The Saudi dailies are reporting on the arrests by security authorities on Wednesday [See Saudis Foil Terrorist Attacks]. The Arab News points out that enhanced cooperation by religious personnel played a role in identifying ‘deviants’. There are still no details about the financiers who were arrested, so we don’t know if these are big fish or little fish. It is interesting to see that those involved in the online terror propaganda effort were also involved in getting Saudis into Iraq.

Kingdom Arrests 208 Militants, Terror Financiers
P.K. Abdul Ghafour, Arab News

JEDDAH, 29 November 2007 — Saudi authorities yesterday announced the arrest of 208 terror suspects, including 32 terror financiers and a 16-member media cell, adding that some of the suspects had planned to attack oil installations in the Eastern Province.

Maj. Gen. Mansour Al-Turki, spokesman for the Interior Ministry, said the arrests took place following pre-emptive operations carried out by security forces over the last few months. He said the suspects had been influenced by a deviant ideology.

“Security forces foiled an impending attack on a support oil facility in the Eastern Province,” the spokesman said, adding that an eight-member cell led by an expatriate man was behind the plan.

… “There was a 22-member cell which formed a special team to assassinate Islamic scholars and security officers,” Al-Turki said. The assassination move came after imams and khateebs across the country joined the fight against terrorism and extremism. “As many as 112 suspects were arrested for coordinating with foreign parties to facilitate the travel of militants to disturbed regions,” he said in reference to those that convince Saudis to travel to Iraq in order to fight alongside insurgents.

Al-Turki said the arrested terror financiers included Saudis as well as expatriates, adding that they had provided financial support to Al-Qaeda militants in the Kingdom and abroad.

Speaking about the media cell that was operating in Madinah to promote deviant ideologies and thoughts, he said the cell had provided militants every encouragement to commit various crimes. The media cell published a news bulletin named Sada Al-Rafidain (Echo of Iraq) and facilitated the travel of militants to the war-torn country.
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Saudi Gazette runs a story with essentially the same details: Terror cells Busted

Here’s a peculiar piece from #AN, about ‘magical items’ being found in graves near the northwestern city of Yanbu, the site of one of the Kingdom’s major oil facilities.

Vice Cops Unearth Magical Objects Hidden in Graves
Muhammad Al-Homaid, Arab News

YANBU, 29 November 2007 — The Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice discovered 23 black magic works buried in two graves in Al-Aqeefa district of Yanbu. A citizen had alerted the commission on the location of the black magic tokens and they were successfully pulled out of the graves.

Ibrahim Al-Jabbari, the local director of the commission, said the removed items had been placed around the heads and legs of the corpses. Among the items were knives and pieces of paper where magical spells were written.
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Arab News reports on the case of two religious policemen accused of causing the death of a man when they broke into his house on suspicion that he was involved in alcohol and drugs trafficking. The Riyadh court found insufficient evidence for a conviction and the two were released from jail. The case is being appealed to the Court of Cassation. The article reprints a statement from the court on why they found the evidence insufficient. Their reasoning is sure to baffle any fan of ‘Law and Order’; we’re certainly not in Kansas….

Court Clears Two Commission Members of Wrongdoing
Raid Qusti, Arab News

RIYADH, 29 November 2007 — The judges in the case of two members of the Commission for Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice who were accused of causing the death of Salman Al-Huraisi following a raid of his house in May dismissed the charges yesterday in the Riyadh High Court.

The court in Riyadh “acquitted the two members of the Commission of the charge of being directly responsible for the death of Al-Huraisi, for lack of sufficient evidence,” the commission’s lawyer Yussef Al-Nuqaidan said.
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Dr. Anthony H. Cordesman, Arleigh Burke Chair in Strategy at the Center for Strategic and International Studies and is Co-Director of the Center’s Middle East Program, is one of the best analysts of the Gulf region, in my estimation. Below is the address he delivered to the National Council on US-Arab Relations (NCUSAR) last month in Washington, DC.

He accompanied his speech with a slide presentation (link below) that spells out the specifics of the issues he addressed. I suggest you look at those. Perhaps you could even use the audio link to his presentation while you view the slides.

Revisiting Arab-US Strategic Relations: Security Cooperation in the Middle East
Anthony Cordesman

ANTHONY H. CORDESMAN: Good morning ladies and gentlemen. As General Nash mentioned, they have suddenly cut my presentation from six hours to 12 minutes. (Laughter.) And I am going to race through a set of slides. They will be on the web [52-page PDF document]. But one of the key points here when we talk about security cooperation in the Middle East is, it is extraordinarily complex; it is extraordinarily diverse; it is not a matter of dealing with the region. It is a matter of dealing with subregions in countries. It is occurring at a time when we are making fundamental shifts away from a focus on conventional forces and conventional conflicts to issues like counterterrorism, counterinsurgency, and asymmetric warfare, where not only the United States, but its friends and allies, have to make major changes in the way they organize and plan their security forces.

And let me stress that one phrase; this is not a matter of cooperation anymore with armies, navies, and air forces. It is a matter of cooperation which must extend to the security services, to the groups which deal with counterterrorism. And it must include, at least at some level, elements of the police. Without that integration, you do not have forces training and equipping to deal with the reality of what they face. And there is no clear line between counterterrorism, counterinsurgency, asymmetric warfare, and conventional warfare. We all try to categorize that, we all try to find definitions which somehow separate them.

They have, in practice, neither a meaning in terms of probability or operations. And what I have listed in these three slides on the changing strategic environment is simply a listing of those factors. To this, I would add one other dimension. We face a level of ideological division and tension within Islam and the Arab world, which has to be reflected in the way we look at security cooperation. It acts out in terms of the risk of terrorism, insurgency, ideological struggles linked to force throughout the region.

It also acts out in terms of U.S. relations with states in the region. We have to be extraordinarily sensitive to what this really does in terms of the armies, security forces, and motivations in the region and their perceptions of the United States. And security cooperation is not something where we somehow take the initiative. To work, it has to be partnership, particularly in the areas of counterterrorism and counterinsurgency.

… But I would make the point to all of you, consider, for a moment, what a weak Israel armed with nuclear weapons without U.S. support would be. Would this be more stabilizing? And consider, too, what you have seen about Syria over the last 10 days. I don’t think anyone today is going to argue; there was a serious effort to create a nuclear program and that program has now failed.

When we talk about the southern Gulf, we face a very different situation. We have strong southern-Gulf friends and allies. We have Iran with very large military forces, uncertainty in the future of Iraq and Yemen. There is the risk of a whole spectrum of conflicts directly involving the vital strategic interests of the United States. The issue is oil. No one should have any illusions about that. It is also political ties, historical ties. And those figures do become far more favorable when you look at anything other than manpower.

Our allies can bring, potentially immense military assets to the problem of securing this region if we can improve the quality of cooperation. That’s true of armor, of aircraft, but above all, look at the economic resources involved. The fact is, when you look at Syria, which to some extent at least is a question mark, Syria’s economic power is negligible compared to that of its neighbors. When you look at the southern Gulf relative to Iran, you get an idea – that is the tall bar there relative to the blue bar – of just how much we could draw on with the proper levels of cooperation. And when we look at military spending in the southern Gulf, it is approaching $40 billion a year and will exceed it in 2007. And Iran is expending at a level of less than $7 billion.
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Mark Katz, professor of Government and Politics at George Mason University in Virginia, has an interesting essay at Middle East Times. He notes that while the various tribes have lost much of the influence as Gulf States develop stronger central governments, they still have a role to play in daily life. He thinks that they embrace modernity only to the extent that they see tribal benefit. Definitely worth reading if you’ve an interest in the micro-politics of the region.

Arabian tribes in the 21st century
Mark Katz

There has long been in the West a highly romantic view of the tribes of the Arabian Peninsula. This view has been fostered by numerous 19th and 20th century books authored primarily by well-connected British political agents, soldiers, and travelers, as well as by David Lean’s 1962 Academy Award-winning movie, “Lawrence of Arabia.”

Many of these individuals deplored the arrival of modernity in the West and idealized the pre-modern lifestyle of the tribesman (who was portrayed as a natural-born warrior) and the tribal sheik (who was portrayed not just as a warrior, but also as an inspiring leader and wily negotiator).

Contributing to this romance was the fact that these books (including T. E. Lawrence’s) were written about a time when Arabian Peninsula governments were relatively weak and poor and when tribal sheiks enjoyed a great deal of autonomy. Finally, there was a geopolitical aspect to this romance: if an outside power could somehow rally the tribes (as T.E. Lawrence did), great benefit would accrue both to the country and to its agents who accomplished this (if not to the tribes themselves).
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International media are, of course, reporting on the Middle East Peace Talks held in Annapolis yesterday. Some observers expected little and found it. Others more optimistically saw the conference as marking an important step. Most noted that the presence of Saudi Arabia and the Arab League—’prospective midwives’—as a major change in what had gone before.

My personal views are closest to those expressed by David Ignatius in the first linked article below.

The Washington Post: How Annapolis Helps

Gathering Israelis and Arabs May Have Been the Real Feat

An Opening in Annapolis

Mideast Talks Yield Promises To Press On

The New York Times: Israel and Palestinians Set Goal of a Treaty in 2008

Financial Times: Leaders set target for Mideast peace deal

Economist: Not-so-great expectations

London The Times: Peace talks set one-year deadline for an end to Israel-Palestine conflict

Asharq Alawsat: Annapolis and the Dream of a Palestinian State

The Annapolis Summit Has Already Affected the Arab World

Middle East Times: Israelis, Palestinians to push for peace

Headlines from the Arab press

Qatar’s The Peninsula: Peace hopes rise

United Arab Emirates’ Khaleej Times: Ground realities

Gulf News: Reaction to the Annapolis peace talks announcement

Reuters is running this story (here from The Washington Post‘s online version) about Saudi security forces’ stopping attacks on an oil facility and assassinations of clerics and security personnel. No other details yet, but I’ll watch for them.

Saudi holds over 200 militants, foils oil attack
Andrew Hammond and Inal Ersan

RIYADH (Reuters) – Saudi Arabia said on Wednesday it had arrested 208 people for involvement in several cells planning attacks on an oil installation as well as clerics and security forces.

The state television said one of the cells was planning to smuggle missiles into the country, which has faced a campaign by al Qaeda sympathizers since 2003 against the U.S.-allied monarchy.

A cell of eight militants led by a foreigners planned an attack on an oil facility in the Eastern Province, home to key oil installation in the world’s largest oil exporting nation.

The report, citing an Interior Ministry statement, said 18 of those arrested belonged to a cell led by an “expert in launching missiles” who had infiltrated into the country.

Another 22 were part of a group that plotted to assassinate clerics and security forces, it said.

It also said the arrests included a “media cell” of 16 in Medina which aimed to promote “takfiri” ideology — the idea that supports violence against Muslims branded as infidels and apostates.

UPDATE: :

The BBC adds a few more details in its ‘Breaking News’ announcement.

The Associated Press runs this more detailed report: Saudis: 208 Arrested in Different Plots

The maltreatment of third-world laborers in Saudi Arabia is notorious. Part of that is due to the fact that individuals contract for their workers. With literally millions of employers, it’s next to impossible to keep track of how well or how badly they treat their employees. Now, reporters Arab News, the government is looking to create a limited number of private companies that will be responsible for obtaining foreign workers. Saudis wishing to employ someone would have to go through these agencies exclusively.

While there’s certainly room for mischief in this arrangement, it does make monitoring easier.

The article, an interview with the head of the Saudi Human Rights Commission, goes on to other topic, including religious freedom. Turki Al-Sudairi says that there’s simply no place in Saudi Arabia for foreign churches or temples. Because of its unique status as the birthplace of Islam and the presence of the Two Holy Places, he argues, Islam must be the only public religion. He states that non-Muslims are free to practice their faiths privately, in their homes, but must avoid ‘instigating’ [inflaming?] the feelings of Muslims. I’ve already pointed out that there is room to compromise here, if a compromise is desired. It’s clear that Al-Sudairi isn’t interested.

HRC: Kingdom to Change Sponsorship Law Soon
Raid Qusti, Arab News

RIYADH, 28 November 2007 — Saudi authorities are currently looking into ways of changing the Kingdom’s sponsorship law, which would see private companies being given sponsorship rights in place of individual citizens, said Saudi Arabia’s governmental Human Rights Commission (HRC).

“There is an initiative to begin studies (into a system) where private companies will import foreign labor… Communication, hence, would be between citizens, who are in need of foreign labor, and these private companies,” HRC President Turki Al-Sudairi said in an interview with Arab News, the first ever by a Saudi daily.

Al-Sudairi said he supports the change in law, which would bring an end to the existence of sponsors. “I support it. I think it would be better and easier for laborers and for the country,” he said.
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Arab News runs two brief news items showing very different attitudes toward money in Saudi Arabia. Interesting.

Sidelights: ‘AAA-1111’ for SR6.45 Million

RIYADH, 28 November 2007 — If you are driving around the capital and happen to see a car with plate number AAA-1111, take a picture because it is one of those rare license plates that are actually worth more than the car itself. AAA-1111 was snatched up by an anonymous buyer for a whopping SR6.45 million ($1.73 million) yesterday at an auction for the Kingdom’s redesigned car license plates, the daily Al-Watan reported yesterday.
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Dowry of Coins Worth SR200

MAKKAH, 28 November 2007 — A father revealed an astonishing fact to guests attending his daughter’s wedding. He told the guests that he asked for only three Saudi silver coins worth about SR66 each, or about SR200, in total for his daughter’s dowry, the Al-Madinah daily reported yesterday. Cases of exuberant dowry demands have been widely reported in the local media; often running into hundreds of thousands of riyals, many young men are often forced to postpone getting married. Occasionally, reports are published about the opposite: Fathers who ask for humble dowries realizing that newlyweds need the money to start their lives. But this is perhaps the first time a father has asked for collector’s coins that aren’t worth very much.
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Nothing much, according to this Arab News article reporting on a discussion between American educators and women at Jeddah’s Effat College. As part of a cultural exchange program—the most useful kind—a group of American middle and secondary school teachers were invited to visit Saudi Arabia. They were introduced to the complexity of a society that is trying to identify and keep its important values while adapting to a rapidly changing world. Interesting piece.

‘We’ve the Same Dreams as Women Everywhere’
Hassna’a Mokhtar, Arab News

JEDDAH, 28 November 2007 — Women driving, the hijab, education, Islam and other cultural and religious matters were part of an animated discussion between a group of 25 American educators and Saudi women yesterday at Effat College.

“We want the world to know that we’re not terrorists,” said Maha Juffali, director and supervising trustee of Help Center, a philanthropic non-profit organization dedicated to the welfare of children with mental disabilities. “Women are the same everywhere. We have the same dreams and aspirations for the future.”

Saudi Aramco hosted the group of teachers, specialists and directors from various educational institutions in the US, such as Lansing High School, Western International High School, Rhodes Junior High School and Institute of International Education to name a few. Filled with curiosity, they stated their interest in knowing more about Saudi Arabia to uncover the reality behind many misconceptions and learn about women’s role in Saudi society.

When asked if Saudi Arabia is capable of advancing without being too westernized, Maha Akeel, managing editor of The Journal (issued by the Organization of the Islamic Conference) and a regular Arab News contributor, said: “There’s not a real clash of civilization between development and the Islamic Shariah. It’s all about finding balance without losing your identity. It’s so easy to keep an open mind yet still preserve one’s religious beliefs.”
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I’m pulling together what we know—and what we don’t know—about the case of ‘Qatif Girl’, the young Saudi woman from the city of Qatif in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia, who was gang-raped after she and her male companion were dragged out of a car. The woman did not report her rape until four months after it happened. This delay appears to have suggested to the judges that something was wrong with the allegations. The exact circumstances of the attack are still muddied, with conflicting details being offered by different parties. [UPDATE: It's important to note that the men alleged to have raped the woman and her companion were never actually charged with rape. Because charges were brought against them so late, neither the court nor the woman's attorney thought that a case of rape could be proved. The men were found guilty of some sort of bad behavior, but not exactly rape.]

The incident came to public attention in Saudi Arabia in the summer of 2006. By mid-November, it was in the Saudi media, being portrayed as an abuse of judicial power. Details as first reported (and still) have been contradictory and unclear. The rapists were sentenced to periods of one to five years imprisonment and 80-1,000 lashes. Both victims were sentenced to 90 lashes for the religious crime of being together in a secluded situation. Unrelated Saudi men and women are not permitted to be alone in each other’s company. There is an assumption that they will be committing immoral acts.

Associated Press correspondent Donna Abu-Nasr filed the first report on this story to make it into the Western media. She reported that the verdict handed down in the case had shocked Saudi society. She noted, too, that many Saudis felt that the current legal system left too many things to the personal whims of judges and that Saudi law needed to be codified.

Partially in response to this case, the Saudi government established the first rape clinic to help women deal with rapes. As much as it offends Saudi self-image, rapes do happen, committed by Saudis upon Saudis. Dealing with the issue as a forensic, legal matter rather than a socio-religious affront, could help victims. If nothing else, it could help society understand that rape is a crime, not just a sin, and that the victims do not deserve social opprobrium.

Also in response to the verdicts, ‘Qatif Girl’ sought to appeal the sentences handed down to her rapists. The Saudi Supreme Judicial Council agreed that the case should be re-opened.

» Continue Reading

Asharq Alawsat runs an interview with Egyptian Islamist Osama Ayyub to talk about revision in the concept of jihad now being undertaken by members of Islamic Jihad, now jailed in Egypt. What is discussed, primarily materials from a new book, pulls back considerably from the behavior demonstrated by Muslim extremists, from Afghanistan to the US. Ayyub expects Al-Qaeda to respond favorably to this pulling-back from total war. Definitely worth reading the full interview.

Jailed Islamists Revise Jihad Concept
Mohammed Al Shafey

London, Asharq Al-Awsat- Egyptian Islamist Osama Ayyub, a political refugee in Germany and head of the Islamic Center in Munster, which advocates the Islamic Jihad ideology, has revealed to Asharq Al-Awsat that there have been a number of attempts to carry out [ideological] revisions by Islamic Jihad leaders in Egyptian prisons.

He said that these attempts preceded the release of “The Rationalization of Jihad in Egypt and the World Today,” which is a book written by Dr Fadl, who is also known as Sayyid Imam Abdulaziz al-Sharif.

Dr Fadl is the founder of the Egyptian Islamic Jihad group and is Ayman al-Zawahiri’s first mentor.

Ayyub was born in 1966. He belongs to the Bani-Suwayf group and is the former religious head of Bayt al-Ansar in Peshawar. He described Islamic Jihad revision as “a turning point on the road toward ideological revision, which the Islamic movement is pursuing today.” The revision document, which Al-Misri Al-Yawm is publishing, and of which Asharq Al-Awsat received a copy of its first part, stresses that “the performance of jihad for the sake of God has included several Islamic Shariaa violations, foremost among which is the killing of people on the basis of nationality, color of skin and hair, and sect.” The document says that “these violations lead to nothing but God’s resentment and indignation.” It adds that “when a Muslim sets a goal for himself that exceeds his ability or that does not suit his situation then it is impermissible in Islam to use any illicit means to achieve this goal even if the goal itself is legitimate.”

The following is the text of the interview with Osama Ayyub over the Internet:
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