Terror attacks augur reform
The deadly Al-Qa'eda attacks in Riyadh may have provided the Saudi regime with the opportunity it needs to tame the powerful religious establishment and usher in a period of social and political reforms, reports John R Bradley* from Jeddah
The United States, Britain and Germany shut down their embassies in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday following warnings that more deadly attacks similar to the one that shook Riyadh last week were expected. Saudi authorities in Jeddah meanwhile arrested three more suspected members of the Al-Qa'eda cell believed to have mounted last week's deadly attacks. One of the detainees is reportedly cooperating with the police.
The Monday arrests come two days after authorities arrested four suspected Al-Qa'eda members, and announced that the bodies of five of the suicide attackers had been identified. No names were released, but the Interior Ministry said the arrested men, and three of the five identified suicide bombers, were among 19 suspected Al-Qa'eda members who escaped arrest on 6 May when their hideout was raided by security forces.
One of the three housing compounds where 25 residents, most of them foreign, were killed was located just yards from the hideout, raising questions about the effectiveness of the Saudi forces who were hunting them down. The Saudi attackers identified were believed to have been targeting Interior Minister Prince Naif and his brother Defence Minister Prince Sultan -- two of the four most powerful members of the Al-Saud ruling family -- when their attackers' headquarters was raided earlier this month. US officials have said they believe that the cell had sympathisers in the security apparatus and that Al-Qa'eda has moles in all the Saudi armed forces apart from the air force.
After the bombings, Saudi Arabia's de facto leader used the language of Islam to damn the suicide attackers. Crown Prince Abdullah said the terrorists were monsters who would "suffer the wrath of God in hell" as he tried to counter the radicals' religious justification for the attacks posted on Web sites and circulated by e-mail. He quoted the Prophet Mohamed as saying, "he who kills a person with whom he has a disagreement will not even smell the scent of paradise."
Referring to the fact that there were Muslim victims in the attacks, the crown prince said the Qur'an totally forbids the killing of a fellow believer. The pro-government Saudi newspapers added to the chorus of condemnation. "There is no place here for terrorism, and swift punishment must be the response," read the front-page headline of the Jeddah-based Al-Madinah.
More than 60 FBI and other US investigators are assisting with the probe into the attacks, but it is still unclear how large a role they will be permitted to play. US officials complained of being denied access to evidence, witnesses and suspects after the 1996 truck bombing of the Khobar Towers dormitory that killed 19 US military personnel. Prince Naif was quoted in Al-Riyadh newspaper yesterday as saying that the US team was in Saudi Arabia to "observe", but in no way "participate", in the investigation.
At a news conference in Riyadh, he again described a limited role for the Americans, saying they had come to examine "the sites, and we welcomed them based on that, for examining only". But those comments were immediately contradicted by Foreign Policy Adviser Adel Al-Jubair, who said on American television that the US investigators were in Saudi Arabia "to help" in the investigation and spoke of a "partnership" between the US and Saudi teams.
On Monday, a US official similarly dismissed concerns reported in the US media that Saudi authorities would not fully cooperate with a team of 66 FBI and CIA agents who arrived last week to help with the investigation. "We have real and good cooperation," he said. "The team is in close touch with the Saudis, has full access to the sites, and the logistics have been taken care of. The Saudis are asking what else they can do... they are being real partners in this."
As during the US-led war on Iraq -- when Saudi officials denied that they were taking part in the campaign but allowed it to be coordinated from Prince Sultan Air Base 50 miles south of Riyadh -- there appears to be one message from the Saudi and US governments for the Saudi domestic constituency, and another for the international media.
Analysts agree that the devastating Al-Qa'eda attack may give the Saudi royal family the justification it needs to take on the powerful Wahabi religious establishment, which it has appeased for 70 years. Certainly one possible positive consequence of the Riyadh attacks will be that the Saudi royal family, if it is serious about marginalising extremists who have damaged its international standing, now has the support of many more Saudis appalled by the Tuesday night carnage.
But there is still a fear that the kingdom's young generation, disillusioned by decades under an oligarchy and with little of Saudi Arabia's oil wealth trickling down to them, may yet sympathise with the Islamists.
After the bombings, King Fahd gave the clearest sign yet from the Al-Saud ruling family that a period of radical reforms is to be ushered in.
In a landmark address read out on the ailing king's behalf to the appointed Shura Council on Saturday, the king promised to expand the scope of popular participation and open more areas for women's employment, declaring that Saudi Arabia "cannot stand still while the world changes".
The speech is highly significant because it comes from within the Al-Sadiri section of the ruling family, which includes full brothers of King Fahd, such as Prince Sultan and Prince Naif -- all historically seen as being against change. Previously, reformist statements had been issued only from de facto ruler Crown Prince Abdullah -- who is a half-brother of the king -- and his chief ally, Foreign Minister Prince Saud Al-Faisal.
The reformist intellectuals who petitioned Prince Abdullah earlier this year said at the time that they feared that anti-Western sentiment stemming from the war on Iraq and America's continued support for Israel would stall the reform process.
Their petition called for elections, an end to corruption, the right to free speech, the monitoring of public spending and a radical overhaul of an education system heavily criticised since 11 September 2001, for promoting hatred of the "kaffir", or infidel.
The question is whether Prince Abdullah and his chief ally, Saud Al-Faisal, the foreign minister, have enough support among their fellow rulers to carry through his bold reform initiative. After the Riyadh attacks, he presumably can count on more support than he could have done before them.
* The writer is the managing editor of the Jeddah-based Arab News.
Al-Ahram Weekly Online : 22 - 28 May 2003 (Issue No. 639)
Located at: http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2003/639/re3.htm