| Al-Suwaidi | |
| Governing Body: | Baladiyah Al Urayja |
| Native Name Lang: | ar |
| Pushpin Map: | Saudi Arabia#Asia |
| Demographics1 Info1: | Arabic |
| Demographics1 Title1: | Official |
| Demographics Type1: | Language |
| Native Name: | حي السويدي |
| Subdivision Name2: | Riyadh |
| Subdivision Type2: | City |
| Subdivision Name: | Saudi Arabia |
| Subdivision Type: | Country |
| Caption: | Al Suwaidi Park |
| Settlement Type: | Neighbourhood |
Al-Suwaidi (ar|السويدي|lit=bitter soil) is a residential neighborhood and a subject of Baladiyah al-Urayja located on the right bank of Wadi Hanifa in southwestern Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.[1] It is one of the city's 'residential districts' and is relatively overpopulated in terms of the standards of Riyadh.
As of 2005, more than 500,000 people lived in the area.[2] As of that year, many middle-income Saudis lived in Al-Suwaidi.[3] Many people migrating from the rural areas went to Al-Suwaidi during the "oil boom" in the 1970s and early 1980s.[3] Shaker Abu Taleb and Asharq Al-Awsat of the Arab News said in 2005 that the community "was originally beyond the capital's congestion; that is, however, no longer the case."[3] Bradley said that Al-Suwaidi has a reputation "for being a bastion of strict Wahhabism" within the people living in Saudi Arabia. Bradley added that the men "hardly need incitement" to contrast their own lives with wealthy Saudi princes and foreigners.[2]
The district gained notoriety in 2003 when a 26-man list of "most wanted terrorists" published by the Saudi government contained 15 men who were said to have links with the neighbourhood.[3] [4] Shaker Abu Taleb and Asharq Al-Awsat of the Arab News said that many Saudis compared Al-Suwaidi to Fallujah, Iraq, a site of fighting during the Iraq War.[3]
Ibrahim al-Rayyes, a terrorist suspect killed in a shootout with police, lived in Al-Suwaidi. In a 2003 list of most wanted Islamic fundamentalist militants, al-Rayyes and about 14 of the 26 other suspects had either come from or lived in Al-Suwaidi. More than half of those suspects were graduates of Imam Muhammad ibn Saud Islamic University.[5]
The district and its involvement in terrorist activities have featured in multiple works, e.g.: