Saudi press reports of May 14, 2003 dealt primarily with the previous day's suicide bombing attacks which were carried out in Riyadh.

Some editorials set out from the premise that Islamist terror was the product of international politics. Thus, Khaled Hamed Al-Suleiman wrote in 'Okaz: "Ideological extremism is merchandise that was never manufactured or sown in this land; it is merchandise imported to this land, duty-free, and the one who exported it got nothing for it, except the pure souls harvested by indiscriminate acts of terror..."

Others, in contrast, called for criticism and reform of Saudi society. Columnist Raid Qusti of Arab News wrote: "If, when a terrorist act happens in our country, we flatly deny that citizens of our own flesh and blood were the ones behind it, then I think that it is quite likely that we will see many such incidents in the future. Who are we trying to fool? Ourselves, or the international community?

Please refer to MEMRI (Middle East Media Research Institute) for the full report on Saudi press coverage.

RISQ Headlines features several, hourly updated news sources from the region, including Arab News and Al Jazeera.