Dr. Wilfried Buchta

Qatif, capital of Sharqiya, an eastern province on the Persion Gulf that is rich with oil and mostly Shiite. Conversation with Sheikh Hassan al-Saffar. Saffar is the most influential cleric among the Shiites who claim that their people have been discriminated against by the ruling Wahhabi Saudis since the establishment of the kingdom in 1932. Saffar himself lived in exile in Iran from 1984 to 1994 as a Shiite opposition leader. After a compromise with the Saudi government, he returned and has since acted as an intermediary between the Saudi government and the Shiites in the east of the country.

December 2019, Khobar. Invited to a meeting at the residential palace of Abdalla Jum'a (the man with the red and white keffiyeh in the middle), the former CEO of ARAMCO. Also present are former employees of Jum'a and Dr. Hassan al-Bureiki (second from left).

Final photo with Abdallah Jum´a, who was the CEO of ARAMCO from 1996 to 2009.

ARAMCO, with headquarters in Dhammam not far from Khobar, is the largest oil company in the world. As a state-owned organization ARAMCO extracts, refines and markets all of Saudi Arabia's oil and gas. 95% of the state income is coming from the petrochemical sector.

Wahhabi mosque in the modernized historic city center of Hofuf

Only 50 years ago, the city of Hofuf in the eastern part of Saudi-Arabia was just an accumulation of oasis towns, whose residents were mainly Shiite date farmers. After many Sunnis moved to the area, there are now an equal amount of Shiites and Sunnis living here, among them, the Wahhabi, a group of extremely devout Muslims. 

Hofuf, December 2019.

Five young Saudis meet in a small café in the old town bazaar for a little chat in the evening. On the wall behind them, the images of the most important Saudi political authorities. In the middle you can see the founder of Saudi Arabia, Abdulaziz (died 1953), to the right of him, one of his brothers, the reigning king Salman, and to the left, Salman’s son, the current crown prince, Mohammad Bin Salman, commonly known as MBS.

There aren't a lot of things for them to do in their free time, at least not yet,. However, there is a silver lining at the horizone, because the new Crown Prince Mohammad Bin Salman has announced the future opening of many theaters, movie theaters and amusement parks.

Dammam, Province Sharqiya, Saudi-Arabia, December 2019.

Outer view of the futuristic-looking Ithra complex. Built by Scandinavian architects, it took 5 years to complete and supposedly cost 1.800 Mio. US$. It serves the kingdom as an event and cultural center. It is home to several libraries, theaters and movie theaters.

Wilfried Buchta in front of the Ithra complex together with his Saudi Arabian friend, Abd al-Wahhab. He worked for ARAMCO for 30 years as one of the leading managers.