Iranian nuclear scientist Shahram Amiri, who disappeared while in Saudi Arabia in June 2009 and reappeared in the US last month where he asked to return to Teheran is now suspected by US intelligence officials of being a double agent, British newspaper the Sunday Telegraph reported Sunday. Read the full story

Saudi Arabia has conducted tests to stand down its air defences to enable Israeli jets to make a bombing raid on Iran’s nuclear facilities, The Times can reveal. Read the full story

Nigerian President Umaru Yar’Adua has returned home after three months’ treatment in Saudi Arabia, officials say, but his condition is unknown. Read the full story

Iran’s parliament speaker has advised the US president to “do something about” his secretary of state because she is jeopardizing US interests. Read the full story

A Saudi prince was charged last night over the murder of a servant in a five-star London hotel. Read the full story

A senior Iraqi official says Washington and Riyadh are supporting the return of former Baath party members to power in a bid to counter what they call Iran’s influence in the country. Read the full story

Nigeria’s Vice-President Goodluck Jonathan has become acting president, after weeks of political uncertainty over the absence of its ailing leader. Parliament earlier voted to recognise Mr Jonathan as acting president, after more than two months without ailing President Umaru Yar’Adua. Read the full story

Saudi Arabia has called on the international community to take a ‘rigorous position’ against Israel’s saber-rattling against Lebanon, Syria and the Palestinians. Read the full story

Anti-arms trade campaigners have attacked a £286million deal allowing BAE Systems to settle a corruption case out of court as it meant there would now be ‘no opportunity to discover the truth’. Read the full story

Nigeria’s ailing President Umaru Yar’Adua will write a letter handing power over to his vice-president, his adviser has told the BBC. The letter, formally informing the Senate that Mr Yar’Adua is on “medical vacation”, automatically means his deputy becomes acting president. Read the full story

Airline security measures introduced by Washington after a failed attempt to blow up a flight on Christmas Day risk backfiring because they have angered important U.S. partners in the fight against al Qaeda. Read the full story

For a country that prides itself on it’s democratic and freedom credentials Why is the USA lying in bed with these corrupt and shameless dictators. Read the full story

Five Thai police officers have been charged with the murder of a Saudi businessman who disappeared in 1990.

The case stems from the theft of millions of dollars of jewels from a Saudi palace by a Thai man employed as a janitor in 1989.

All five suspects deny the murder charges.

The case of the jewels, the janitor, the palace and the police has been a source of intrigue and diplomatic tension for two decades.

Soured relations

First there was the theft – $20m (£12.5m) worth of jewels, including a very rare blue diamond, taken from a Saudi palace and smuggled into Thailand in 1989.

The thief was caught and much of the jewellery was recovered.

But most of what was returned to Saudi Arabia turned out to be fake.

The following year, three Saudi diplomats in Thailand were murdered and a Saudi businessman, Mohammad al-Ruwaili, disappeared.

The five policemen who have now been charged are accused of abducting and killing Mr Ruwaili. His body has never been discovered.

One theory is that his death was the result of an interrogation that went badly wrong.

The theft and subsequent murders soured relations between Thailand and Saudi Arabia.

Thousands of migrant Thai workers lost their jobs and billions of dollars in trade have been sacrificed.

Tuesday’s decision may go some way to improving the situation.

But the murders of the diplomats remain unsolved, and the whereabouts of the real jewels – including the famous blue diamond – remain a mystery.