A Saudi official, who wished to remain anonymous, said Saudi King Abdullah and President Shimon Pres of Israel met during the Interfaith Conference in New York. Tzipi Livni, Israel's foreign minister, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and Saud al-Feisal, Saudi foreign minister, were also present at the meeting. Among the topics discussed was mutual cooperation and coordination in regard to the new Arab-Israeli peace plan. Despite the Israeli view, the meeting remained secret and undisclosed to the public and the media at the request of the Saudi officials. The peace plan discussed in this meeting is to be proposed publically upon the start of Obama’s presidency whose close ties to Israel is to be used as leverage to overcome the different obstacles in the Middle East conflict.

Both sides agreed that confronting Iran would not be possible without the success of this proposal. The anonymous official revealed that during the meeting Saudis agreed to remove two articles from the proposed plan: the issue of Jerusalem and the Palestinians’ right to return.

The meeting was arranged by Prince Bandar bin Sultan, the high-ranking Saudi security official, and Adel al-Jabeer, Saudi ambassador to the US. Interesting to note, all travel and hotel expenses for the 20 Israeli officials were paid by the Saudis

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Saudi Militia Groups

Saudi secret services have recently created a militia group from the defected members of Al-Qaeda that is loyal to the Saudi royal family. Reports from Saudi opposition groups say this militia is to defend the Saudis against internal and external threats.

The main reason behind the establishment of the militia is based on results from recent polls conducted in Bahrain and northern Saudi Arabia. The polls indicated that Arabs in these regions will support Iran in the event of an attack by the U.S. or Israel, which will result in a crippling of Saudi oil production.

Another justification behind the creation of a militia loyal to the Saud royal family is to confront the rise of the reformist movements within Saudi Arabia. Members of the militia, who were mainly former al-Qaeda detainees, were recruited and equipped Salafi Saudis. Curiously, the creation of this militia has not led al-Qaeda to denounce or make threats against Saudi officials.

Based on available evidence, the Saudis have also created similar militias in Yemen, which have already been used in Yemen’s internal unrest.

Recent confessions made by the arrested members of Fat’h-ol-Islam, a Salafi movement based Lebanon, have revealed widespread financial support by Saudi officials and their Lebanese affiliates for the militia. In early 2007, the Fat’h-ol-Islam militia started a confrontation with the Lebanese army. The conflict, which took place in Nahr al-Bared refugee camp in northern Lebanon, spanned three months and cost dozens of casualties from both sides.