riyadh, saudi arabia. looking forward to the afternoon and evening ahead. #potus abroad." ( laughter ) they even put up one of his tweets on the welcome sign. "welcome to riyadh. rosie o'donnell is a fat pig." ( laughter ) surprised they did that. it's not halal. that sign is not halal now. and they projected his face five stories high onto the wall of his hotel. that way-- no, no, you have to-- because that way, if he gets lost, he could find his way back. ( laughter ) now, back when obama made the same trip, trump tweeted, "many people are saying it was wonderful that mrs. obama refused to wear a scarf in saudi arabia, but they were insulted. we have 'eee-noof' enemies." ( laughter ) eee-noof. ( laughter ) so, it was something of a s

in saudi arabia's future. we are going to continue our business in saudi arabia.izable business there. we are going to top that with more developed. >> there's one more grocery store i shop at in abu dhabi. there's been speculation you might be interested in spinny's. is it true? >> i don't know. what i do know is you have to change your shopping habits. >> let's talk about what is happening back in abu dhabi, in the uae. retailers have been forced to slash prices. does that affect your margins when everybody is competing to cut prices against each other? >> well, look, we, that is what we do, i would say and so far we have been managing to reserve our growth. very soon we'll be announcing our numbers. >> most of your revenue right now comes out of the uae, followed by saudi arabia, qatar. do you see any shift in this sort of structure? >> it will continue to be the case. we have a plan in order to have -- to make sure our revenue is continuing to be generated from markets that have depth and also sustainability and this is something we have been delivering agains

surely the depth of our relationship with saudi arabia in trade, in finance, in the presence of many way in which we have been together through war and peace, would indicate that we have the options for significantly more leveraged than mere condemnation. and i wonder what other measures the government is taking which involve action as well as condemnation, particularly over this question. at the end of the day, saudi arabia is a sovereign state, and it is not possible for us to interfere either with itsjudicial system or its constitutional approach to these matters, but we can make clear, as we do, our profound disapproval and our profound opposition to abuses of human rights and deployment of the death penalty. lady goldie. finally, the 2017 intake of mps are continuing to make their first or maiden speeches. the new mp for slough said he felt the weight of expectation on his shoulders as the first turban—wearing sikh in the commons. slough, mr speaker, is a town of firsts. it elected the uk's first—ever black lady mayor, and now, more than three decades later, it has elected the fi

rights and raise concerns with the saudi arabian government, we have a balanced relationship with saudi arabiaorm. we have heard over the years her majesty's governments talk about the influence it has had over the actions of the saudi government in terms of capital offences. i would be very grateful if the minister could, from his place today, give some examples of how that has paid off. because on days like this, it does leave some questions to be answered. it's so difficult to try and prove a negative. the authorities with which we deal in saudi arabia are not necessarily any position to make theirjudicial decisions dependent on external pressure, and nor would we be in their case. what we do know is a number of allegations are made about possible executions, possible exclusions of minors, and then they don't happen. but whether or not it would be specifically laid at the door of any particular representations... we would not necessarily know. saudi arabia is one of the world's most prolific executioners and the death penalty is increasingly being used as a punishment for non—violent acts.

and fifteen and to give you an idea about the sorts of customers saudi arabia iraq the saudi military has doubled the number of british made warplanes than the brits have themselves so in light of this conflict in yemen many politicians have public opinion has become increasingly concerned about this policy of arming riyadh take a listen to what some m.p.'s here in parliament have had to say about it. here is a speaker thousands of civilians have been killed in yemen including a large number by the air force i think on the dumb not using british built planes with pilots who were trained by british instructors who were dropping british made bombs under coordinated by the saudis in the presence of british military advisors . we have to put political pressure on the saudis to come to the table to reduce the scale of the bombing to move towards some kind of ceasefire and to do it properly so let's just talk about the conflict this is being presented against saudi arabia against the people of yemen what an absolute garbage no wonder the countries in poverty other who are allowing these peo

during trump's visit to saudi arabia in may -- his first trip abroad as president -- he suggested humanrights concerns would not interfere with u.s.-saudi relations. pres. trump: we are not here to lecture. we are not here to tell other people how to live, what to do, worship., or how to instead, we are here to offer partnership based on shared interests and values, to pursue a better future for all of us. amy: saudi arabia has one of the highest execution rates in the world. human rights organizations say prisoners are often tortured intoto making false confessions and convicted in secret trials. rights groups have urged the trump administration to use its ties to the kingdom to prevent further abuses and stay the executions. to talk more about the death penalty in saudi arabia and the possible execution of these 14 men, we're joined by two guests. in london, maya foa is with us, director of the international legal charity reprieve. and here in new york, we are joined by randi weingarten is president of the american federation of teachers. we welcome you both to democracy now! in's beg

saudi arabia to the u.s. sanctions list. what these countries have done is made any act supporting their status quo terrorism. a woman driving a car in saudi arabia is tried in the terrace court. that's the terrorists court. individuals calling for social reform in the uae is a social terrorists. this is the work that needs to be done for counterterrorism in the region. the crisis will not be resolved by suppressing media and opposing viewpoints. instead we must all of our concerns on the table and have it has and factual discussion about the issues affecting our region. unfortunately the blockaded country have refused to show any genuine want for dialogue. blockade has tarnished the eyes of all the countries in the middle east. it has undermined the fight against terrorism. it has torn families apart and silenced voices. the blockade has also made qatar stronger, resilient and more united. it has helped us diversify our economy and forge new .artnerships thank you again for giving me this platform to share my humble views o

. >>> six arab countries including saudi arabia and egypt cut ties to the nation of qatar. alleging the country has ties st have cut ties to the nation of qatar, alleging the country has ties to terror groups. a hearing on the issue earlier this week. it's two hours, 20 minutes. >> the subcommittee will come to order. after recognizing myself and ranking member for five minutes each for our opening statements, i will then recognize other members seeking recognition for one minute. we will then hear from our witnesses and without objections, witnesses your prepared statements will be made a part of the record and members may have five days to insert statements and questions for the record subject to the length limitation in the rules. we have many members of our subcommittee who are also on the judiciary committee, including ranking member and there is an important mark-up happening as we speak. we might see members coming back and forth. the chair now recognizes herself for five minutes. >> last month this subcommittee convened a hearing on the challenges and opportunities

let's go back to farook and what you were talking about when it comes to the saudi arabia economy. nment does go ahead and implement more stimulus measures, could we see a dos back in headline growth numbers, or would that take too long? that's a bounce back in headline growth -- a bounce back in headline growth numbers, or would that take too long? guest: in the absence of structural reform, i.e. creating private sector activity not dependent on either the government contracts or directly on the oil sector, for example, industrial service cables, that stimulus can only really be directed towards one sector, which is basically the consumer end of the market. from our perspective, what we would like to see, much more important than near-term efforts to try and pump some life into the economy, is progress on structural reform. would meanould mean fundamental structural reforms to the business environment, bringing in foreign direct investments, but also stimulating domestic nonoil private sector investment that would bring about a real diversification. the plans are there. division of

>> reporter: well, it certainly looks normal enough, but this is saudi arabia. ifically in a province of the kingdom that is the birth place of the kingdom's ultra conservative school of islamic thought. let's be clear. anyone who lives in saudi knows that hod decemberity laws dictate women must be suitably covered in public. some cover their faces. so it's not a total surprise that when this video went viral, authorities tracked down woman and took her in for questioning. this statement is from the police that we've obtained and it says that she admitted to visiting site this question with a male guardian, viral videos were published by an account attributed to her without her knowledge the police say. no further word as of yet on what happens with her next, but social media for which let me tell you saudis have a veracious appetite is awash with this. it went nuts from comments like people who don't respect the kingdom's rules don't deserve for live in it, to suggestions that if she were from the west, people would be fualling head over heels for her. many peop

treasury pointed to saudi arabia as the center of this problem but the saudis turned a corner. there's more that they can do, but the saudis now run intelligence operations, they prosecute people. they work with us in designating people. there have even been joint u.s. saudi designations including of charities and individuals in saudi arabia. that's domestically different politically for them but they've done it. we now tend to point to others within the gcc towards saudi arabia and trying to show them the types of things we'd like them to do more. there's an irony that kuwait is the country that is kind of playing the middle man on this and kuwait is often described as being just as bad on qatar an on terror finance. that's something we need to recognize, as well. the fact is that there are things that qatar should have done a long time ago and that they have not done and that we have frankly tolerated them not doing and the overt financing of effectively the most important al qaeda entity in the world, al qaedaed in saudi arabia is completely beyond the pale. >> thank you. mr