Muktibani Online Report
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Middle East\
Saudi Arabia stopped issuing public warnings of imminent military attacks days before a series of deadly strikes on Riyadh airport killed at least 18 people and wounded more than 300.
The government has not explained why it issued no public alerts ahead of four attacks on Riyadh over the past week.
The warnings had highlighted the violence undermining the kingdom's efforts to project an image of calm to its people and the wider world during its war against Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthis.
The absence of alerts during the airport strikes raised questions about Saudi Arabia's vulnerability to attacks and its ability to protect residents and visitors, according to four Western and Arab officials in the region and political analysts who spoke to Reuters.
They said the absence of warnings also reflected efforts to maintain a sense of normalcy.
"They (the Saudi government) want to have it both ways: to launch a military operation and at the same time try to give confidence to the population and external stakeholders," said Sultan Alamer, a US-based Saudi academic and Senior Resident Fellow at the Middle East Policy Council think tank.
Saudi civil defence, a national emergency management, rescue and firefighting agency operating under the interior ministry and responsible for issuing early warning alerts, did not respond to emailed questions about why no alerts were issued. The Saudi government media office also did not respond.
Some regional analysts said Saudi Arabia's approach risked backfiring, as the absence of warnings had heightened uncertainty across the kingdom.
On Monday, Saudi Arabia's civil defence authority issued its first alerts since September 29, warning of potential threats in Riyadh and southern cities.
Reuters could not establish whether the decision to resume alerts was a response to the airport attacks. The Saudi government did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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System goes silent\
All Gulf countries have faced Iranian drone and missile attacks since the US-Iran war began in February, but their governments have handled public warnings differently.
Qatar's interior ministry has issued mobile phone alerts ahead of nearly every attack, including the most recent attacks in July, when residents were warned to stay indoors and away from windows.
Bahrain and Kuwait have repeatedly sounded sirens urging people to take shelter.
Saudi Arabia began issuing threat alerts to mobile phones and social media accounts through a national early warning system in May. But despite an increase in Houthi attacks leading up to last week, the system went silent.
According to posts on the civil defence authority's X account, the last alert before last week's attacks was issued on September 29 for the southern province of Najran.
The civil defence authority has continued to warn people to stay out of harm's way during adverse weather, including rain and flooding. It issued such warnings as recently as Monday.
The authority also warned residents against sharing images, rumours or information about interceptions and impact sites. A post on Monday reiterated restrictions imposed under government regulations issued in March.
Reuters could not determine whether anyone had faced prosecution for sharing such information. The Saudi government media office did not respond to a request for comment.
Before last week's airport attacks, officials from an allied Western government asked Saudi authorities why the alerts had stopped, two officials with direct knowledge of the matter said.
The Saudi response was that the alerts were too disruptive and that many citizens had complained they were being woken up by them at night, the officials said.
The Saudi government media office and Saudi officials did not respond to requests for comment on that assertion.
Former US ambassador to Saudi Arabia Michael Ratney said Riyadh was trying to balance public messaging about attacks with efforts to prevent disruption in the kingdom, but its approach had instead added to public unease.
"Their approach to public messaging seems like a corollary to the quandary they are in: They need to respond to the Houthis but don't want that to result in societal disruption and their public messaging is a reflection of that," he said.
"But the lack of alerts of incoming Houthi attacks creates the very nervousness they are trying to avoid."
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New threat alert\
Ali Shihabi, a Saudi analyst close to the government, said the kingdom would struggle to defend all its assets, regardless of whether it issued early warnings, because of its size.
"In Saudi Arabia you have too much to protect. It's a huge country with airports, pipelines and oil facilities. There is just not enough coverage to defend everything at once, not enough Patriots (missile defence systems), interceptors and missile batteries to do it all," he said.
"Saudi Arabia has an unlimited need for air defences," he added.
Despite the attacks, Saudi Arabia hosted an international conference on Monday, although major oil executives withdrew.
At the World Petroleum Council Energy Congress in Riyadh, Saudi Prince Abdulaziz bin Salaman, a brother of the Saudi crown prince and the kingdom's energy minister, struck a defiant tone while acknowledging the risks and Saudi Arabia's determination to keep its economic plans on track.
He thanked those who had travelled to Riyadh "because you know this country is safe", but added: "Our gathering here does not mean the risk is gone."
"We will never forfeit any chance to maintain our commitment and our vision," he said.
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Embassies issue their own internal alerts\
Despite the absence of public alerts until Monday, Riyadh had been attacked about a dozen times that month, two Western officials said.
During that period, Western embassies in the kingdom issued their own internal missile and drone alerts to staff, according to three people familiar with the matter and alerts seen by Reuters.
One of those people said the internal warnings were compiled using a combination of intelligence from the US and other Western governments, along with information from Saudi authorities.
The alerts included warnings sent to embassy staff around the time of the first two airport strikes last week, according to people familiar with the matter.
They said the embassies had also received no internal warning before Saturday's airport strike, without offering an explanation.
Reuters could not determine why no warning was issued before Saturday's attack, the deadliest of last week's strikes.
On Sunday, Saudi state television released footage of Saturday's attack.
The footage showed several scenes inside the airport terminal. Dozens of travellers lined up to board a flight, while men and women sat waiting in chairs, their eyes fixed on their mobile phone screens as they scrolled.
Then came the bright orange flash of a missile explosion.
