US relations with Riyadh slide further
Brian Whitaker
Tuesday October 16, 2001
The Guardian
Rapidly souring relations between the United States and Saudi
Arabia took a further turn for the worse yesterday when the
kingdom criticised the bombing of Afghanistan.
"We wished that the US would have succeeded in forcing the
terrorists to leave Afghanistan without resorting to bombardment
because so many innocent people will be victims," the interior
minister, Prince Naif, said.
In remarks reported by the official Saudi press agency, he
continued: "We are not at all happy with the situation. This in no
way means we are not willing to confront terrorism."
Prince Naif appeared to dismiss FBI claims that most of the
September 11 hijackers were Saudis. The four hijacked planes
were carrying more than 600 people and "as such, it will be
meaningless to just focus on the Arabs and the Saudis", he
said.
The prince added that Saudi Arabia had not received
confirmation from Washington that the named Saudis had
actually been involved.
Prince Naif also rejected allegations in the US media that Saudi
Arabia had not taken adequate steps to prevent the flow of funds
to Osama bin Laden. "We have been requesting the concerned
authorities in the US, Britain and other European countries to
forge co-operation with us in this respect, but they have not
responded positively," he said.
Last week the US treasury froze the assets of a Saudi
businessman, Yasin al-Qadi, who it said had raised money from
some of the country's most prominent families through the
Muwafaq Foundation. Mr Qadi denies this.
The Saudi regime is wrestling with the conflicting demands of
the United States and its own people, many of whom feel a
religious - and, in some cases, political - affinity with Bin Laden.
Fearful of stirring up discontent, the kingdom made clear that it
would not allow attacks on Afghanistan to be launched from
airbases on its soil.
US officials say the kingdom is helping quietly in other ways, by
sharing intelligence and cracking down on groups and individuals
suspected of terrorist links.
Recent fatwas issued by several Muslim clerics in Saudi Arabia
have begun to question the royal family's legitimacy. One,
published by Sheikh Hamoud bin Oqla al-Shuaibi - a dissident,
but recognised as one of the most learned scholars in the
kingdom - warned: "Whoever supports the infidel against
Muslims is considered an infidel. It is a duty to wage jihad on
anyone who attacks Afghanistan."
The clear implication was that the royal family risked being
excommunicated - an unprecedented threat to make publicly in
Saudi Arabia.
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