RIYADH, 16 January 2008 — So Western journalists covering the Bush visit to the Kingdom are set to leave. No big deal. But to Saudi journalists, it makes all the difference in the world. After all, once the international media is gone, things will get back to normal: Local journalists will once again be left guessing what Saudi ministers are up to.

Indeed, ask any Saudi journalist and he or she will tell you straight: Most Saudi ministries do not hold press conferences for local journalists. Getting a comment from a minister is like chasing a mirage in the desert. The endeavor to obtain quotes can take a very long time, often months. And after a long wait and a lot of effort there are still no guarantees: “Inshallah, bukra, malesh” (God willing, tomorrow, oh, never mind.)

Saudi journalists who, along with their Western colleagues, attend press conferences in the Kingdom by Saudi ministers know that these golden and occasional opportunities cannot be missed. When else would a minister come out in public and speak? But the focus at such press gatherings is never local. It is directed out and usually to the Western media.

No Saudi minister better demonstrated that than Islamic Affairs Minister Saleh Al-Asheikh. He was scheduled to arrive and address a press conference at Riyadh’s Marriott Hotel just one hour after Petroleum and Mineral Resources Minister Ali Al-Naimi’s press conference. The Ministry of Information had arranged both press conferences not at the request of Saudis, but rather due to the demands of the Western media.

This was demonstrated by the fact that the schedule posted at the entrance hall to the hotel, where the conferences took place yesterday, was in English. After all, what is important is that Fox News, CNN, ABC and other American media outlets know what time the ministers were speaking.

The officials arrived on time. At 4 p.m. on the dot, Al-Asheikh entered the hall with his entourage. But something was wrong: There were no foreign journalists in the room. Instead the room contained about a dozen Saudi journalists representing Saudi TV and seven national daily newspapers. The minister was in the room for about a minute, then turned and left.

“Ya Shabab,” said one of the minister’s minders. “The minister apologizes...”

And so it went: The press conference was canceled. But at least the minder was honest: He speculated that the reason for the cancellation was that either the minister was tired or that there were no foreign journalists in the audience. He left it to the journalists to decide which of these replies was most applicable.

“My questions have been with the Ministry of Islamic Affairs for nine months now,” said a Saudi journalist who did not want to be mentioned by name.

Two of the journalists pursued the minister to his Mercedes-Benz waiting outside. But the answers to their question were met with the sound of a car door closing.

The bottom line? No foreign press, no press conference.