Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah promises his subjects $10.7 billion in benefits

http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Middle-East/2011/0223/Saudi-Arabia-s-King-Abdullah-promises-10.7-billion-in-benefits

Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah promises $10.7 billion in benefits
King Abdullah returned home today to a Saudi Arabia seemingly moored in the eye of the storm howling from Libya to Bahrain. But reformers are intensifying calls for political change.
By Caryle Murphy, Correspondent / February 23, 2011

After three months away, Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz promised his subjects benefits worth $10.7 billion as he returned home today to a region roiled by revolt.

The measures, which come as other leaders across the Middle East scurry to appease discontented citizens, included a 15 percent raise for state employees, funds to curb inflation, and more money for housing loans and studying abroad, according to a royal decree read on Saudi television.

King Abdullah's nation is seemingly moored in the eye of the epic storm howling around it. But it is also clear that the octogenarian king, who went to New York in late November for back surgery and then to Morocco to convalesce, is returning to a realm touched in significant ways by the youth rebellions roiling the Middle East.

More than ever before, Saudis are openly calling for change, including political reforms. The most vociferous are tech-savvy youths who have obsessively followed their peers’ historic movements, especially in Egypt, on Twitter and Facebook...