The Saudis have closed their embassy in Cairo and their consulates in Alexandria and Suez following Egyptian protests over the Saudi detention of an Egyptian lawyer, Ahmed al-Gizawi. Some people believe it is because the lawyer insulted King Abdullah, which is a lashable offense.
The story goes (from Egypt) that al-Gizawi was on his pilgrimmage and was snatched up because of the perceived insult to the King. The Saudis say they detained him at the airport in Jeddah because he was caught with 21,000 Xanax pills. Xanax is illegal in Saudi Arabia.
Egypt, with the world's largest population of Arabs, has historically been one of the more opened-minded and secular Muslim nations, for what's it's worth, despite plenty of movements similar to the revolution in Iran. Saudi Arabia has been the opposite; one of the most conservative places on earth, where women have similar rights to American pets. Apparently they feel that women, like loose dogs, shouldn't be allowed to roam the streets alone in their grand oil-funded cities.
This may be nothing, but...it may be the start of a charged cultural battle of words.
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