This is from a Telegraph editorial today on the British Airways decision to halt flights to Saudi Arabia:
--The recent release of British nationals, who say they were tortured into confessing bomb attacks in the kingdom, has highlighted the fact that the Saudi authorities still have not confronted the threat posed by al-Qa'eda. Their attitude is at best ambiguous, at worst duplicitous.
In America and elsewhere, evidence is accumulating that Saudi charitable foundations are still the main source of funds for Islamist terrorism. How much the Saudi regime knew in advance about the attacks of September 11 is still unclear, but the fact that they were ordered and carried out by Saudi terrorists speaks for itself.
Incitement to jihad against the Anglo-American infidel is the staple of many Wahhabi controlled mosques and schools, whose influence is powerful throughout the Islamic world.
The House of Saud itself is implicated in some of these hostile activities, and appears to be in denial about the threat of its own overthrow. Mass arrests and executions of terrorists are only the public face of Saudi policy towards al-Qa'eda; privately, the emphasis has been on appeasement.
Under these circumstances, Britain and America would be wise to prepare for the possibility of regime change in Saudi Arabia. The Foreign Office and the State Department have a vested interest in preserving the House of Saud, despite the many odious aspects of its rule.
There is, however, a real danger that the royal family's traditionally pro-Western stance may obscure the hollowing-out of the Saudi regime by Islamist elements. A hollowed-out Saudi Arabia could become the vehicle for Osama bin Laden's dream to restore the Caliphate, claiming jurisdiction over Muslims from Bethlehem to Bali.
telegraph.co.uk |
