My new best friend for the day Keith Mitchell also alerted me to this Washington Times story (see the original here):

Abdullah sees elected leaders within 15 years

By Nicholas Kralev

THE WASHINGTON TIMES



August 19, 2005

Saudi King Abdullah promised Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice a series of reforms that could give the desert kingdom an elected government within 10 to 15 years, says a senior U.S. official who was present when the two met in June.

"He professed to transform his country and talked about having a representative government within a decade or a decade and a half," said the official, who asked not to be named.

The 82-year-old king made the pledge during a June 20 visit by Miss Rice to the capital, Riyadh, when he was still crown prince and the kingdom's de facto ruler.

It is thought to be the first time a Saudi ruler has attached a timeline to moving toward a democratic process.

The Saudi Embassy in Washington did not respond to attempts to verify the U.S. official's account.

King Abdullah took over one of the world's few remaining absolute monarchies after his brother, King Fahd, who suffered a debilitating stroke a decade ago, died on Aug. 1 . . .

In Blueprint for Action's "Afterword: Blogging the Future," I blog a series of stories at various depths into the the future (by 2010, by 2015, by 2020, and by 2025). In the "by 2020" group, I have the following imaginary headline from the future: "National Elections Complete Transition of Saudi Monarchy to Constitutional Status." 2020 is 15 years away.

Does it happen? Well, it matters if the new king there thinks it's going to happen.

But I must say, I wasn't expecting even that conditional data point to come out of the House of Saud even before BFA hit the streets!

Funny thing was, I was nervous about including that one, thinking people would laugh it off. Some still will, of course, because the proof will be in the pudding, as they say. Still, the glass looks half fuller with such statements of intent and hope.