In the past week, I repeatedly questioned the wisdom of Western leaders attending the Jeddah Economic Forum, which boycotted Denmark:

WILL AL GORE BETRAY OUR DANISH ALLIES TOO?

WILL BLAIR AND SHROEDER BETRAY DENMARK IN JEDDAH?

Some bloggers including Captain Ed, Michelle Malkin and Michael Ledeen (in NRO's corner) picked up the story. Consequently, the organizers issued a semi-denial of the boycott. I hope to be able to report further on the subject.

Now the conference is on and we find out that not only have these high profile individuals not stayed away from the Forum but they failed to use it to condemn this cynical attack of Western freedom of the press by countries which not only do not know the meaning of the concept but routinely vilify other religions and even other Muslim denominations. Instead, they attacked their own:

Al Gore told a mainly Saudi audience on Sunday that the U.S. government committed"terrible abuses" against Arabs after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, and that most Americans did not support such treatment.

Gore said Arabs had been"indiscriminately rounded up" and held in"unforgivable" conditions. The former vice president said the Bush administration was playing into al-Qaida's hands by routinely blocking Saudi visa applications.

"The thoughtless way in which visas are now handled, that is a mistake," Gore said during the Jiddah Economic Forum."The worst thing we can possibly do is to cut off the channels of friendship and mutual understanding between Saudi Arabia and the United States."

And I voted for this guy in 2000.

Cherie Blair, the wife of British Prime Minister Tony Blair, urged Saudi women on Sunday to be patient in seeking their rights in the ultraconservative kingdom, saying that societies do not change overnight.

"Women must combine the desire for progress with a degree of patience. Society will not be transformed overnight," she told participants at the annual Jeddah Economic Forum in the Saudi Red Sea city.

Blair, who emphasized that she was expressing her own personal views, said that"no country in the world has achieved true gender equality".

But she acknowledged strong progress in the status of women in the conservative Muslim Gulf region.

"What we are witnessing here [in the Gulf] is an irresistible trend in which women take their rightful place nationally and internationally," she told an audience segregated into male and female sections.

This is the flaming human rights advocate speaking in a country where women need to hire a male driver to drive them to work!

Former German chancellor Gerhard Schroeder has criticised the publication of cartoons, depicting the Prophet Mohammed, by several European newspapers.

In an address at the Jeddah Economic Forum in Saudi Arabia, Schroeder called the publication"a major mistake", saying"we should return now to a reasonable and acceptable way to respect sanctities and beliefs".

Schroeder said:"I share with Muslims around the world the anger over the offensive cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed, and we should turn to tolerance and respect of cultures and religions."

Now that's standing up for fellow EU members.

I must assume the Saudis promised to pay not only the college tuition of their children, but also their grandchildren! But, then, perhaps they come cheap.