On violence in Saudi Arabia

Yesterday's terrorist attack on the U.S. consulate in Jeddah was a grim reminder that (Osama bin Laden's) acolytes are still able to operate at will in the kingdom. Quick responses by Saudi security forces ensured that casualties and damage were limited, though the choice of target -- one of the most heavily defended in the country -- was itself a signal that al-Qaeda and its offshoots have not given up. In recent months, the Saudi authorities have arrested and killed many members of what they choose to call "deviant groups" -- emphasizing the departure from the true path of Islam -- while weapons finds have become sparser.

On another front, clergymen have been officially encouraged to preach that fighting the U.S. in Iraq ... is not true jihad. The authorities have also tightened control over mosque sermons and scrapped some xenophobic school textbooks. Attempts are being made, too, to address frustrations over unemployment and the lack of representative government.

The Saudi government ... argues that it has the situation well under control. But pessimists warn that it is only realistic to expect future attacks on the mighty Saudi oil industry, the reason for the country's close relationship with the U.S. The gloomy lesson of recent years is that the pessimists in the Middle East are all too often proved right. -- The Guardian, London