Clinton gets royal treatment at Saudi king's retreat

[Robb]

Source: Washington Post

RAWDAT KHURAIM, SAUDI ARABIA -- There's nothing like having tea served by men with guns dangling on their shoulders.

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton on Monday got the royal treatment, literally, when King Abdullah invited her and her entourage to visit him at his winter retreat here, about an hour's drive north of Riyadh, the capital. Few visitors are invited to the king's desert sanctuary, and reporters are almost never permitted. But the king not only allowed the media to venture inside his soaring black tent, but personally greeted each hack.

The royal surroundings -- the result of the House of Saud's autocratic control of the country's oil wealth -- are both spectacular and surprisingly banal.

The tent, which from a distance looks like a six-top black circus tent, is actually a mini-palace with a tented top. It sits on concrete, with one grand sitting room and one equally large banquet room. It is surrounded on all sides by semi-trailers, recreational vehicles and dozens of other, real tents (with carpets covering the sand and nonstop air conditioners.) A helicopter landing zone is just steps away, as is a zoo stocked with deer, falcons and other beasts.

Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/02/15/AR2010021501605.html

[spotbird]

1. No pictures. nt

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

4. Just a regular old pants-abaya.

[saigon68]

2. An organized criminal enterprise

[CountAllVotes]

3. enjoy Hillary

:puke:

:kick: