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John R Bradley

ByJohn R Bradley, John R Bradley

Analysis

Next stops on jihadi safari? Mecca, then Jerusalem

July 10, 2014 11:40
Members of the Islamic State on parade in Raqqa, Syria
2 min read

As the West dithers over how to respond to the establishment of a caliphate and a concomitant call on all Sunni Muslims to join a global jihad by the Islamic State (formerly known as Isis), the best equipped and most fanatical jihadist outfit ever, regional superpower Saudi Arabia is at least reacting with a sense of urgency.

The home of Islam's two holiest cities, Mecca and Medina, and the world's largest proven oil reserves, last week put the its army on the highest state of alert and ordered 30,000 troops to the Iraqi border.

He did so amidst reports that the Iraqi army - in what is becoming a depressingly familiar story - had abandoned its own side of the frontier.

The Islamic State simultaneously issued a manifesto, complete with a detailed map of a new Middle East, that envisioned the partition of Saudi Arabia and the destruction of Israel.