Interesting piece from the Arabic daily Al-Watan, translated by Arab News.
The writer is lamenting that every time he goes to the airport, there are fewer bookshelves and more display space for candy bars. Worse, he says, the books are really stupid or really dangerous. Whether it’s a vast array of self-help books or conspiracy theories, or worse examples of the ideology used to justify Al-Qaeda, he doesn’t like what he sees and fears for the future.
A Culture of Legends, Myths and Conspiracies
Ali Al-Mousa • Al-WatanAt our international airport, the small booth for selling books was transformed into a booth to sell confectionary, except for one shelf where some books still stood. This is a story telling us the horrible situation of our education system. There is no problem in changing the bookstore into a candy store. Who is going to continue selling goods that have no customers?
Minute details at airports influence the first impressions of people visiting the Kingdom. They will see flabby figures and obese physiques and then turn right to see a queue of people lining up to buy chocolate from the candy store. The worst thing about obesity is that fat is not usually equally distributed in a person’s body. Fat bloats the human body from neck to toe leaving the brain smaller and shallower. If the brain was to grow big then one would have grown addicted to reading.
…With every new flight, a new bookshelf disappears, which is soon replaced with a new brand of candy. I believe the last standing shelf will also soon disappear. It is the new culture of munching. Yesterday night I tried to kill some time by reading. I started looking through the last shelf at the candy store and this is what I saw. The shelf contained books relating to legends, myths and conspiracies. Titles included: The Legitimacy of Witchcraft and Sorcerers, Natural Herbal Remedies, There’s a Giant in Our House, Your Spiritual Life Without a Doctor, One Hundred Questions About Marital Life and the list goes on.
…I continued to flip through the books. The book titles on the airport bookstore shelf show that although we are fighting Al-Qaeda in a raging war, we are still allowing its stream of thought to be available to passengers and travelers.
Who is responsible for the sale of these types of books? It is a culture that has been programmed to forcefully influence all individuals and their way of thinking with one concept. Anything that negates this concept is forbidden and prohibited. I express my gratitude to the culture of legends, myths and conspiracies!
Arab News runs a follow-up piece on the arrests announced yesterday. It quotes the Grand Mufti and the Secretary General of the Muslim World League in their condemnation, as well as the comments of the Minister of Interior. An intriguing quote concerns the discovery of new channels for terrorist fund raising: the Saudi stock market. Interesting reading.
We Aren’t Done With the Terrorists Yet, Prince Naif Says
Samir Al-Saadi & P.K. Abdul Ghafour, Arab NewsJEDDAH, 29 April 2007 — Interior Minister Prince Naif said in comments published yesterday that Saudi Arabia would continue its campaign to root out terrorists in the country. He commended the security forces for their efforts to arrest 172 suspected militants belonging to seven terror cells across the country.
“We cannot say that we are done with these deviants,†Prince Naif told Al-Riyadh Arabic daily. “But efforts will continue. The eyes…are wide open and efforts are under way to cleanse our country of every evil,†he said about the Kingdom’s campaign against Al-Qaeda militants.
…Regarding the new methods of raising funds that have been devised by militants, Al-Bader said that after the government banned random charity work, militants started persuading people to invest in bogus companies.
The Kingdom is home to many unconventional forms of investment such as investing in real estate in the form of unconventional stocks.
The Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) has this piece online, though it’s datelined for April 30.
It reports on differing opinions within the KSA, as reported in the Saudi media, on the effectiveness and fairness of the current program by which the Saudi government counsels—and pays—extremists to renounce their ways. While media stories have noted an ’80% success rate’, some critics see the providing of financial incentives as unfair to ‘good Saudis’ who struggle to obtain what is being given to those who renounce extremism. Interesting reading.
Saudi Arabia Gives Extremists Financial Incentives to Renounce Their Views
s part of its fight against terrorism, the Saudi Interior Ministry has been operating an ideological counseling program for security prisoners in the Saudi jails aimed at encouraging them to renounce their extremist beliefs. The program, which has been running for several years, is implemented by a counseling committee composed of ulema, psychiatrists and psychologists who hold counseling sessions with the prisoners and gives them lessons in Islam. When the counselors become convinced that a prisoner is reformed, they recommend his release from jail. [1]
It has recently been reported that, in addition to counseling, prisoners receive financial incentives to renounce their extremist views.
The following are details…
Asharq Alawsat runs a brief follow-up to yesterday’s reports on the capture of 172 presumed terrorists. The piece notes that at least two leaders of cells, both Saudis, were among those arrested. The government is also acknowledging that there are more extremists out there and that society should not put down its guard.
Saudi says Qaeda threat not over despite arrests
RIYADH, (Agencies) – The arrest of 172 suspected militants did not end the al Qaeda-linked threat in Saudi Arabia, the interior minister was quoted as saying on Saturday, vowing to maintain a crack down on the group.
Prince Nayef also told the Arabic-language al-Riyadh daily that a Saudi man was being held on suspicion of leading one of the seven cells which had been smashed, foiling a plot to attack oil facilities and military bases. “We cannot say that we are finished from these deviants,” said Prince Nayef. “But efforts will continue. The eyes … are wide open and efforts are under way to purify our country from every evil,” he added.
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The Washington Post‘s online edition carries pieces from the Associated Press and Reuters, each with their own analysis. AP’s piece focuses on the planned use of aircraft as ‘car bombs’ in attacks, though there is no information about what was being targeted. Saudi Militant Plot Mirrored Sept. 11
Andrew Hammond, Reuters’ Gulf correspondent, looks more at the organization of the groups that were taken down. He cites a Norwegian anti-terror expert as saying that the arrests announced had actually taken place over nine months. This, it is suggested, means that the Saudi government is taking a different tack in its public diplomacy efforts as it works to solicit public support for itself and to create more distance between the extremists and Saudi society. Saudi says Qaeda threat not over despite arrests
The New York Times has a good piece by Michael Slackman, reporting from Riyadh. His report (Saudis Round Up 172, Citing Plot Against Oil Rigs ) rehashes the facts, but also adds an interview with a retired Saudi judge, a moderate Islamsist, who says that terrorism is ‘leaking out of Iraq’ and states that ‘this is the new Al-Qaeda’, without formal organization, but joined in an ideology.
The Saudi Embassy in Washington, DC runs this official statement: Saudi security forces foil major terrorist plots
Martin Indyk, former Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs and twice US Ambassador to Israel, has this piece which will appear in tomorrow’s ‘Outlook’ section of The Washington Post.
The article clearly states that Saudi Arabia has its own concerns and its own approaches to the variety of issues roiling the Middle East now. It is not—and actually never has been—a puppet of the US. When its interests coincided with American interests, the two countries have found that they could work together. On some of the current issues, the overlap of interests is limited.
The article makes rather too much of a supposed difference in policy between former Saudi Ambassador to the US, Pr. Bandar bin Sultan and the King, I believe. As Bandar is now King Abdullah’s National Security Advisor, he is simply not going to go far beyond the official policies outlined by the King and Foreign Minister Saud Al-Faisal. He can be replaced at the click of a pen. And while he is the son of Defense Minister Pr. Sultan and therefore a scion of the ‘Sudairi’ faction, he is not running the show. I sincerely doubt that he has been trying to run his own foreign policy.
In any event, this op-ed is certainly worth reading.
The Honeymoon’s Over for Bush and the Saudis
Martin IndykWhat has happened to the love affair between Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah and President Bush? Two years ago, down on the Texas ranch, they were photographed walking hand in hand. It was the beginning of a beautiful relationship: Bush dropped his demand for democratization in the puritanical kingdom, and Abdullah did his best to moderate oil prices. The dowry was a new U.S. arms deal for the Saudis. A second honeymoon was scheduled for this month, when Bush planned to host Abdullah for his first state visit.
…Abdullah agrees with Bandar that their main challenge is the Iranian/Shiite threat to Sunni dominance of the Arab world. But where Bandar wants to confront Iran’s Arab proxies, Abdullah seeks to wean them off their dependence on Tehran. That dictates engagement, however distasteful, with Hamas in Gaza and Assad in Damascus. It also requires distancing Saudi Arabia from Bush’s ill-fated Iraq adventure, which in Abdullah’s view is only strengthening a pro-Iranian Shiite government at Sunni Arab expense.
If Bush wants to rekindle the U.S.-Saudi love affair, he needs to deal with the Saudi leader we have, not the one we’d like.
That needn’t mean total despair on the Arab-Israeli front. Peace with Israel is essential to Abdullah’s anti-Iranian game plan because Tehran exploits the conflict to build its influence in the Arab world. But the Saudi king is not going to get into bed with Israel for a mere photo op. Abdullah will be ready to go to Washington — and, eventually, perhaps even to Jerusalem — when Bush, Rice and Olmert signal that they will accept his terms for a comprehensive Arab-Israeli settlement.
His opening price is Bush’s accommodation of Hamas and Syria as players in the peace process, and he’ll settle in the end for Israel’s withdrawal from the Golan Heights and the West Bank. If Bush wants that second honeymoon with Abdullah, he is going to have to renegotiate the terms of endearment.
The subscription-based analysis provided by Economist newspaper takes a look at the recent arrests and compares them to the thwarted 2006 attack on the oil facilities at Abqaiq. Following a recent visit to Abqaiq, the reporter notes that that attack was stopped only after it had breached two layers of security, exposing weaknesses in the protection. He also notes that the attack demonstrated poor planning on the part of the attackers.
The report states that yesterday’s arrests, even though successful, drove up the price of oil by $1.00 due to general concerns about oil supplies. As Saudi Arabia is the only oil-producing country with surplus capacity, anything that threatens their production threatens global oil supplies. The Saudi oil production and shipping facilities are so vast, however, that any feasible attack would have only temporary effect.
Saudi Arabia politics: Foiled again
Asharq Alawsat runs a lengthy piece on new gun laws being introduced in Saudi Arabia to tighten the somewhat lax laws that preceded them. Not so long ago, any Saudi who wanted a gun (at least any Saudi male) could simply buy one. As a result, most non-urban Saudis and many in the cities, had, owned, and carried guns.
The new laws set minimum age requirements for both gun ownership and permits for shooting at organized clubs. It establishes bonds for those selling guns as well as setting up regulations on gun repair and importation.
The laws identify ‘gun free’ zones including mosques, schools, government buildings, airports, and interestingly, ‘public and private celebrations’. I take the latter to include things like weddings, where celebratory gunfire is often a feature.
The laws, importantly, establish penalties including fines and jail terms for various violations. Among these is a mandatory 30-year jail term and a fine of $80,000 for smuggling guns or using them to ‘breach internal security’.
Whether these new laws are in reaction to the existence of terrorist cells in the country, to events like the shootings at Virginia Tech and other schools around the world, both, or simply a measure to get some sort of control over guns is not clear. But with many guns available and with armed terrorists threatening both the people and the state, the government believes it needs something for its own self-defense.
Saudi Arabia Introduces New Gun Laws
Huda al SalehRiyadh, Asharq Al-Awsat- The Saudi Ministry of Interior has doubled the duration of licenses to own or carry a weapon to ten years [for individuals] and to five years for marksmanship clubs and stores that sell weapons under a new bill for arms and ammunition.
The bill which was approved recently by the Interior Minister, Prince Naif Bin Abdulaziz, has specified that the age for practicing shooting at clubs would be set at 18 and a license to own and carry a weapon would be granted at the age of 21.
The bill that clarified the articles of the 63rd act that was published over two years ago after the approval of the Saudi cabinet in August 2005, stipulated a bank guarantee of 500,000 Saudi Riyals (SR), (US $133,000) for those wishing to trade in weapons and permitted licensing stores that sell arms.
The bill is to permit the use of military, personal, and government weapons and ammunition according to the directives. The bill also includes allowing the possibility of obtaining a license to repair personal firearms and air rifles from the Ministry of Interior.
Asharq Al Awsat obtained the details of the bill that looks at the conditions for acquiring a permit to repair personal firearms, hunting weapons, and rifles; in addition to permits for personal purchases of arms and possession and penalties.
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The Saudi papers for Saturday (available thanks to time zone differences) are all running basically the same story as this piece from Arab News. The article clarifies that the amount seized was $5.3 million, not the $32.4 million some sources had reported. It also notes that the targets for the terrorists taking flight training appear to have been within Saudi Arabia. It notes that the largest number of those arrested were Saudi citizens and gives details on the sizes of the different groups arrested.
The article states that the government has identified those arrested not only as ‘deviants’, but as ‘takfiris’. This makes it all the more clear that we are talking of Al-Qaeda spin-offs here.
The Washington Post updates its earlier reports, based on wire stories: Saudis Say They Broke Up Suicide Plots. Among the interesting additions is the statement that ‘The arrests were the product of a U.S.-Saudi operation with British assistance dating back at least nine months, according to American and Saudi officials.’
The WaPo cites Saudi sources identifying the national origins of those arrested. It also quotes a Norwegian counter-terror export who notes that Saudi anti-terror efforts are now fully professional where they had been quite poor in the past.
Arab News also offers an editorial: Editorial: Vigilance the Key. Most interestingly, the editorial calls for ‘the government and people of Saudi Arabia to take back the reins of religious and ideological discourse’ from the extremists who have hijacked them. It cautions that these groups were well funded and, reading between the lines, doesn’t exactly accept the official version about the funds being that raised from ‘dupes’ donating to charities or making investments. It concludes by warning that extremism is a cancer which, if not removed, will kill Saudi society.
Terrorist Plots Foiled
Samir Al-Saadi, Arab NewsJEDDAH, 28 April 2007 — At least 172 suspects have been arrested in various parts of the Kingdom and seven armed militant cells dismantled, the Interior Ministry announced yesterday. Some of the arrested are foreigners.
“Some (of the suspects) had begun training in the use of weapons, and some were sent abroad to study aviation in order to carry out terrorist operations inside the Kingdom,†a ministry statement said. “One of their main targets was to carry out suicide attacks against public figures and oil installations and to target military bases inside and outside (of the country).â€
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Saudi state TV announced the arrests of over 170 suspected Al-Qaeda-linked terrorists, with Al-Arabiya TV saying that they represented seven different cells. The group was clearly well-funded and well-equipped. More details as they become available.
I have updated this story as more information’s become available. As more information comes in, I will put it in a newer post. The earliest reporting I have is at the bottom of this piece, following the continuation of the State Department briefing that addresses the arrests, below the fold.
UPDATE: The Washington Post has a more comprehensive article: Saudis Arrest 172 Militants in Plot. This piece notes that the militants ‘had reached an advance stage of readiness and what remained only was to set the zero hour for their attacks,’ according to Interior Ministry spokesman Brig. Mansour al-Turki.
Italian news agency AKI reports, too, with 172 TERROR SUSPECTS ARRESTED. This piece notes:
The biggest of the alleged cells – containing 61 people – was discovered in Mecca. Their aim was reportedly to strike important public figures in Saudi Arabia as they carried out the Islamic pulgriamge to the holy city.
One of the cells, comprising five people, was linked to the group of terrorists who staged an attack on the Abqiq oil installation on 24 February 2006, while others were linked to terror cells of al-Qaeda in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Among the people arrested were names completely unknown to the police, that were not on the Saudi authorities “most wanted” list and who apparently led normal lives. The leader of al-Qaeda, Osama Bin Laden, has on several occasions called on his followers to strike oil installations in the Saudi kingdom.
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BBC is also reporting, though the amount of cash it reports seized is far more than in other reports. This story, too, notes that some of those arrested had been training abroad to fly airplanes and that oil facilities were among the targets of others.
Khaleej Times carries a report from AFP. It focuses more on threatened attacks on military facilities both inside and outside the Kingdom as well as a link to jihadists fighting in Iraq.
State Department’s daily briefing also touched on the subject of these attacks, Saudi counter-terror efforts, and US arms sales to the Kingdom:
QUESTION: Reaction to the Saudi terror sweep?
MR. CASEY: Well, we’ve seen the press accounts of this. I don’t have a lot of information to give you on it. Certainly, I’d refer you to the Saudi authorities for the specifics of this arrest, but I think this shows that the Saudis are continuing their efforts to be a good partner with us in the war on terror.
It’s important that they and other countries continue to do everything they can not only to try and deal with those who are responsible for acts of violence, but to break up those cells and break up those individuals who are intending to commit acts of violence or who, in any other way, whether through financial means or otherwise, are supporting terror networks. So we welcome the arrests by the Saudis today and certainly, again, I think it shows their strength and commitment to the war on terror.
QUESTION: Amongst these 172, some foreign nationals were mentioned. Were there any American citizens, do you know?
MR. CASEY: I don’t have any reason at this point to believe that there were any American citizens involved. Certainly, we will be checking in with Saudi authorities to verify the details of this.
I’ll admit that I have a certain animus toward lawyers; I’m not in the 18% of Americans who consider lawyers ‘trustworthy’. And that comes even with a brother and a brother-in-law who are lawyers. But I do recognize that formal legal systems and lawyers to work within those systems are critical to human freedom and development.
This Arab News story reports on the insufficiency of both a legal framework within Saudi Arabia and lawyers to work within that framework. It’s fine to say that the Quran is the country’s ‘Constitution’, but that really doesn’t resolve matters that are outside the words of that book. They must be interpreted. Currently, that interpretation is done by individual judges, each free to interpret the Sunna as best he can. As current cases have shown, that is not adequate. And while Saudi law permits the assistance of attorneys in the courtroom, that practice is not universal nor universally welcomed by judges. The result is wildly conflicting juridical decisions which, while resulting from a logical approach to the laws pertaining to a particular case, are not soundly reasoned or in accord with precedent.
This piece focuses on the establishment of family courts that will try to produce justice, not just answer compatible with the Sunna. Do read the whole thing.
Lawyer Bemoans Lack of Legal Infrastructure
K.S. Ramkumar, Arab NewsJEDDAH, 27 April 2007 — With the idea of setting up family courts in the Kingdom being studied, there is excitement in the legal community. “When family courts are established, that will be the best thing that could happen in the interest of women and children,†Nazieh A. Moussa, a lawyer at the Nazieh A. Moussa Law Firm, said yesterday.
“Family courts will be a boon. Women can look to them for protecting their rights, whether in matters of inheritance, divorce or exploitation, and children for protection against abuse. There is also the question of citizenship of children born to foreign women married to Saudis. Guardianship is another issue that such courts will deal with and is in the interest of both women and children,†he said.
Dr. Qaisar H. Metawea, Moussa’s associate in the same law firm, said the Kingdom has 1,000 lawyers and 100 law firms registered at the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry. “The number of lawyers or law firms is far less than the need but in reality there is little community awareness of how to utilize lawyers’ help, whether in business or family matters. People turn to a lawyer only when they are involved in a court case. In the developed world, you cannot even establish or register a company without the help of a lawyer,†he added.
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This article from Arab News meshes nicely with something I wrote earlier today critiquing an article in The New York Times. That article was lamenting that reforms in Saudi Arabia were stalled. I argued that rather than stalled, they were being paced slowly and deliberately, and with good reason.
Here, the young women recognize that they need experience in democratic processes before they can useful exercise democratic methods. They see these student council elections as practice for the more important municipal elections to be held again in 2009. By conducting themselves professionally and responsibly here, they negate future arguments that they might not be ‘ready’ to exercise their power later. This is an article worth reading in its entirety.
Prince Sultan University Organizes Its First Female Student Council
Sarah Abdullah, Arab NewsJEDDAH, 27 April 2007 — “We are preparing them for the future,†Wafa Al-Baz, student affairs director of Prince Sultan University’s Women’s College told Arab News, commenting on the reason behind organizing the institution’s first ever student council.
“The students themselves are trying to experience everything that they can in university and by organizing a student council we are giving them one more opportunity to do that,†she added.
According to Al-Baz, the idea of adopting a student council first arose about three years ago from a student in the male section but was not tabled until recently when a student from the women’s college again voiced the need, this time rallying fellow students in taking the initiative in coordinating with the dean to take action.
The initial guidelines for organizing the student council, finalized in December, were modeled after universities in neighboring countries and through intense administrative analyses of university student council systems in both the US and UK.
…One of the primary stipulations in the last municipal elections, in which many women wanted to participate, was the fact that government officials stated that Saudi women had no idea or training in how the election procedures were run and therefore had no place in the process thereby prohibiting women from taking part.
When asked if the establishment of the USC was an example of training that could serve in educating Saudi women to possibly participate in governmental elections in the future, Al-Rashid [the newly elected Student Council President] said, “Most definitely, I couldn’t believe how seriously the girls took the election, asking each candidate their positions on college issues and getting involved in the process. I think it was a good experience that is sure to bring positive change for the future of Saudi women,†she concluded.
Maha Al-Hujailan, a medical researcher and writer for both the English Arab News and the Arabic daily Al-Watan writes to suggest that Saudi Arabia institute telephone-based medical hotlines. These would address both general health issues and serve as poison control centers, neither of which are now present in the Kingdom. In this piece, she compares the situation in Saudi Arabia with that which she discovered during a recent visit to the US.
There’s no question that such services would play a useful role for Saudis, nor is there any doubt that the government could afford to create such services. Finding the rightly trained staff, willing to work in a 24-hour, 7-day/week operations, however, will be the sticking point.
We Need a Medical and Emergency Helpline
Maha Al-Hujailan, maha@alwatan.com.saTaking care of one’s body, mind and spirit is very important if a person wants to live life vigorously. A large group of people in our society don’t believe in maintaining their health unless there are symptoms that indicate the need for medical help. This belief is the root of all chronic diseases that develop due to negligence and become a health hazard that could have been avoided.
In most cases, women come to the hospital suffering horrible diseases they could have avoided if they had visited the doctor at the first signs of abnormality. However, the percentage of men who are not keen on visiting the hospital is much higher than women. That’s mainly because women tend to visit hospitals due to pregnancy, maternity, fertility and breast-feeding issues. They undergo certain tests or examinations so a disease or illness can be discovered by chance. As for men, they usually prefer to rely on their manhood to cure the symptoms rather than go to a physician.
…Initiating a national medical center that provides such free service would have a great impact on the country. These hotlines would be a big help to all social classes here. How many women are out there who want to visit the doctor but who lack transportation? And how many men are suffering from chronic diseases but tight work schedules prevent them from looking after their health? These hotlines are also a practical and easily applicable idea for employing Saudis. There are nurses, consultants and doctors, both male and female, who would find in this job a chance to help others. They would also find an easy way of making money.
The center could also provide a hotline dedicated to dealing with cases of poisoning so that the caller receives suitable advice for dealing with the poison whether it comes from a medicine, a snake, a scorpion, a chemical substance or skin burns. This type of hotline would save so much time, taking into account that the patient needs to be helped as soon as possible. With a hotline service available, the patient’s family or friends could provide first aid until he or she reaches the hospital to be treated medically. And there are lots of children’s poisonings that occur at home when there is no transportation available. Here’s when the phone medical consultation is urgently required.
Our country doesn’t lack the open-minded leadership or the financial resources. Therefore, I believe what could exist in developed countries ought to be available here, especially since we’re undergoing general development in all sectors.