They will discuss a deal to help the kingdom develop civilian nuclear power for medical and industrial uses as well as generating electricity. The agreement provides access to safe, reliable fuel sources for nuclear reactors and demonstrates what the Bush Administration calls Saudi leadership as a non-proliferation model for the region. Read more

IMHO: Do you believe this!!!! President Bush should be tried for treason! Giving a nuclear reactor to the people who attacked the World Trade Center on 9/11/2001, 15 of the 19 hijackers were Saudi.

US Human Trafficking Report Faults Gulf Allies
By David Gollust , Washington, 04 June 2008

The State Department's annual report on human trafficking, issued Wednesday, gave the lowest rankings to some U.S. Arab allies, including Saudi Arabia. But several countries were credited with an improved performance on the issue, including Venezuela, Malaysia and Madagascar. VOA's David Gollust reports from the State Department. (Read more)

Map of the Middle East (3)

The Middle East is a historical and political region of Afro-Eurasia with no clear boundaries. The term "Middle East" was popularized around 1900 in the United Kingdom; it has a loose definition traditionally encompassing countries or regions in Western Asia and parts of North Africa. The corresponding adjective to Middle East is Middle-Eastern and the derived noun is Middle-Easterner.

The history of the Middle East dates back to ancient times, and throughout its history the Middle East has been a major center of world affairs. The Middle East is also the geographic origin of three of the world’s major religions - Christianity, Islam, Judaism. The Middle East generally has an arid and hot climate, with several major rivers providing for irrigation to support agriculture in limited areas. Many countries located around the Persian Gulf have large quantities of crude oil. In modern times, the Middle East remains a strategically, economically, politically, culturally, and religiously sensitive region.

Territories and regions

Country, with flag	Area (km²)	Population	Density (per km²)	Capital	GDP (Total)	Per capita	Currency	Government	Official languages
Iran	1,648,195	71,208,000	42	Tehran	$852 billion	$12,300	Iranian rial	Islamic Republic	Persian
Pakistan	880,940	169,300,000	206	Islamabad	$504.3 billion	$3,320	Pakistani Rupee	Islamic Republic	Urdu
Turkey	783,562	70,586,256^[26] (2007)	91	Ankara	$941.6 billion^[27] (2008)	$13,511^[28] (2008)	Turkish new lira	Parliamentary Democracy	Turkish
Afghanistan	647,500	31,889,923	46	Kabul	$32.4 billion	$1,490	Afghani	Islamic Republic	Persian, Pashto
Iraq	437,072	24,001,816	55	Baghdad	$90 billion	$3,600	Iraqi dinar	Parliamentary Democracy (Developing)	Arabic, Kurdish
Arabian Peninsula:
Kuwait	17,820	3,100,000	119	Kuwait City	$136 billion	$55,400	Kuwaiti dinar	Constitutional Hereditary	Arabic
Bahrain	665	656,397	987	Manama	$14 billion	$20,500	Bahraini Dinar	Constitutional monarchy	Arabic
Oman	212,460	3,200,000	13	Muscat	$54 billion	$17,000	Omani Rial	Absolute monarchy	Arabic
Qatar	11,437	793,341	69	Doha	$69 billion	$75,400	Qatari Riyal	Monarchy	Arabic
Saudi Arabia	1,960,582	23,513,330	12	Riyadh	$446 billion	$21,200	Riyal	Absolute monarchy	Arabic
United Arab Emirates	82,880	4,496,000	30	Abu Dhabi	$146 billion	$55,200	UAE dirham	Federal Constitutional Monarchy	Arabic
Yemen	527,970	18,701,257	35	Sanaá	$19 billion	$1,000	Yemeni rial	Republic	Arabic
The Levant:
Israel	20,770	7,029,529	290	Jerusalem¹	$177 billion	$26,200	Israeli new sheqel	Parliamentary democracy	Hebrew, Arabic
Jordan	92,300	5,307,470	58	Amman	$28 billion	$5,100	Jordanian dinar	Constitutional monarchy	Arabic
Lebanon	10,452	3,677,780	354	Beirut	$24 billion	$5,700	Lebanese lira	Republic	Arabic
Syria	185,180	17,155,814	93	Damascus	$72 billion	$5,400	Syrian pound	Presidential republic	Arabic
Northern Africa:
Algeria	2,381,740	33,333,216	14	Algiers	$253 billion	$7,700	Algerian dinar	Presidential republic	Arabic
Egypt	1,001,449	77,498,000	74	Cairo	$334 billion	$4,200	Egyptian pound	Semi-presidential republic (democracy)	Arabic
Libya	1,759,540	6,036,914	3	Tripoli	$75 billion	$12,700	Libyan dinar	Jamahiriya	Arabic
Morocco	446,550	33,757,175	70	Rabat	$152 billion	$4,600	Moroccan dirham	Constitutional monarchy	Arabic
Tunisia	163,610	10,102,000	62	Tunis	$98 billion	$9,630	Tunisian dinar	Republic	Arabic
Autonomous region: Palestine:
Gaza Strip	360	1,376,289	3,823	Gaza	$0.8 billion	$600	Israeli new sheqel	Palestinian National Authority Hamas	Arabic
West Bank	5,860²	2,500,000³	432^2,3	Ramallah			Israeli new sheqel	Palestinian National Authority Fatah	Arabic