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WEEKLY NEWSLETTER
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Saudi Arabia
Index
The final country with which Saudi Arabia shared a land
border was Jordan, in the extreme northwest. Although the
Hashimite dynasty that ruled Jordan also had ruled the Hijaz
before being driven out by Abd al Aziz in 1924, past rivalries
were buried after World War II, and relations between the two
monarchies were relatively cordial, especially between 1955 and
1990. After the 1958 overthrow of the Hashimite dynasty in Iraq,
the Saudis assumed a protective attitude toward Jordan. Riyadh
provided economic assistance for development projects, and,
following the June 1967 War, direct financial subventions for the
budget. Saudi Arabia also mediated between Jordan and its various
Arab adversaries, including the Palestine Liberation Organization
(PLO) in 1970-71 and Syria in 1980.
Jordan's refusal to support Saudi Arabia during its
confrontation with Iraq in 1990 shocked and angered Riyadh. Many
Saudis viewed Jordan's action as that of stabbing a friend in the
back. The Saudi government reacted severely: all grants to Jordan
were terminated; low-priced oil sales were cut off; and Jordanian
imports were restricted. After Iraq had been defeated, Riyadh
spurned Jordan's initiatives to reconcile differences. In 1992
relations between the two former friends remained deeply
strained.
Data as of December 1992
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