Says the withdrawal will not affect Ongoing Court proceedings a court in south africa has sentenced to white men to long jail terms for kidnapping and assault after they force a black man into a coffin and threaten to set him on fire both men were sentenced to eleven and fourteen years in jail right up to date inside story is next. A young prince in a hurry mohammed bin song has a vision for saudi arabias future he talks about radical change and returning his country to quote moderate islam but what exactly does he mean and can it be achieved this is inside story. Hello and welcome to the program. In the three years since he emerged as a central player in saudi arabias government mohammed bin sound man who seem to be a young man in a hurry the thirty two year old formally became crown prince earlier this year but well before that hed announce broad plans to transform both saudi arabias culture and its economy and a conference this week came riyadh the prince announced plans for a new economic megacity more on that in just a moment but his headline grabbing comments were about Saudi Society and the need for it to change radically. We are returning to what we were before a country as a moderate islam that is open to all religions and to the world that seventy percent of saudi people are younger than thirty years old and honestly we will not waste another thirty years of our lives before dealing with extremist ideas we will not spend the next thirty years of our lives dealing with destructive ideas we will destroy the day. We want to live a normal life a life which includes tolerance and. Religion and in our traditions and contributes in developing our country and the world it is for the crown prince suggested his countrys embrace of a particularly strict version of islam was in reaction to irans nine hundred seventy nine revolution well since his initial appointment as deputy crown prince in twenty fifteen hes often hinted at plans for sweeping social and Economic Reforms many of these were outlined in vision twenty thirty a two trillion dollar project that seeks to shift saudi arabias dependence away from oil this week here announced the latest element of this a new fifty billion dollar mega city and a free Economic Zone straddling saudi Arabia Jordan and egypt so how achievable is this enormous ambition then lets bring in our guests in Fort Lauderdale florida via skype we have saudi activist yasmeen saeed bin kuwait city we have Abdullah Al Shia e. G. Hes a professor of Political Science at Kuwait University and in london we have jane killian munt whos deputy head and Senior Research fellow in the middle east and north Africa Program at Chatham House welcome to you all but yes i mean let me start with you what do you think then of this hugely Ambitious Program thats been outlined by the crown prince. And are now. In the conference. In norman and back rooms and. You know about the massive reforms that have actually already started in his own country and he wishes the ugly the scope and magnitude of the one that has taken place of the last one year has an unprecedented in the countrys history and he intends to expand the war well into the next fifteen years with many car brands that will eventually overall might be saudi arabia as you know as abdullah in kuwait pulse of the crown princes remarks referred to saudi arabia reverting back to what he called a moderate form of islam and he said. That his countrys embrace of a fairly a fairly strict interpretation of islam was a consequence a direct consequence of the ninety seventy nine iranian revolution what do you think of that is that accurate. Well i mean there is a lot of development of fast basing development in saudi arabia that is really something unheard of unprecedented i mean there is an almighty in between a political modernization and if it will fly anomic reforms major major may get make it envelops the death is a major quantum leap if it will succeed with this with these make yes it is but also there has to be some Socio Economic development that is that this is a huge ambitious plan that if it will fly then not only saudi arabia but the whole middle east is really a cause of major change and development that will benefit probably the whole region but there is a formidable there are formidable challenges before that there is the religious establishment that has been the backbone of the saudi political system that has been a marriage of between the the this the also to family and others establishment what will happen to that strong bond between these two elements that that that is like and i had a plan to fly. The saudi and communicate through all the the ages abdellah challenges i am telling you make. It seems to be dedicated to visit to his plan it seems you make a very good point there lets put that to jane jane i have dollar points out Economic Transformation is the objective but along with that is going to come social and cultural change. Thats great and some of those changes her have in fact been underway for a while King Abdullah already took quite cautious and subtle steps to rein in the power of the clerics over the Justice System in particular and to some extent the Education System what is different though is that mohammed bin someone is speeding all this up and hes doing it explicitly not just through words but actions by announcing the end to the rising baron hes sending a very strong signal in saudi arabia that the traditional is to religiously conservative camp will no longer be the driving force or indeed the constraint on policymaking that it has been for years yes i mean im just wondering whats behind this obviously we understand that there are huge questions are happy for some time as to the sustainability of this vast economy that is totally or has been totally dependent upon oil. Is the new thinking is this young crown prince a thirty two year old millennial and has he brought new thinking to the saudi. Government to the royal family or is this just a case of needs must the got to do something otherwise theyre going to hit the buffers. I definitely think its a combination of both but i do think we should give credit where credit is due i think that his leadership had definitely amplifies a great deal of the need that was there to break the shackles of the old ways and to diversify you know saudi arabia no longer wishes to be branded as the country that explores extremism is no longer wishes to be granted as only a country but you know an oil exporter it wishes to reemphasize its role in the last one world as it propagates for moderates power and an openness law and its taking strive to do that and also to diversify its economy that is why taking incredible measures within the country and outside in fact to diversify. Economic. Outpouring and as well as incoming of Foreign Investment and to build the magnanimous project and connecting to jordan and egypt you know through the gateway of the red sea and we did a really major progress that i think will have tremendous impact just as a professor is that not only for values citizens but also chords region at large indeed abdullah this is such a an ambitious project an ambitious vision isnt it so tell me how does the current g. C. C. Crisis fit into it where saudi arabia has blocked its land border with qatar and is leading three other countries in its isolation its attempt to isolate cata but also about the war in yemen how does that fit in to saudi arabias attempt to burnish its credentials if you like in order to attract this critical investment that it needs to achieve this twenty thirty vision. Exactly this is an excellent question and this is really. Hits the nail on the head you cannot really have this huge make up project with instability may have wars a blockades and in g. C. C. Fighting that has really to be i hope this will be a catalyst for the saudi lot leadership and the four countries that isolate and qatar to recalculate that they have calculus. To proceed because investors are shot when it comes to instability so they have abs bogged down and two and a half years of war and yemen and today the crown prince himself stated that when a continual the campaign and yemen in order to prevent the whole with ease from becoming another his will law on our southern borders and he may be a little d. The crisis with qatar saying it has a really minute and very minute pact on our investment i mean i think this is a really very simplistic approach that has really to be settling down of all these crises in order to hope for saudi arabia to live to its potential as not only because this ambition is part of the saudi arabia i mean that this may go projects that have been announced by the crown prince are very ambitious and therefore if there were succeed there were really transform the whole region not only saudi arabia may guess it is that you have me on the borders of. Saudi Arabia Jordan and egypt you have a futuristic city of the official intelligence you have another dubai with that with modern. Gadgets. Up in opulence on the red sea you have another talking about another mega city with amazon and bought another five hundred billion dollars these projects really need stability security and. Confidence for investors. The common with of what full of confidence in order to really invest that he hunts only and Saudia Arabia so saudi arabia has really to sit down and really rethink the call waiting a proposal to call it in mediation in order to reach. A conclusion that will allow saudi arabia to focus more on its future and vicious and the transforming the country politically culturally societal also you have one no will be able to drive before the end the next year by john or july youll have operating up of the society you have a lot of people are counting on the compass him self is banking on the seventy percent of the saudi population to embrace this ambitious a plan at all levels because they represent the majority of the Saudi Society and these are the are they crave all these. Modern lety that they go right in a camel at night but if you make it you make another holy and or that the succeed you have the stability in order for that of these huge plants to really fly you make another very good point indeed so jane. How critical is it that saudi arabia gets on this path to medan it if you like that it gets on this path of transformation given that its got vast reserves a six hundred billion dollar reserve army could it sit comfortably for a little bit longer or is this actually the point of. An existential point if you like by which saudi arabia has got to redress itself and prepare for the future or sink or fail before the fiscal reforms started saudi arabia was burning through those mis arabs are at an astonishing rate you know the figure that you quote is less than a year of same g. D. P. So when they look at having fiscal deficits in the region of fifteen. Even twenty percent of g. D. P. In reserves could easily gone out you know within five years time of course they have other options they can bore winter nationally and so forth but the the point is that the who or who few would model of growth is not sustainable even f. Oil prices were to breed bone to one hundred dollars a barrel previously during the last oil boom growth was sustained in saudi arabia by having double digit growth in Government Spending every single gear and that just isnt feasible anymore so the country does need to diversify its already begun to diversify most people dont think it will meet the very ambitious targets that are laid out in vision twenty thirty but even so he officials dont pretend that those are absolutely real guidelines they tend to say privately even if we get to sixty percent seventy percent fifty percent of those targets were still doing pretty well i think the key test home from harvard and someone will be whether this plan does manage to create jobs there will be some interest in privatizations in buying saudi bonds and things like that will International Investors come and invest in sectors that will create jobs for saudi nationals that is ultimately the key thing that is domestic popularity will hinge on and yes i mean weve been alluding to youve told havent we the the young people of saudi arabia amount to more than sixty percent of the total population more and more people in saudi arabia are coming out of universities and colleges with degrees and this is by and large quite a wealthy sector of the population isnt it theyve got expectations so these jobs have job creation perhaps is the most important task for m. B. A. s is rather affectionately known by many people. Absolutely i mean the sense of pride or even population is under the age of thirty and so the country i definitely have words also that that that is why you know the conference has repeatedly made commitments to engage in rigorous you know use the belts and programs to preparing for the job force and not just that to expand the countrys Economic Opportunities so that there is greater jobs and wants to expand our rankles and once expand the number of harry you must expand saudi corporations so that they also have a share in the global marketplace so you know theres. A lot of activity happening that i believe will definitely benefit Us Employment and have them have a voice in now world and up dollar in saudi arabia change is often portrayed as as is coming very very slowly indeed is there a danger perhaps that the crown prince is moving too fast is there a danger that tradition and modernity are on a collision course in modern day saudi arabia. There is a fear of that because you know moderation modernity comes with moderation and a conservative society that has for too long stuck to its old conservative traditions and you cannot just bring them in and just let them loose i mean that has to be a gradual approach but i think there is also ambition and there is also craving for change because saudis have been cultural have been traveling the world and have seen even and neighboring countries like and qatar on in dubai or in kuwait the way the culture he had a somewhat godly different than that in saudi arabia nor cinnamon woman dont drive so this is they they have been accustomed to living when they travel to europe or the states for their summer vacations and they would love to most of them probably there are no surveys but most of them probably would love to see that their own countries so its not like saudi arabia is isolated away from the rest of the world but that needs a lot of time because there are die hard conservatives in saudi arabia that throng at all these changes that are taking place and they think that the its moving saudi arabia too fast for for their on taste because of that has really to have to be cautious about how far saudi arabia could go and if that would impede the rather than expect died the ambitious plans of that of a prince that seems to be in a hurry to achieve all these may get projects and plans and we wish all the best for saudi arabia because it is already had it is the engine of the whole out of what it has the largest g. D. P. It is the Number One Oil producer and if it would really be successful in the transforming and diversifying its income away from all that has been the staple for the last eighty years or so then the other countries in the g. C. C. Really you were saudi arabia as a harbinger to try to implement such a such prototype an hour or so because even in kuwait and even and other g. C. C. Countries that have been talking about diversifying the economy for the last three years but we have not really succeeded in doing so so because of that saudi and it has to be very careful to instill confidence in the investors are and believes that this mega projects that have been right now take a rather we cant we come back to us once again but look at the apple in right so coming to you jane then now mohamed bin sol man this young crown prince who rather controversially took the poster. Moving aside his uncle to take this position hes being is depicted in some parts of the world as being a bellicose hothead who is rather aggressive and and doesnt take the time to think things through is this the man therefore that is likely to be successful in attracting all this investment this Foreign Investment that is actually the critical to this project. So to you may be a has been struggling to attract significant inward investment in the last couple of use for two reasons one is that investors still largely judge the strength of the economy all the oil prices and Government Spending which of both be low and secondly investors are still trying to assess political wisc particularly walk risks there are too havent been sober and inside and outside family which of course is something that really no outsiders know so a lot of firms are playing wait and see theyre expressing interest theyre visiting theyre checking out the possibilities but they want to see who else goes in service and how successful they are before they make a move the has been a number of Major Companies in the u. S. And elsewhere have signed memorandums of understanding to invest but most of them are still thinking through how much money they will actually commit to the king this time and yes i mean is there having been sound man out on his own this is a one man project or does he have significant support from within the ruling family of saudi arabia. No i definitely believe that he has rallied a great deal of leadership within saudi arabia to support him on all levels of society but i do like to point out come as a response to what the professor of bill is that i think that while with me christine that is in a rush for a very long time and saudi arabia has always been accused of taking measures towards reform quite slowly and they have always been blamed for that now that you have a young leader whos actually coming out and very aggressive and putting. Money where the mouth is and is actually taking actual actions thats playing lip service i think is it would be a disservice to say well that was actually rushing it i think that it is very timely all of these reforms are happening and it is for sure with the betterment of everybody involved you know in Saudi Society wouldnt you have can i just and im going to i just interrupt and ask you what do you think is the overall impact of saudi arabias continuing war in bring yemen and indeed its blockading or its. Its leading the efforts to blockade custer i mean what is it what are these. Aggressive actions what are they doing to the the drive if you like to bring in this Foreign Investment and to and to transform the way in which saudi arabia is viewed. Honestly i dont think im the most qualified person to answer the question but i was there political and each other and thats not my pretties but i would say that obviously you know Political Tension is not good for anybody its not a perfect arabia and i really do hope that they will be able to resolve them and through diplomacy and through mediation and be able to move on because i think that you know united and they can go a lot further all right very quickly jane can i put that final point to you adults you very quickly if you would respond to that and i dont see how far you think that these exploits of the saudi government all denting this this attempt to rebrand the country. They heard of for two reasons firstly your own yemen there are the repetition or problems because of saudi arabia is associated with the Bombing Campaign a humanitarian problems in yemen so say here in the u. K. Where theres a lot of a governmental support for saudi arabia we see a growing campaign for an arms embargo to an extent its never been in the past secondly they raise some concerns about saudi strategy because in both cases so the arabia has launched campaigns that make a big impact that seems to be suffering from the lack of an exit strategy so people are asking why these things going to end the havent been so months finish our eyes these crises thank you all very much indeed were now out of time but that was a really interesting conversation thank you so much indeed yasmeen. Shai g. And jane kininmonth thank you all very much and as ever thank you for watching the program you can see it again anytime you are going to the website aljazeera cock dot com if you want more discussion go to our Facebook Page facebook dot com for slash inside story and theres always a conversation on twitter our handle is at a. J. Inside story but for me Martin Dennis and the whole team here in doha its goodbye for now. Thank. Across the globe breathtaking efforts to clean up the planet sat around the way in Milan Companies are turning to a radical solution biodynamic cement toxic pollution so this really is a living building thats constantly interacting with its environment earthrise trees its the from two years of the battle for the environment scientists here in iceland a pioneering a new technique to reduce emissions earthrise looked at new ways of preventing air pollution at this time now dizzier a new television station in afghanistan is turning the focus on women its on t. V. They are on camera in the guest chair and in the control room the founder of zone t. V. Says this project couldnt wait this team is for those mothers some bosis that on those wifes living in afghanistan theres always talking about their lives but they didnt see anything in a nation where education was forbidden for girls as recently as two thousand and one and network just for women is a mark of progress theres also a very real element of danger of course we are threatened but be conscious that in the corner of our homes we have to go forward and develop ourselves and help bring peace and stability to our country. Five years after the siege of the city. Aljazeera world travels to libya. To hear the stories of those who fought in the battle of misrata. Aljazeera well at this time