Preface: Welcome to the Kingdom
xviii portable darkrooms: The glass negatives of Captain William Shakespear, the earliest of these photographer-explorers, are in the archives of the Royal Geographical Society in London.
xxi Persian Gulf: In recent years many Arabs have claimed the Persian Gulf as “Arab,” and one side of it certainly is. But this book will continue to use the Gulf’s long-standing historical title.
xxii its Internet translation:http://www.rasid.com/artc.php?id=20576.
Chapter 1: Angry Face
3 nearly five times: In the course of 1973, the year of the oil boycott, the price of oil went from $2.10 a barrel to $10.40. New York Times, August 13, 1990.
4 money in their pockets: Dr. Horst Ertl, interview with author, Jeddah, August 1, 2006.
4 “lost in your own town”: Prince Amr Mohammed Al-Faisal, interview with author, Jeddah, July 11, 2006.
4 scent of moisture: Zahra S. Al-Moabi, “Souq Al-Nada,” in Akers and Bagader, pp. 11-15.
4 “iron and cement”: Prince Faisal bin Abdullah, interview with author, Riyadh, February 25, 2006.
5 attributed to the Prophet: “In bidah lies Hell-fire.” Hadith source Tirmidhi. http://islamknowledge.faithweb.com/danger_of_bidah.htm.
5 “in some modern hotel”: Khaled Bahaziq, interview with author, Jeddah, December 9, 2006.
6 “blankets pulled over us”: Nasser Al-Huzaymi, interview with author, Riyadh, September 20, 2006.
6 What God revealed to Mohammed: This simplified account is based on Karen Armstrong’s works on Mohammed and Islam, and also on Reza Aslan’s No God but God.
6 “Recite!”: Koran, 96:1, sura 96, verse 1.
8 “single lightbulb acceptable”: Nasser Al-Huzaymi, interview with author, Riyadh, September 21, 2006.
8 “the flesh of fowls”: Koran, sura 56, verse 21.
9 Medina’s Salafi Group: This account of the Salafi Group is based on a series of interviews with Nasser Al-Huzaymi in Riyadh, 2006-7, and on articles written by him in Ar-Riyadh newspaper, May 19 and 26, 2003, June 10, 2003, and September 6, 2004. The subject was well covered by Yaroslav Trofimov in his book The Siege of Mecca, on which I have also drawn. The definitive article in English is by Thomas Hegghammer and Stéphane Lacroix, “Rejectionist Islamism in Saudi Arabia: The Story of Juhayman Al-Utaybi Revisited,” International Journal of Middle East Studies 39 (2007), pp. 97-116. I am grateful to Thomas Hegghammer for his help on this and several other aspects of recent Islamist history.
9 “Hanging a picture on a wall”: Fatawa Islamiya (Riyadh, Dar es Salaam, 2002), vol 8, p. 112. Cited in Trofimov, p. 28.
9 from around the age of eight: Some accounts say that Bin Baz became blind in his late teens or even twenties. A senior prince who spent time with him recalls the sheikh saying that he became blind before he was ten.
9 surrendering Muslim land: Guido Steinberg, “The Wahhabi Ulama and the Saudi State: 1745 to the Present,” in Aarts and Nonneman, p. 25. Steinberg’s account is based on Saudi records of Bin Baz’s time in Al-Kharj, and also on U.S. State Department documents.
10 mixing with local women: Dr. Abdullah H. Masry, letter to author, September 22, 2008.
10 The First “Wahhabi”: This simplified history of the Wahhabi mission is based on the accounts of the Nejdi historians Ibn Bishr (d. 1871/2) and Ibn Ghannam (d. 1811), as translated and collated by George Rentz, The Birth of the Islamic Reform Movement in Saudi Arabia.
11 “rule lands and men”: Quoted in Rentz, p. 50.
11 “ancient disciples”: Dr. Ali Saad Al-Mosa, interview with author, Abha, June 5, 2006.
12 “antigovernment drift”: Ibid.
12 “coins, not banknotes”: Nasser Al-Huzaymi, Riyadh, interview with author, November 19, 2006.
13 not true salafis: Nasser Al-Huzaymi, interview with author, Riyadh, November 22, 2006.
13 police informers: Hegghammer and Lacroix, pp. 102, 103.
Chapter 2: The Brothers
15 flabby cooks: John S. Habib, Ibn Saud’s Warriors of Islam, p. 140.
15 “camel bags without handles”: Almana, p. 103.
16 cold-blooded: Mohammed Almana, who was present at the battle, makes clear that Abdul Aziz gave orders for his machine-gunners to hold back and conceal themselves until they could fire with most lethal effect. Almana, pp. 103 ff.
16 “no further useful purpose”: Harry St. John Philby, Saudi Arabia, p. 313. Harry Philby was the khawajah who took the first photo King Khaled could remember (see p. xix), and father of Kim Philby, the famous double agent.
16 “Never give up”: Trofimov, p. 18.
16 fathered a son: It was thought for many years that Juhayman’s grandfather Sayf fought with the Ikhwan at Sibillah, but Nasser Al-Huzaymi, speaking in November 2006, was adamant it was Juhayman’s father, Mohammed.
17 car auctions of Jeddah: Nasser Al-Huzaymi, interview with author, Riyadh, February 11, 2007.
17 “most of the money”: Nasser Al-Huzaymi, interview with author, Riyadh, September 20, 2006.
17 “all released”: Nasser Al-Huzaymi, interview with author, Riyadh, September 21, 2006.
17 “at the front”: Nasser Al-Huzaymi, interview with author, Riyadh, November 19, 2006.
17 Thirty of the Brothers: Nasser Al-Huzaymi, interview with author, Riyadh, November 22, 2006.
17 friendly dentist: Hegghammer and Lacroix, p. 104.
18 “The Letters of Juhayman”: See Hegghammer and Lacroix, pp. 104, 105, for a meticulous analysis of Juhayman’s letters, once thought to be only seven, and how they were published.
18 “evil and corruption”: Hegghammer and Lacroix, p. 105.
18 “recited his thoughts”: Nasser Al-Huzaymi, interview with author, Riyadh, February 11, 2007.
18 “a bit kooky to me”: Nabil Al-Khuwaiter, interview with author, Dhahran, January 17, 2008, and e-mail to the author, September 27, 2008.
19 “pious people in power”: Ibid.
19 “When kings enter a village”: Koran, sura 19, verse 27.
20 the identity of the Mahdi: Nasser Al-Huzaymi, interview with author, Riyadh, September 20, 11, 2006.
20 reports of the angels: Nasser Al-Huzaymi, interview with author, Riyadh, February 2007.
21 slipped away: Nasser Al-Huzaymi, interview with author, Riyadh, November 22, 2006.
21 “The fact that we dream”: Nasser Al-Huzaymi, “The Dreams—from Happiness to Ego.” Al-Riyadh, September 6, 2004.
23 “the Green One”: Dr. Ali Saad Al-Mosa, interview with author, Abha, June 5, 2006.
Chapter 3: Siege
24 King Khaled with horror: Kingdom interview, off-the-record, 1980.
24 in the 1960s: Reluctant to take his elder brother’s place for some time, Khaled eventually bowed to family pressure and became crown prince in 1965.
25 “important issues in Tunis”: Prince Turki Al-Faisal, interview with author, Riyadh, February 11, 2008.
25 driving a new Lamborghini: Information from the prince’s co-driver.
25 bullet shattered the glass: Trofimov, p. 86.
26 by nine that morning: Ibid., p. 79, based on an interview with an officer in the force.
26 escape from the Mosque: Ibid., p. 74, based on the interviews subsequently given by Ibn Subayl.
27 an emergency fatwa: Arab News, November 26, 1979.
27 a bullet had pierced his fuselage: Mahdi Zawawi, interview with author, Jeddah, April 12, 2007.
28 “snipers up in the minarets”: Khaled Al-Maeena, interview with author, Jeddah, July 10, 2006.
28 in range of the minarets: Girls’ interview, Jeddah, August 1, 2006.
28 “You’ll get us all killed!”: Matooq Jannah, interview with author, Jeddah, December 9, 2006.
28 sensed a business opportunity: Hussein Ali Shobokshi, interview with author, Jeddah, January 22, 2007.
29 Loss of life did not matter: Trofimov, p. 132.
29 had been swallowed up: Abdul Aziz Qudheibi, “Al Riyadh Yaqaddem Qissat al-Qital fil Masjid al-Haram,” Al-Riyadh, December 12, 1979.
30 the coming of the Mahdi: Trofimov, p. 134.
30 “save the Holy House of God”: Ibid., p. 120.
30 “Do not fight with them”: Koran sura 2, verse 191.
31 “had been a pupil”: Turki Al-Faisal, interview with author, Riyadh, February 11, 2008.
31 “people intervened for their release”: Interview with Al-Safir, Lebanon, translated by the official Saudi press agency (SPA) and published in Arab News, Jeddah, January 14, 1980.
31 “fighting inside the Sacred Mosque”: Fatwa text as translated by the Saudi Press Agency, Arab News, November 26, 1979.
31 “You have to surrender”: Trofimov, p. 152.
32 proof of his mortality: Ibid., p. 160.
33 “If my son is the Mahdi”: Ibid., p. 166.
33 aura of the evil: Ibid., p. 162.
33 death in sufficient concentrations: Ibid., p. 192.
34 helpless in their luxurious hotel: The degree of help by the French has been the subject of much speculation and exaggeration. Yaroslav Trofimov deals with it well in chapters 21 and 23 of his comprehensive book, The Siege of Mecca.
34 “had the advantage”: Turki Al-Faisal, Riyadh, interview with author, February 11, 2008.
34 oddly subdued reply: Trofimov, p. 213.
34 rebel’s head: Interview with confidant of King Fahd, Riyadh, November 17, 2008.
35 “that’s Islamic?”: Turki Al-Faisal, interview with author, Paris, September 2, 2006.
35 “tribal way”: This account is from one of the witnesses on the balcony.
Chapter 4: No Sunni, No Shia
37 loosened the purse strings: Dr. Majid Al-Moneef, interview with author, Riyadh, November 18, 2008.
37 “on camels’ milk”: Prince Turki Al-Faisal related this story most recently in his address to the U.S.-Arab Policy Conference in Washington, DC, October 31, 2008.
38 “Yanbu and Jubail”: Author interview with an associate of Fahd’s as crown prince, November 30, 2008.
38 ten elephants: Off-the-record interview, London.
39 anniversary of Ashura: Ali Al-Marzouq, interview with author, Qateef, January 27, 2007.
39 Arabic for “tenth”: From Ashara, the figure ten in Arabic.
39 five hundred thousand or so Shia Muslims: The precise size of the Shia population, and other issues, is well discussed in Toby Craig Jones, “Rebellion on the Saudi Periphery: Modernity. Marginalization, and the Shia Uprising of 1979,” International Journal of Middle East Studies vol 38 (2006), p. 216.
40 “my brothers”: Ali and Issa Al-Marzouq, interview with author, Al-Khobar, January 27, 2007.
41 “Ali as his master”: Nasr, pp. 37, 38.
42 “his Zulfiqar!”: Ibid., p. 37.
42 “no authority except God”: Aslan, p. 135.
43 barricade of death: Ibid., pp. 172, 173.
43 sentence of death: Sheikh Ahmed bin Hajar al-Tami, Sheikh Mohammed ibn Abdul Wahhab, His Fundamental Belief and Reformist Call and the Ulama, Praise Be Upon Him (Riyadh, 1999), p. 79, cited in Ibrahim, p. 23.
43 destroyed the tomb of Husayn: Ibn Bishr, The Landmark of Glorification in the History of Nejd (Riyadh, 1982), vol. 1, pp. 121-22, cited in Ibrahim, p. 23.
43 Sunni foreman: Ben Dyal, interview with author, January 22, 2008.
43 cow straddling: The cartoonist, Ali Al-Kharji, went to prison for his pains. Ahmed Al-Ajaji, interview with author, November 14, 2008.
44 got the point: Ibrahim, p. 98.
44 “criminal Al-Saud”: Quoted in Toby Craig Jones, “Rebellion on the Saudi Periphery: Modernity, Marginalization, and the Shia Uprising of 1979,” International Journal of Middle East Studies 38 (2006), p. 218.
45 “so much blood”: Ali and Issa Al-Marzouq, interview with author, Al-Khobar, January 27, 2007.
45 “remained empty”: Jon P. Parssinen, interview with author, Al-Khobar, January 15, 2008.
45 killed in the riots: Ibrahim, p. 120.
45 burned: Toby Craig Jones, “Rebellion on the Saudi Periphery.”
45 ransacked: Clive Morgan, e-mail to author, November 2, 2008.
45 “Vietnam War”: Ibid.
45 ayatollahs’take: Bronson, p. 147.
45 “not want you! ”: Toby Craig Jones, “Rebellion on the Saudi Periphery.”
Chapter 5: Vox populi, Vox Dei
46 “national opinion survey”: Quoted in the introduction to Al-Nadwah, When Sense Is Dying (Riyadh, 1980).
46 talking about the Shah: Adnan Khashoggi, interview with author, Riyadh, March 2007.
47 power of religion: Ironically, Saudi Arabia had contributed to Iran’s economic woes by increasing oil production in 1977, thus sabotaging an oil price increase on which the Shah had been depending. Andrew Scott Cooper, “Showdown at Doha: The Secret Oil Deal That Helped Sink the Shah of Iran,” Middle East Journal 62, no. 4 (Autumn 2008), p. 567.
47 “God’s punishment to us”: Interview with a member of the royal family who prefers not to be named.
48 Council of Ministers: Reported to the author by a minister of the time, Jeddah, November 30, 2008.
48 “must move gradually”: Interview with Al-Safir, Beirut, January 9, 1980, cited in Middle East Economic Survey (MEES), vol. 23, no. 14, January 21, 1980.
48 a committee to reexamine: MEES, vol. 23, no. 23 (March 24, 1980).
48 “no coming back”: Reported to the author by a close associate of the committee member, who is now deceased.
49 “four cinemas in Jeddah”: “The first was behind the house of Zainal at the Al-Nahda Hotel in Balad. There was the Abu Safiya Cinema in Hindawiya, another opened by Fouad Jamjoom and Khalil Baghdadi in Ammariya and the Al-Attas Hotel Cinema in Obhur.” Arab News, October 25, 2007 (Shawwal 14, 1428). “The Importance of Preserving Tolerance in Jeddah,” by Mahmoud Abdul Ghani Sabbagh.
49 “reading the news”: Samar Fatany, interview with author, Jeddah, March 5, 2006.
49 combative Ikhwan: For details of the Njedi and Wahhabi assimilation of Jeddah, see William Ochsenwald’s chapter, “The Annexation of the Hijaz,” in Ayoob and Kosebalaban, Religion and Politics in Saudi Arabia: Wahhabism and the State, pp. 75 ff.
49 “poor dears”: Sami Nawar, interview with author, Jeddah, February 16, 2006.
49 “No more Valentine’s”: Dr. Enam Abdul Wahhab Ghazzi, interview with author, Jeddah, October 31, 2006.
50 “going to hell”: Mahdi Al-Asfour, interview with author, Qateef, February 20, 2006.
50 judged inappropriate: E-mail from Jon S. Parssinen, April 20, 2008.
50 “copies after class”: Jon P. Parssinen, interview with author, Al-Khobar, January 15, 2008.
50 vanished very early: Hassan Al-Husseini, interview with author, Al-Khobar, January 15, 2008.
50 Koran by heart: Mohammed Al-Rasheed, interview with author, Riyadh, September 20, 2006.
51 “ ‘fanatics with eyes’ ”: Off-the-record interview with author, Jeddah, April 3, 2007.
51 “misleaders of men”: Ibid.
51 in the fire: Ben Dyal, interview with author, Jeddah, September 14, 2007.
52 “go to the mosque”: Abdullah Masry, interview with author, London, July 22, 2007.
53 singing songs: Mahmoud Abdul Ghani Sabbagh, Arab News, October 25, 2007 (Shawwal 14, 1428).
53 “my wife was my wife”: Khaled Al-Maeena, interview with author, Jeddah, March 5, 2006.
Chapter 6: Salafi Soccer
54 degenerate Western culture: Hala Al-Houti, interview with author, Jeddah, April 4, 2006.
55 “straight path”: Koran, sura 1 verse 6.
55 “thirsty lips”: Amrika allati Raaytu (“America That I Saw”) quoted on http://gemsofislamism.tripod.com/milestones_Qutub.html#footnote_16.
56 “Westoxification”: Reza Aslan credits this word, Gharbzadegi, to the Iranian social critic Jalal Al-e-Ahmad: Aslan, p. 238.
56 “behavior like animals”: Qutub, p. 119.
56 “Islam . . . is the answer”: Ibid., p. 32.
56 “Islamic way of life”: Ibid., pp. 21, 62, 71.
56 perfect Islamic state: Jamal Khashoggi, interview with author, Jeddah, April 10, 2008.
56 challenge the establishment: I am grateful to Abdullah Al-Muallimi for his analysis of these points.
57 “mosque was full”: Jamal Khashoggi, interview with author, Jeddah, September 7, 2008.
57 football enthusiast: Khaled Batarfi, interview with author, Jeddah, September 23, 2006.
58 trachoma: Information from one of the grandsons of Abdul Aziz.
58 lost his eye: Information from one of the sons of Mohammed Bin Laden.
59 director of public works: In the 1940s, departments like Public Works and Agriculture that later became ministries operated as departments of the Ministry of Finance.
59 “Then behead them”: This remark has been quoted in several versions by several sources. See, for example, Trofimov, p. 162.
59 “seize the holiest place”: Khaled Batarfi, interview with author, Jeddah, September 23, 2006
59 no evidence: Jamal Khashoggi, interview with author, Jeddah, September 7, 2008.
60 Bin Laden construction company: From the SBG (Saudi Binladin Group) website, before its removal from the Internet after September 11, 2001. Bergen, The Osama Bin Laden I Know, pp. 152, 153.
60 separateness: Osama did have half sisters through his mother’s second marriage.
61 “liberated in that home!”: Interview with a member of the Al-Thagr School group who prefers not to be named, Jeddah, November 15, 2006.
Chapter 7: Jihad in Afghanistan
62 “in cash”: Ahmed Badeeb, interview with author, Jeddah, July 26, 2006.
63 “freedom fighters”: Prince Turki Al-Faisal, interview with author, Washington, DC, May 10, 2006.
63 sum was in the millions: U.S. Bureau of Engraving and Printing: 490 notes weigh 1 lb. www.bep.treas.gov.
64 crisp $100 bills: Coll, Ghost Wars, p. 72.
64 support the mujahideen: Khaled Batarfi, interview with author, Jeddah, September 23, 2006.
64 some historians: See, for example, Thomas Hegghammer’s Jihad in Saudi Arabia.
64 protest could be permitted: Alexei Vassiliev, The History of Saudi Arabia, p. 296.
65 “brave men in the mountains”: Recollection to the author by a government minister, Jeddah, November 30, 2008.
65 Koran printing plant: Ottaway, pp. x, xi.
65 handed a check: MEES, vol. 23, no. 32 (May 26, 1980).
66 the Safari Club: Prince Turki Al-Faisal, interview with author, Paris, September 1, 2006.
66 “Soviet atheism”: Prince Turki Al-Faisal, interview with author, Riyadh, April 10, 2007.
67 “any means necessary”: State of the Union address, January 23, 1980.
67 undercover guerrilla campaign: Bronson, p. 149.
67 $3 billion each: Rachel Bronson, “Understanding U.S.-Saudi Relations,” in Aarts and Nonneman, p. 383.
Chapter 8: Special Relationship
68 annual flow of pilgrims: Monroe, p. 173.
68 entertain the chiefs: Public Records Office, Kew, ibid.: E1119/266/25, Biscoe to SSC, February 5, 1932, para. 8.
68 oil in Arabia: Philby, p. 78.
69 1933: This tale is dated to 1933 by Madawi Rasheed in her History of Saudi Arabia, p. 91, and she has confirmed this date in e-mails with the author. Other Saudi historians maintain that the incident occurred as many as twenty years earlier, when Abdul Aziz was entertaining the British officer Captain Shakespear in Nejd. One grandson of the king says that Abdul Aziz actually lifted the preacher bodily off the podium, and that the British official whose presence offended the sheikh was Sir Percy Cox, who negotiated the first pension paid by the British government to Ibn Saud. It is possible that similar incidents occurred more than once.
69 “fire will seize you”: Koran, sura 11, verse 113.
69 “To you be your way”: Ibid., sura 109, verses 1-6.
69 three hundred thousand mainland patients: Thomas Lippman, “The Pioneers,” Aramco World 55, no. 3 (May-June 2004).
70 king’s aging father: Ibid.
70 “you are very far away!”: Hart, p. 38.
70 “after the money”: Al-Mana, p. 223.
70 on board the USS Murphy: This account of Abdul Aziz’s journey to Suez and his meeting with Roosevelt is based on William Eddy’s monograph F.D.R. Meets Ibn Saud.
71 “Arabs wage war”: Ibid., p. 34.
71 “favor”: Encyclopedia Britannica Online, retrieved July 3, 2007, “Balfour Declaration.”
71 “no move hostile”: Eddy, p. 34.
72 America’s largest: Vitalis, p. 9.
72 “trust the United States”: Rachel Bronson, “Understanding U.S.-Saudi Relations,” in Aarts and Nonneman, p. 392.
72 caught him visiting: Vitalis, p. 233.
73 Louisiana: Simpson, p. 57.
74 “all the votes”: Ibid., p. 58.
74 “factual inaccuracies”: E-mail of October 1, 2008, to author from Peter J. Johnson in David Rockefeller’s office.
74 switched funds: “As for the movement of $200 million in and out of Chase in 1978, the bank had two principal vehicles for work with Saudi Arabia, the Saudi Industrial Development Fund, which began operations in 1975, and the Saudi Investment Banking Corporation, which opened its doors in 1977. Both had been undertaken at the request of SAMA and involved Chase in direct economic development efforts in Saudi Arabia. SAMA’s principal correspondent bank in the United States was Citibank, which held huge deposits. Why SAMA would have moved money from Chase to Morgan and not Citibank is unclear, as is the fact that the Saudis even had $200 million on deposit for whatever reason at Chase to begin with.” E-mail of October 1, 2008, to author from Peter J. Johnson in David Rockefeller’s office.
74 met with Bandar: E-mail of June 10, 2008, to author from Peter J. Johnson in David Rockefeller’s office.
75 result of a brief encounter: Close female family sources say that Bandar’s mother was a servingwoman in the household of one of Sultan’s sisters.
75 “mother was a concubine”: Simpson, p. 13.
75 “a different color”: Ibid., p. 13.
75 getting the last pick: Ibid., p. 15.
75 faking his date of birth: Ibid., p. 15.
76 “son of the slave”: Interview with one of Bandar’s circle of friends in his youth, January 2007. To this day there are those who detect dismissiveness in the attitude of his father, Prince Sultan, toward Bandar, by comparison with his more respectful stance toward his other sons.
76 call from the crown prince: Walter Cutler, interview with author, Washington, DC, April 30, 2007.
76 personal request: Author interview with a Saudi diplomat present at the breakfast meeting.
76 $1 million a month: Bronson, p. 184.
76 secretly channeled: Ibid., p. 184.
77 more material assistance: For details of covert Saudi and U.S. funding of anti-Communist operations in the Reagan years, see chapter 9 of Bronson, pp. 168-90.
Chapter 9: Dawn Visitors
78 “Women used to hide”: These paragraphs are based on interviews with Dr. Fawzia Al-Bakr, in person and on the telephone, in Riyadh on February 27, April 4, and July 30, 2006.
79 black-market whisky: Author’s recollection, Jeddah, 1980 and 1981.
80 freethinkers and atheists: Interview with a former member of the National Movement.
81 “sparing their family”: Conversation with Mabahith officer.
82 “connection cut out”: Peter Theroux, telephone interview, November 8, 2007.
83 “Syria is an Arab sister”: Ibid.
83 number of the room: Theroux, p. 107.
84 an official letter: Maha Fitaihi, interview with author, Jeddah, March 7, 2006.
Chapter 10: Stars in the Heavens
86 divine requirements: “King Fahd Makes First Policy Statement—July 24, 1982,” translation in Middle East Economic Survey 25, no. 2 (August 2, 1982).
86 corrupt pleasures: Ibid.
86 “without even leaving his house”: Author interview, off-the-record.
87 “respect to show”: Ibid.
87 “gone to heaven”: Ibid.
87 gift . . . from John Latsis: information from a business associate of Latsis, April 2009.
87 was the longest: Built by the Helsingor Vaerft shipyard in Denmark and fitted out in Southampton by the British designer David Hicks, the Prince Abdul Aziz was the largest motor yacht built in the twentieth century (www.superyachttimes.com).
87 hedonistic economy: On news of the Saudis’ arrival, the supermarkets filled their cold cabinets with legs of lamb, while fleets of car transporters set off from Germany laden with luxury limousines. Jim Mackie, “Marbella’s Favorite Son—King Fahd of Saudi Arabia,” Andalucia Travel Guide, November 22, 2007.
87 Saudi monarch’s honor: Giles Tremlett, “Marbella Feels the Loss of the Saudi King: Three Days of Mourning for Royal Who Spent Millions in Town,” The Guardian, August 6, 2005.
87 only one trip: This information comes from Al-Fahd family members. The author has been unable to confirm it in Marbella, where people recall the Saudi king visiting more than once in the ten-year spell following his strokes in the late 1990s.
87 man-made island: information from a business associate of John Latsis, April 2009.
87 “Going into Orbit”: “On the Possibility of Going into Orbit,” Shaaban 1389. I am grateful to Dr. Sheikh Mohammed Al-Shuwayl for providing me with a copy of this fatwa, and to Hala Al-Houti for translating it for me.
88 “men may reach the moon”: Ibid., p. 3.
88 “sufficient proof”: Ibid., p. 1.
88 “seemed to be flat”: Memory of someone who read Bin Baz’s writings.
89 “rules about traveling”: Sultan bin Salman, interview with author, Riyadh, June 2, 2007.
89 “Ramadan finished in two days”: Ibid.
89 “Keep your eyes open”: Ibid.
90 “ ‘stars in the heavens’ ”: Koran, sura 15 “Al-Hijer,” verse 16.
90 “not be the last time”: Sultan bin Salman, interview with author, Riyadh, June 2, 2007.
90 felt beneath his feet: These paragraphs are based on Bin Baz’s fatwa of Shaaban 1389 and on conversations with his son Ahmed Bin Baz; with Dr. Sheikh Mohammed Al-Shuwayl, the sheikh’s close friend and assistant; with Prince Turki Al-Faisal; with Prince Sultan bin Salman; with Dr. Abdullah Al-Muallimi; with Dr. Ghazi Algosaibi; and with Fouad Al-Ibrahim—whose differing perspectives I have sought to reconcile in this narrative.
90 world glut of energy: “Oceans of Oil,” Texas Monthly, October 1984.
91 decline steadily: Niblock and Malik, pp. 55, 56.
91 he would complain: Off-the-record interview, Nicosia, October 19, 2006.
91 “ustaz—Mister Yamani”: Explanation to the author by an adviser to the royal court, Jeddah, November 29, 2008.
91 after long discussions: Recollection of a member of Fahd’s immediate family.
92 “I don’t know how”: Recollection of a relative of the ministerial colleague.
92 Turn up the volume: recollection of a family member, June 2009.
92 “low oil prices”: Dr. Ibrahim Al-Muhanna, interview with author, Riyadh, December 5, 2006.
92 Saudi oil production would fall: Niblock and Malik, pp. 55, 56.
93 “pay the salaries”: Off-the-record recollection to the author, November 30, 2008.
94 beside Sigourney Weaver: Elizabeth Kastor and Donnie Radcliffe, “Fahd’s Night: Fanfare Fit for a King,” Washington Post, February 12, 1985. “After Caballe sang, the Reagans escorted Fahd and his son to the door. Then the band struck up ‘Shall We Dance?’ The Reagans did.”
94 “to my brother Faisal”: Recalled by a royal adviser.
95 “the propagation of Islam”: Ottaway, p. 185.
95 $27 billion: Ibid.
95 “closest to my heart”: The recollection of one of Fahd’s ministers who later discussed the title with him.
96 “clean the place properly”: Recalled to the author by two U.S. diplomats of the time. The cartoon was one of a series depicting “Captain Nejd,” a Saudi version of Superman, who came flying into crisis situations to apply Wahhabi solutions to the problem.
Chapter 11: Into Exile
97 soapbox orator: Sir David Gore Booth, interview with author, January 16, 2003.
98 “modern infrastructure”: Clive Morgan, e-mail to author, December 8, 2008.
98 “people try to test you”: Mohammed bin Fahd, interview with author, Damman, January 30, 2007.
98 “embraced each other”: Ibid.
99 prisoners were released: Ibrahim, p. 136.
99 “seek peace”: Ali Al-Marzouq, interview with author, Al-Awjam, October 11, 2007.
100 “freedom that Islam can give”: Ibid.
100 Iranian money: Author interview with Saudi security official, London, December 8, 2008.
101 “should have confessed”: Ali Al-Marzouq, interview with author, Al-Awjam, October 11, 2007.
101 princely “oppressors”: Scott Cooper and Brock Taylor, “Power and Regionalism: Explaining Regional Cooperation in the Persian Gulf,” in Finn Laursen, ed., Comparative Regional Integration (Aldershot: Ashgate Publishing, 2003), p. 115.
101 promote their cause in Mecca: Theroux, p. 145.
102 plastic explosives: Walter Cutler, interview with author, Washington, DC, April 30, 2007.
102 “a new life”: Ali Al-Marzouq, interview with author, Al-Khobar, January 27, 2007.
102 violating Islamic tradition: John Kifner, “Mecca Pilgrims Say Iranians Concealed Weapons,” New York Times, August 8, 1987. Dr. Martin Kramer’s long and thorough investigation of the 1987 Mecca tragedy concluded: “The available evidence indicates that a group of undisciplined Iranian pilgrims, acting under the influence of at least one provocative statement by a leading Iranian official, wished to enter the Great Mosque as demonstrators. Saudi security authorities, who had been alerted to this possibility but lacked self-confidence in the face of provocation, employed deadly force to thwart the Iranian crowd.” Martin Kramer, Arab Awakening and Islamic Revival (New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction, 1996), pp. 166-87.
103 “remain independent”: Hassan Al-Saffar, interview with author, Qateef, June 7, 2007.
103 “their games”: Jaffar Shayeb, interview with author, Qateef, January 30, 2007.
103 “They do not rule”: Hassan Al-Saffar, interview with author, Qateef, June 7, 2007.
103 “one chicken per month”: Ali Al-Marzouq, interview with author, Al-Khobar, January 27 2007.
Chapter 12: The Dove and the East Wind
105 Saudi Air Force: Ottaway, p. 55.
105 shot the intruder down: Sultan and Seale, p. 144.
106 Palestinian friends: Bronson, p. 165.
106 “hell of a man”: Author interview with an associate of Prince Bandar’s, Jeddah, November 26, 2008.
106 tens of billions: On August 22, 2006, the London Sunday Times quoted Mike Turner, CEO of BAe Systems, as saying that BAe and its predecessor had earned £43 billion in twenty years from the contracts and that it could earn £40 billion more.
106 in its history: Ottaway, p. 67.
107 U.S. defense industry: Simpson, p. 133.
107 £170,000 Rolls-Royce: “BAe Probed on £60m Saudi Slush Fund,” by David Leppard and Robert Winnett, Sunday Times, July 25, 2004.
107 Lee Strasberg Institute: “Prince Turki, the RAF Wing Commander, a Secret £60m BAe slush fund . . . and Me,” by Ian Gallagher, Mail on Sunday, April 7, 2007.
107 registered to the Saudi Air Force: Information from a Saudi government official, November 26, 2008.
107 price tag: “BAe bought £75m Airbus for Saudi Prince,” by David Leigh and Rob Evans, The Guardian, June 15, 2007.
108 Bandar’s unapologetic reply: Video interview, June 7, 2007, Guardian website, “The BAe Files.”
108 total £1 billion: “MoD accused over role in Bandar’s £1bn,” by David Leigh and Rob Evans, The Guardian, June 12, 2007.
108 “a utopian arrangement”: Simpson, pp. 148-149.
108 untraceable cash: Ibid., p. 150.
108 Saudi $10 million: Ibid., pp. 100-101.
109 “audited . . . every penny”: Off-the-record interview, Jeddah, November 26, 2008.
109 attack capacity: Simpson, p. 143.
110 War of the Cities: Bronson, p. 164.
110 “the Lance”: Bandar bin Sultan, interview with CBS Nightwatch, cited in Simpson, p. 152.
110 no recollection: E-mail of May 31, 2008, from Susan Schendel in the office of Secretary Shultz.
111 “give them to Iraq”: Simpson, p. 152.
111 launchers and trainers: Ibid., p. 165.
111 negotiate in whispers: Sultan and Seale, p. 140.
111 “timings of the satellite”: Khaled bin Sultan, interview with author, Riyadh, March 6, 2007.
111 “they are alive”: Ibid.
112 middle of 1989: Sultan and Seale, p. 150.
112 men in beards: Ibid.
112 camping in the desert: Off-the-record interview, Riyadh, November 2008.
112 “Nuclear weapons”: Simpson, p. 159. Richard Murphy has given no response to an e-mailed request, received and acknowledged by his office, to confirm, deny, or correct this quotation and version of events.
112 cut off all links: E-mail of May 31, 2008, from Susan Schendel in the office of Secretary Shultz.
112 Israelis’ targeting package: Simpson, p. 162; see also Bronson. Richard Armitage has given no response to an e-mailed request, received and acknowledged by his office, to confirm, deny, or correct this quotation and version of events.
112 “Israelis don’t bomb”: Ibid. According to Simpson, Bandar’s approved biographer, Powell described this encounter in a personal interview with Simpson. However, Secretary Powell has given no response to an e-mailed request received and acknowledged by Powell’s office, to confirm, deny, or correct Simpson’s version of events.
113 back in Washington: Saudi sources claim that Horan was put on a plane to the Sudan that very night. But this is denied by at least one U.S. diplomat who has recalled attending the ambassador’s rapidly summoned farewell party a few days later.
Chapter 13: Vacationing Jihadi
114 “discounts on air tickets”: Khaled Bahaziq, interview with author, Jeddah, January 9, 2006.
114 actually come to fight: Prince Turki Al-Faisal, whose Istikhbarat had orders to stay aloof from the volunteers, reckons that, starting in 1981-82, there were at the most “a couple of thousand” Arab-Afghans fighting in Afghanistan. He recalls the local mujahideen telling him that they did not want men from Saudi Arabia—they were more in need of medicine, weapons, and supplies. Conversation with the author, Paris, December 15, 2008.
115 “ ‘This has got preservative’ ”: Khaled Bahaziq, interview with author, Jeddah, January 9, 2006.
115 “helping jihad”: Khaled Bahaziq, interview with author, Jeddah, December 9, 2006.
116 “taking a grenade”: Ibid.
117 “I had sinned”: Azzam, The Lofty Mountain, p. 113.
117 a military base: Bergen, The Osama Bin Laden I Know, p. 49.
118 “think tactically”: Jamal Khashoggi, interview with author, Riyadh, March 28, 2008.
118 “Reliance upon God”: Arab News, May 4, 1988.
118 “God’s will”: The Lofty Mountain, p. 113.
118 “you love death”: “Robert Fisk on Osama Bin Laden at 50,” interview with Amy Goodman, March 5, 2007, www.democracynow.org.
118 survey of exit stamps: Author interview with Saudi government adviser, December 8, 2008. This is significantly greater than the estimate of only a few hundred Arab-Afghans by Peter L. Bergen in The Osama Bin Laden I Know, p. 49.
118 175,000 to 250,000 native Afghans: Urban, p. 244.
119 died martyrs: Ali Al-Johani, interview with author, Riyadh, November 24, 2006.
119 an oversize beehive: The author visited this mosque in January 2007.
120 bunking off school: Mansour Al-Nogaidan, interview with author, Ajman, November 9, 2007.
120 “The beheading platform”: Mansour Al-Nogaidan, interview with author, Ajman, November 9, 2007.
120 “tales of hellfire”: Abdullah Thabit, interview with author, Jeddah, July 2006.
122 arrested by the Mabahith: Mansour Al-Nogaidan, e-mail to author, September 22, 2008.
123 another target: Khaled Batarfi, interview with author, Jeddah, September 23, 2006.
Chapter 14: Desert Storm
127 “armored cars and tanks”: Ahmed Badeeb, interview with author, Jeddah, July 26, 2006.
127 landing special troops: Ambassador Chas Freeman Jr., U.S. Diplomatic Oral Histories, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.
127 “Escape at once!”: Ahmed Badeeb, interview with author, Jeddah, July 26, 2006.
128 the BBC’s monitors: BBC, Summary of World Broadcasts, August 2, 1990.
128 “leave the border”: Mohammed bin Fahd, interview with author, Damman, January 30 2007.
128 to Dammam: E-mail from Hassan Al-Jasser, Governor’s Office, Damman, December 1, 2008.
128 Palestine Liberation Organization: Bowen, p. 124. This figure has been confirmed by a Saudi familiar with the figures.
128 largest financial supporter: Saudi government analyst, Geneva, December 11, 2008.
129 “Helping the Palestinians”: Princess Latifa bint Musaed, interview with author, Riyadh, September 17, 2006.
129 “a British colonial fiction”: Ottaway, p. 91.
129 “call me shareef ”: Sultan and Seale, p. 210.
129 weather map: Ahmed Badeeb, interview with author, Jeddah, July 26, 2006.
129 “We’ll be back”: Interview with Dr. Ali Saad Al-Mosa, Abha, June 5, 2006.
129 distanced themselves: Sultan and Seale, pp. 183-184.
129 leaked recording: Rime Allaf, “Success Measured by Attendance,” Bitterlemons 6 edition 12, (March 20, 2008).
130 “the consensus”: Off-the-record interview, Jeddah, June 1, 2006.
130 unanimous No: Nawaf Obaid, “The Power of Saudi Arabia’s Islamic Leaders,” Middle East Quarterly (September 1999), http://www.meforum.org/article/482.
131 wisdom that he delivered: Sheikh Abdul Aziz Ibn Baz Religious Teaching Center, Al-Shumaysi, Riyadh, visit of March 12, 2008.
131 “supports all measures”: Saudi Press Agency, pp. 40-42.
132 “his permission”: Norman Schwarzkopf interview, Tampa, FL, May 11, 2006.
132 “listen to my briefing”: Ibid.
132 U.S. photographs: Ibid.
133 “trespassed on Saudi”: Ibid.
133 “tanks were facing south”: Ibid.
133 “no permanent bases”: Ibid.
133 “hotel rooms in London”: Ambassador Chas Freeman Jr., Diplomatic Oral Histories Project, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.
134 driving their cars: ABC News, London, February 19, 2007.
134 she recalls: Dr. Aisha Al-Mana, interview with author, Al-Khobar, January 27, 2007.
134 Arabia Unified: See Suggested Reading.
135 “piece of the cake”: Dr. Aisha Al-Mana, interview with author, Al-Khobar, January 27, 2007.
135 “ban just melts away”: Ibid.
137 woken from his afternoon nap: Family information.
138 “angry lump of indignation”: Interview with Reem Jarbou, Jeddah, July 12, 2006.
138 without his consent: Dr. Fawzia Bakr, interview with author, Riyadh, February 27, 2006.
139 “control your women”: Dr. Fawzia Bakr and Dr. Fahd Al-Yehya, interview with author, Riyadh, February 27, 2006.
140 “un-Saudi to demonstrate”: Interview with Bassim Alim, Jeddah, July 11, 2006.
140 “falling on the nation”: Raja and Shadia Aalim, interview with author, Jeddah, June 8, 2006.
140 “Communist whores”: Fandy, p. 49.
140 spat on their teachers: Ambassador Chas Freeman Jr., U.S. Diplomatic Oral Histories Project, Library of Congress, Washingont, D.C.
140 “ ‘You are our daughters’ ”: Princess Latifa bint Musaed, interview with author, Riyadh, September 17, 2006.
Chapter 15: Battle for Al-Khafji
141 Al-Khafji stood deserted: These paragraphs on the battle of Al-Khafji are based on a three-day visit to the town in June 2007 and with interviews with soldiers who took part in the battle, including Major General Suleiman Al-Khalifa. I am grateful to Douglas Baldwin for coordinating the trip and to Jan Baldwin for her photographs documenting the town and landscape of the battle. I am also grateful to Prince Khaled bin Sultan for an interview on March 6, 2007, in which he discussed Al-Khafji and the Gulf War.
141 town was undefendable: Sultan and Seale, p. 362.
141 thirty-eight days and nights: Ibid., p. 344.
142 eighteen thousand hospital beds: Ibid., p. 362.
142 Saddam’s crack units: Schwarzkopf and Petre, p. 495.
142 “I am lucky”: Sultan and Seale, p. 377.
142 an Iraqi attack: Morris, p. 10.
142 “I need the Tornados”: Sultan and Seale, p. 374.
143 surrounded by Iraqi troops: Storm on the Horizon, by David J. Morris, recounts the story of Al-Khafji from the point of view of the deep-reconnaissance Marines who were trapped in the town.
143 “get the Marines out”: Sultan and Seale, p. 374.
143 “difficult to bear”: Ibid.
143 “a real war”: Suleiman Al-Khalifa, interview with author, Al-Khafji, June 6, 2007.
144 “keen on looting”: Ibid.
144 more than four hundred prisoners: Sultan and Seale, p. 387.
144 the prince’s jeep: Ibid., p. 388.
145 military refugees: Ibid., p. 389.
145 finest armored units: Schwarzkopf and Petre, p. 496.
145 martyrs: Morris, caption facing p. 153.
145 the only pitched battle: Khaled bin Sultan, interview with author, Riyadh, March 6, 2007.
145 “war aims”: Chas Freeman, interview with author, Washington, DC, May 7, 2007.
145 the question “shocking”: Ibid.
146 “restraining a smile”: Ibid.
146 remained in his palace: Ambassador Chas Freeman Jr., Oral Histories Project, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C., p. 293.
146 “get out fast”: Sultan and Seale, pp. 421 and 426.
146 “dinosaur in the tarpit”: Schwarzkopf and Petre, p. 579.
146 “bitterly hostile land”: Middle East Report, May-June 1992. Cited August 18, 2007, on the Gulf 2000 Project website: Marsha B. Cohen, Florida International University.
147 replied without hesitation:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YENbElb5-xY&NR=1.
147 “additional dead Americans”: Ibid.
Chapter 16: Awakening
148 “He rang me”: Jamal Khashoggi, interview with author, Riyadh, March 28, 2008.
148 “jihad needed fighting”: Ibid.
148 the Salafi cause: Bergen, The Osama Bin Laden I Know, pp. 108-109.
149 “one last shot”: Turki Al-Faisal, interview with author, Riyadh, April 10, 2007.
149 “greatly concerned about security”: Ahmad bin Abdul Aziz, interview with author, Riyadh, February 5, 2009.
149 “eldest brother, Bakr”: Bakr Bin Laden today says he has no particular memory of this encounter, and is happy to accept the recollection of Prince Ahmad as definitive. Meeting with author, Jeddah, February 5, 2009.
150 “black” with anger: Burke, p. 136.
150 “the infidels inside”: Ibid., p. 139.
151 to destroy Islam: Guido Sternberg, “The Wahhabi Ulama and the Saudi State: 1745 to the Present,” in Aarts and Nonneman, p. 31.
151 “remove injustice”:http://ibnbaz.org/mat/8345.
151 “some infidel states”: Ibid.
152 “banner of Islam”: Fandy, p. 95.
152 his real target: Ibid., p. 97.
152 “ ‘working in a shoe store’ ”: David Rundell, interview with author, Riyadh, March 6, 2007.
152 wearing gold: David Rundell, e-mails to author, October 30, 2008.
153 “supporting the women”: Mansour Al-Nogaidan, interview with author, Ajman, November 9, 2007.
154 “tight little group”: Off-the-record interview, Dubai, November 9, 2007.
154 Royal Victorian Chain: Buckingham Palace Press Office, February 9, 2009.
155 “don’t discuss this subject”: Bergen, The Osama Bin Laden I Know, pp. 59, 60.
155 “jihad in Yemen”: Jamal Khashoggi, interview with author, Riyadh, March 28, 2008.
155 “stop making speeches”: Ibid.
155 “stopped talking himself”: Mohammed Saeed Tayeb, interview with author, November 27, 2008.
156 sources differ: I have followed Peter Bergen’s book The Osama Bin Laden I Know as my principal guide to the chronology of these dates in Afghanistan and the Sudan. I am also grateful for the personal insights of Thomas Hegghammer.
Chapter 17: Stopping the Sins
157 new jihadi friends: Mansour Al-Nogaidan, interview with author, Ajman, November 9, 2007.
160 reform in a petition: Stéphane Lacroix, “Islamo-Liberal Politics in Saudi Arabia,” in Aarts and Nonneman, p. 41.
160 elitist and Westernized: Off-the-record interview, April 1, 2006.
160 restoration of Islamic values: For a chronological list of major reform petitions since the 1990s, see Abdul Aziz Sager, “Political Opposition in Saudi Arabia,” in Aarts and Nonneman, table 6, p. 268.
161 “kept the radio”: Dr. Ahmad Al-Tuwayjri, interview with author, Riyadh, April 1, 2006.
162 “intervened with the king”: Ibid.
162 “to be patriotic”: Ibid.
162 “received the Memorandum”: Ibid.
164 “advice for the sake of God”: Teitelbaum, p. 40.
164 “better class of jail”: Dr. Ahmad Al-Tuwayjri, interview with author, Riyadh, April 1, 2006.
165 early websites: Andrew Hammond, telephone conversation with author, November 22, 2008.
165 destructive influence of oil:http://www.iiwds.com/said_aburish/index.htm.
165 an official decree: In 1994 Decree 128 banned the private ownership of TV satellite dishes. Mai Yamani, “Saudi Arabia’s Media Mask,” in Madawi Al-Rasheed, ed., Kingdom Without Borders, p. 330.
166 TV business: See Al-Rasheed, ed., Kingdom Without Borders, (Madawi Al-Rasheed, ed.) for the proceeedings of a conference held at King’s College, London, in September 2007 to examine the spread of Saudi media.
166 “control or influence”: A member of Fahd’s private phone call circle, March 2007, Jeddah.
166 telephone think tank: Ibid.
Chapter 18: In from the Cold
167 the Saudi Shias: Hassan Al-Saffar, interview with author, Qateef, June 7, 2007.
167 being recounted: Ibid.
167 “rights and worship”: Ibid.
167 “reformed Saudi Arabia”: Tawfiq Al-Seif, interview with author, Tarut Island, June 8, 2007.
168 “Saudi arrests and scandals”: Ibrahim, pp. 149-52.
168 “our human rights”: Sadiq Al-Jabran, interview with author, Al-Hasa, January 27, 2007.
168 “Saudis demonstrating”: Faiza Ambah, interview with author, Jeddah, February 7, 2007.
169 “nightmare for them”: Off-the-record interview, Al-Khobar, June 2007.
169 “defending the country”: Ibrahim, p. 157.
170 “As for ‘sorry’ ”: Off-the-record interview, London, October 2007.
170 “admit mistakes”: Tawfiq Al-Seif, interview with author, Tarut Island, June 8, 2007.
170 “Islamist state with Sunni rule”: Off the record interview.
171 “bring about change”: Tawfiq Al-Seif, interview with author, Tarut Island, June 8, 2007.
171 “yes to them all”: Sadiq Al-Jabran, interview with author, Al-Hasa, January 27, 2007.
171 telegram to Saudi embassies: Ibrahim, p. 190.
172 “They let us in”: Sadiq Al-Jabran, interview with author, Al-Hasa, January 27, 2007.
172 “Shia are equal citizens”: Ibid.
173 “Playboy magazine”: Author interview with a source familiar with the discussion.
173 Iranian aid: Information from a security adviser to the Saudi government, December 8, 2008.
Chapter 19: Change of Heart
174 found himself at liberty: Mansour Al-Nogaidan, interview with author, Ajman, November 10, 2007.
174 “King Fahd is kafir”: Ibid.
175 “kick out the angels”: Ibid.
175 “take what I want”: Ibid.
176 using the British media: See Al-Rasheed, A History of Saudi Arabia, pp. 177-184.
176 a huge bomb: National Commission on Terrorist Attacks, p. 60.
176 “change things with bombs”: Mansour Al-Nogaidan, interview with author, Ajman, November 10, 2007.
176 eliminate the House of Saud: Wright, p. 246.
176 372 wounded: Ibid.
176 ideas had influenced them: Fandy, p. 3.
176 Iranian involvement: See http://www.fbi.gov/pressrel/pressrel01/khobar.htm for details of the 29-page indictment dated June 21, 2001.
177 farms by the Blue Nile: Bergen, Holy War Inc., p. 80.
177 Luxembourg and Switzerland: Author interview with a Saudi diplomat familiar with the information discovered by the U.S. government.
177 philanthropic Saudi sheikh: “Robert Fisk on Osama Bin Laden at 50,” interview with Amy Goodman, March 5, 2007, www.democracynow.org.
177 “waiting for this road”: Robert Fisk, The Great War for Civilization, p. 5.
177 not all of them successful: Tim Niblock, e-mail to author, November 9, 2008.
178 government’s number one critic: Bin Laden family member, interview with author, Jeddah, September 2007.
178 “condemnation of all acts”: Bergen, The Osama Bin Laden I Know, p. 152.
178 supervised trust for his children: Information from a senior Bin Laden family member.
178 turn homeward: Bergen, The Osama Bin Laden I Know, p. 151.
178 “Osama’s changed”: Jamal Khashoggi, interview with author, Riyadh, March 28, 2008.
178 nostalgically enjoying kabsa: Wright, p. 200.
179 “forget about the flight”: Jamal Khashoggi, interview with author, Riyadh, March 28, 2008.
Chapter 20: Enter the Crown Prince
180 words in a rush: Off-the-record interview, Jeddah, March 7, 2003.
180 cell without light: Off-the-record interviews with several associates of the king, including a former National Guard officer, who say that Abdullah recounted this story to them personally. Family members concur with the tale.
180 “right out of the desert”: Walter Cutler, interview with author, Washington, DC, April 30, 2007.
181 huge communal supper: Ibid.
181 weeping and crying out: Ali Al-Johani, interview with author, November 15, 2008.
181 tap the offending head: Brigadier General Nick Cocking, interview with author, London, November 4, 2008.
181 “groveling on the floor”: Ibid.
181 honest and reform-minded: Fandy, pp. 133, 187.
181 “If Abdullah becomes king”: Wright, p. 199.
182 “rights of the citizen”: DeGaury, p. 104.
183 sniffed at extreme ideas: Family source.
183 “constitution inspired by God”: DeGaury, p. 106.
184 “not his business”: Brigadier General Nick Cocking, interview with author, London, March 5, 2008.
184 “be the very best”: Abdul Rahman Abuhaimid, interview with author, Riyadh, January 25, 2007.
185 “My father, of course”: Brigadier General Nick Cocking, interview with author, London, March 5, 2008.
185 speech therapy lessons: James E. Akins, interview with author, Virginia, May 10, 2007, confirmed by members of the royal circle.
185 “totally fluent”: Brigadier General Nick Cocking, interview with author, London, March 5, 2008.
185 land grants: Information from a Jeddah businessman, October 2008.
185 “lives like a prince”: Off-the-record interview, Jeddah, May 13, 2008.
186 “close the doors and windows”: Abdul Rahman Abuhaimid, interview with author, Riyadh, November 18, 2008.
186 deny the truth: Turki bin Abdullah, interview with author, Paris, September 2005.
186 sat down with his sons: Abdullah is known as “Abu Miteb” (“Father of Miteb”) after his firstborn son, who died in infancy. His next son was named Khaled. The present Miteb was born after the death of his elder brother.
186 “in the business cabin”: Off-the-record interview, March 26, 2008.
186 special flying privileges: These remain for sons and daughters of Abdul Aziz and for all provincial governors. Abdullah has cut free royal travel by 80 percent, according to an informed source inside Saudia. The fleet of planes dedicated to royal travel has been reduced from fourteen to five. Princes may use these planes for private travel, but must pay at market rates.
187 “difficult for Abdullah”: Off-the-record interview, Jeddah, June 6, 2006.
187 wheeled in: The recollection of one of his ministers, March 4, 2007.
187 “sort of pathetic”: Off-the-record interview, January 29, 2007.
187 “strengthen the ties”: Off-the-record interview, September 19, 2006.
187 “don’t change the curtains”: Adviser to King Abdullah.
188 “leader of the opposition”: This remark by the late Abdul Aziz Al-Tuwayjri was reported to the author by one of his close associates.
188 “minister without portfolio”: Weston, p. 375.
188 beloved elder brother: Recollection by a European ambassador to Riyadh.
188 “to bring him his shoes”: Recollection to the author, Jeddah, November 30, 2008.
188 sink to nine dollars: Niblock and Malik, table 4.1, p. 100.
189 “different way of life”: BBC News Room, January 19, 1999.
189 stringent austerity budget: Ibid.
189 “could not provide”: Dr. Ahmad Gabbani, interview with author, Jeddah, July 11, 2006.
189 “money in the past”: Businessman, interview with author, Jeddah, February 12, 2006.
189 “not enough lines”: Ali Al-Johani, interview with author, Riyadh, November 24, 2006.
189 “Just six?”: Ali Al-Johani, interview with author, Riyadh, November 24, 2006.
190 “sneaking an extra photocopy”: Ibid.
191 “impossible to privatize”: Ali Al-Johani, telephone conversation, May 13, 2008.
191 “outdated information”: Ibid.
191 “wanted my job”: Ibid.
191 not work with Al-Johani: Interview with a member of the board who submitted his resignation, December 2006.
191 been liberated: When Ali Al-Johani took over the PTT in 1995, there were 1.8 million landlines, with 360,000 mobile numbers. Privatization was completed early in 1998, and ten years later there are 4 million landlines in the Kingdom with more than 20 million mobile numbers on two competing cellular networks and a third network just getting started.
192 “as a pretext”: Author interview with economic adviser to King Abdullah, November 18, 2008.
Chapter 21: The Students
193 “orders to shell Kabul”: Ahmed Badeeb, interview with author, Jeddah, July 26, 2006.
194 “alternative to fighting”: Ahmed Badeeb, interview with author, May 11, 2008.
194 “joint U.S.-Saudi project”: Off-the-record interview, Jeddah, November 26, 2008.
194 “allocated $300 million”: Ahmed Badeeb, interview with author, May 11, 2008.
195 “an incentive”: Turki Al-Faisal, interview with author, Jeddah, September 9, 2008.
195 “working with Allah”: Rashid, p. 22.
195 Taliban: In Arabic the plural of talib is tullab.
195 shot them dead: Coll, Ghost Wars, p. 283.
195 “time of the Prophet”: Rashid, p. 43.
196 willingly paid: Ibid., pp. 22 and 29.
196 “These are my boys”: Turki Al-Faisal, interview with author, Jeddah, September 9, 2008.
196 “a country boy”: Ibid.
197 “lost an eye”: Ahmed Badeeb, interview with author, May 11, 2008.
197 cut out his right eye: Coll, Ghost Wars, p. 288.
197 “laws of God on earth”: Ibid.
197 restoring some order: Ahmed Badeeb, interview with author, May 11, 2008.
197 “I will do”: Coll, Ghost Wars, p. 295.
198 “hundreds of new pickups”: Rashid, p. 45.
198 “may have been Saudis”: Turki Al-Faisal, interview with author, Jeddah, September 9, 2008.
199 “Saudi aid”: Ahmed Rashid, e-mail to author, September 24, 2008.
199 Chevrolets: According to an American diplomat who has studied the battle of Sibillah, a number of the Saudi vehicles were Chevrolets.
200 “cursed by the Islamic sharia”: “A Sample of Taliban Decrees,” Appendix 1 in Rashid, Taliban, p. 217.
200 fundamentalist vigilantes: Nawaf Obaid, “Improving U.S. Intelligence Analysis on the Saudi Arabian Decision Making Process,” Harvard University, 1998.
200 “training and salaries”: Ahmed Rashid, e-mail to author, September 24, 2008.
201 led between the goalposts: Rashid, Taliban, pp. 1-4.
201 his protection: Bergen, The Osama Bin Laden I Know, p. 164.
201 singled out Bin Laden: Coll, Ghost Wars, p. 342.
202 “young, misguided kid”: Ottaway, p. 157.
202 “offered him sanctuary”: Turki Al-Faisal, interview with author, Jeddah, September 9, 2008.
202 “keeping his mouth shut”: Coll, Ghost Wars, p. 342, quoting an interview Prince Turki gave to Nightline, December 10, 2001.
202 the lone Saudi exile: Bergen, The Osama Bin Laden I Know, pp. 160ff.
203 “only killing and neck-smiting”: Burke, p. 163, and Wright, p. 234.
Chapter 22: Infinite Reach
204 “It was genocide”: Khaled Al-Hubayshi, interview with author, Jeddah, April 19, 2008.
205 detainee’s Basic Course: Summary of Evidence for Combatant Status Review Tribunal—Al-Hubayshi, Khaled Sulayman Jaydh, September 24, 2004, no. 000156, unclassified.
205 “explosives instructor”: Khaled Al-Hubayshi, interview with author, Jeddah, May 12, 2008.
206 “come to die”: Khaled Al-Hubayshi, interview with author, Jeddah, April 19, 2008.
206 “the U.S. visa automatically”: Off-the-record interview.
206 “for the elite”: Khaled Al-Hubayshi, interview with author, Jeddah, April 19, 2008.
207 “kill you for a hundred dollars”: Ibid.
207 “to scare people”: Khaled Al-Hubayshi, interview with author, Jeddah, May 12, 2008.
207 “videos in our lessons”: Ibid.
207 eight thousand non-Afghans: This number included charity workers, according to a Saudi defense analyst. The Saudi Ministry of the Interior estimated more.
207 “Jihad Against Jews and Crusaders”: Bergen, The Osama Bin Laden I Know, p. 195.
208 “they are all targets”: National Commission on Terrorist Attacks, p. 47.
208 “like locusts”: Bergen, The Osama Bin Laden I Know, p. 195.
208 “humiliating its people”: Ibid.
208 followers with missiles: Coll, Ghost Wars, p. 397.
208 U.S. consulate in Jeddah: Thomas Hegghammer, “Islamist Violence and Regime Stability in Saudi Arabia,” International Affairs 84, no. 4 (July 2008), p. 708.
208 “fieldwork at home”: Turki Al-Faisal, interview with author, Jeddah, September 9, 2008.
209 “give us Bin Laden”: Wright, p. 268.
209 the talibs’ Gulf sponsors: Ahmed Rashid, e-mail to author, September 24, 2008.
209 ghastly reprisals: Rashid, p. 72.
210 baked alive: Ibid., pp. 73-74.
210 suicide bombers: Figures from Steve Coll, Ghost Wars, and Lawrence Wright, The Looming Tower.
210 wired into the dashboard: Wright, p. 272.
210 extramarital affair: Off-the-record interviews with Saudi and U.S. diplomats who were present at the meeting.
210 “not swayed by the breeze”: Off-the-record interview with a diplomat present at the meeting.
211 “I am alive!”: Wright, p. 285.
211 “martyr on CNN”: Interview with Mustapha Mutabaqani, Jeddah, July 15, 2006.
212 “gave us your word”: Coll, Ghost Wars, p. 414.
212 tea with his fellow spymaster: Turki Al-Faisal, interview with author, Jeddah, September 9, 2008.
212 “a translator’s mistake”: Wright, pp. 288-289.
212 “courageous, valiant Muslim”: Coll, Ghost Wars, p. 414.
213 the Tomahawk missiles: Rashid, Taliban, p. 134.
213 “back on his word”: Turki Al-Faisal, interview with author, Jeddah, September 9, 2008.
213 reverence for God: Craig Whitlock, “In Hunt for Bin Laden, a New Approach,” Washington Post, September 10, 2008.
213 “an occupied country”: Wright, p. 289.
213 directly to Omar: Turki Al-Faisal, interview with author, Jeddah, September 9, 2008.
213 “harm to the Afghan people”: Wright, p. 289.
Chapter 23: New Century
214 ignoring each other: Ottaway, p. 115.
214 diplomatic corps: Ibid., p. 127.
215 “hit Abdullah up”: Freeh, My FBI, p. 25, cited in Ottaway, p. 121.
215 about $10 million: John Solomon and Jeffrey H. Birnbaum, “Clinton Library Got Funds from Abroad,” Washington Post, December 15, 2007.
215 “no such request”: Wyche Fowler, interview with author, October 30, 2008.
215 “special relationship”: Ottaway, p. 126.
216 bouts of . . . depression: Information from a member of the Saudi embassy in Washington in the 1990s.
216 “the invisible dean”: David Ottaway documents this difficult period well in “Midlife Crisis,” chapter 8 of his book The King’s Messenger. Prince Bandar’s office acknowledges that the prince gave numerous interviews and briefings to Ottaway over the years, but say that the prince did not collaborate with the book. They also state that he would not willingly miss the celebration of Saudi National Day.
216 “more pro-Saudi than us”: Ottaway, p. 143.
216 “too good to be true”: Ibid.
217 “success of Zionism”: Eddy, p. 37.
217 three times that: Ancestry information beyond “Mother Tongue” was not collected in those days. I am grateful to Yasmeen Shaheen-McConnell of the Arab-American Institute for providing these figures.
217 6.4 million U.S. Jews: There are numerous estimates that set the Jewish population of the US in the range of 5-7 million. This figure is from the American Jewish Yearbook population survey of 2006.
217 “to stand against Israel”: Shindler, Colin, “Likud and the Christian Dispensational ists,” Israel Studies, Vol. 5, no. 1, Spring 2000, pp. 153-182.
217 Israeli attempts to assassinate: Ottaway, p. 148.
218 “Turning Friends into Enemies”: Ibid.
218 “found him a writer”: Author interview with a senior official familiar with the exchange, November 30, 2008. Confirmed by a second Saudi official who processed the U.S. official protest.
218 “the ultimate insult”: Interview with a senior Saudi official, Jeddah, October 31, 2006.
219 “Palestinian children”: Robert G. Kaiser and David Ottaway, “Saudi Leader’s Anger Revealed Shaky Ties,” Washington Post, February 10, 2002.
219 “a terrorist act”: Ibid.
219 “he can do a better job”: Remarks by the president, 10.44 CDT, August 24, 2001, www.whitehouse.gov/news.
219 disingenuous simplification: Interview with a senior Saudi official, Riyadh, April 3, 2006.
220 particular buttons: This description of how Bandar would develop and amplify his instructions from Riyadh comes from a Saudi official who has worked with him for many years.
220 “our own interests”: Interview with a senior Saudi official, Jeddah, October 31, 2006.
220 Powell to Bandar: Reported by a high-level Saudi official familiar with the exchange, December 2008.
220 “We scared ourselves”: Robert G. Kaiser and David Ottaway, “Saudi Leader’s Anger Revealed Shaky Ties,” Washington Post, February 10, 2002.
221 “last chance”: Confirmed by a high-level Saudi official, Jeddah, November 2008.
222 “kisses and licks”: Off-the-record interview, Riyadh, November 24, 2006.
222 “taking the day off”: Confirmed by a high-level Saudi official, Jeddah, November 2008.
Chapter 24: Fifteen Flying Saudis
225 “hit the twin towers”: Prince Khaled Al-Faisal, interview with author, Jeddah, September 25, 2007.
226 “come after us”: Khaled Al-Hubayshi, interview with author, Jeddah, May 12, 2008.
226 “end up with wackos”: Fouad Al-Farhan, interview with author, Jeddah, December 2, 2007.
227 an outpoken columnist: Al-Nogaidan was told to stop for a time, but after September 11 he took up his pen again. He wrote two full-page articles in Al-Watan condemning Bin Laden—the first in a Saudi newspaper by someone who had once been in the Islamist camp.
227 “defied human thinking”: Mansour Al-Nogaidan, interview with author, Ajman, November 10, 2007.
227 “Us versus Them”: Cited in Unger, p. 197.
228 “a huge, dangerous enemy”: “Try the Gores, You Won’t Get a War,” Nathan Gardels interview with Gore Vidal, Saudi Gazette, December 13, 2006, p. 13.
228 God brought it: Ahmed Al-Ajaji, interview with author, Riyadh, February 9, 2008.
228 “refuse to believe”: Interview with Khaled Al-Maeena, July 10, 2006.
229 “disempowering ourselves”: Interview with Somaya Jabarti, Jeddah, July 12 and 14, 2006.
229 “daring people”: Prince Amr Al-Faisal, interview with author, Jeddah, July 11, 2006, and e-mail to author, November 24, 2008.
229 “The jihad has started”: Mohammed Al-Harbi, interview with author, Riyadh, February 13, 2007.
230 “were helpless”: Ibid.
231 “invalid as its king”: Robert Jordan, interview with author, Washington, DC, May 1, 2007.
231 flattery that was required: Ahmad Sabri, interview with author, Jeddah, September 16, 2007.
231 “congressmen wearing Jewish yarmulkes”: Prince Sultan made this remark to Al-Sharq Al-Awsat (“Middle East,” Saudi daily published in London) following a ceremony at the Saudi Public Institution for Military Industries. Al-Sharq Al-Awsat, June 23, 2002.
231 “protagonists of such attacks”: Prince Nayef interview, reported by Alaa Shahine, Associated Press, December 5, 2002, cited in Bronson, p. 236.
232 “conflicting advice”: Robert Jordan, interview with author, Washington, DC, May 1, 2007.
234 sued the bureau: Legal action confirmed by U.S. diplomat to author, November 2008.
235 approval of the Sheikh: Rentz, p. 116.
235 “totally wrong!”: Prince Turki Al-Faisal, interview with author, Riyadh, March 3, 2007.
235 “those who govern”: Abdullah Muallimi, interview with author, Jeddah, September 25, 2006.
Chapter 25: Fire
237 directorate practice: Some informed Saudi accounts of the tragedy maintain that the fatalities stemmed simply from the school gates being kept locked.
237 guardians of their morality: Arab News, March 14, 2002, cited on BBC News website, March 15, 2002. 238 “hands to beat us”: Ibid.
238 “Directorate of Girls’ Education”: Qenan Al-Ghamdi, interview with author, Jeddah, September 12, 2006.
238 “get revenge”: Said Al-Surehi, interview with author, Jeddah, October 31, 2006.
239 Norah Al-Fayez: Arab News, February 15, 2009.
239 dangerous “atheist”: Mohammed Al-Rasheed, interview with author, Riyadh, September 20, 2006.
240 “no ethics”: Ibid.
240 “girls educated”: Abdullah Obaid, interview with author, Riyadh, February 26, 2006.
240 University of Oklahoma: Mohammed Al-Rasheed had studied in Indiana to gain his Ph.D.
240 Al-Aghar: Prince Faisal bin Abdullah’s think tank took its title from its first meeting in the Riyadh equestrian club of that name. It has produced a number of cultural and economic reports in addition to its work on the knowledge-based society. Author conversation with Fahd Abu-Alnasr, February 17, 2009.
241 poisonous text messages: Mansour Al-Nogaidan, interview with author, Ajman, November 10, 2007.
241 “seventy-five lashes”: Mansour Al-Nogaidan, e-mail to author, September 22, 2008.
242 “humiliating punishment”:http://www.nytimes.com/2003/11/28/opinion/28MANS.html.
242 “price of reforms”: Ibid.
Chapter 26: Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula
244 “come to kill you!”: Gardner, p. 271.
244 death toll that night: New York Times, May 14, 2003. Also Saudi Press Agency, June 7, 2003.
245 battle to the Al-Saud: Thomas Hegghammer, “Islamist Violence and Regime Stability in Saudi Arabia,” International Affairs 84, no, 4 (July 2008), p. 709.
245 Riyadh black market: Douglas Baldwin, interview with author, Riyadh, March 5, 2007.
245 by memorizing the Koran: The concept of halving a prisoner’s sentence if he memorized the Koran was introduced in 1979 by General Yahya Al-Muallimi, director general of Saudi prisons, who felt that religious education was a good way to reform convicted criminals.
245 bloodthirsty exploits: Frank Gardner, interview with author, London, March 3, 2008.
246 authorized the location: Frank Gardner, e-mail to author, November 10, 2008.
246 drew out a gun: These paragraphs are based on an interview with Frank Gardner in London on March 3, 2008, and on the account in his book Blood and Sand.
246 bullet in his leg: Gardner, p. 26.
246 “pure hatred and fanaticism”: Ibid., p. 27.
246 feeling the bullets: Ibid., p. 28.
247 killed or captured: Saudi embassy, Washington, D.C., Press Release of April 11, 2005. www.saudiembassy.net.
247 not sufficiently trained: Gardner, pp. 269, 270.
248 “Bin Laden’s ‘own goal’ ”: David Rundell, interview with author, March 6, 2007.
249 “people of the caves”: Mohammed Al-Harbi, interview with author, Riyadh, February 13, 2007.
250 dream of a better place: Hussein Shobokshi, “The Dream,” Okaz, May 30, 2003.
251 no less than 40 percent: Arab News, December 11, 2007.
252 could only be a Sufi: The Maliki family of Mecca have a large following in the Hijaz and throughout the Muslim world, especially in Indonesia, where millions of people follow their teachings and practice Sufism in their tradition.
252 “Know your limits”: “Shobokshi Article Provokes Vibrant Debate,” Arab News, July 16, 2003.
Chapter 27: Prodigal Sons
253 “simply vanished”: Khaled Al-Hubayshi, interview with author, Jeddah, April 19, 2008.
254 “over the horizon to die”: Khaled Al-Hubayshi, interview with author, Jeddah, May 12, 2008.
254 “They shackled us”: Ibid.
254 “ ‘Cuba?’ ” I said: Khaled Al-Hubayshi, interview with author, April 19, 2008.
254 137 Saudis detained: “List of Individuals Detained by the Department of Defense at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, from January 2002 through May 15, 2006,” http://www.defenselink.mil/news/May2006/d20060515%20List.pdf.
257 “a virus in the brain”: Mohammed bin Nayef, interview with author, Riyadh, March 7, 2007.
257 “transform each detainee”: Ibid.
257 “a sort of Saudi Guantánamo”: Mohammed bin Nayef, interview with author, Riyadh, February 3, 2009.
258 went to Yemen: “Saudi Suspects Seeking to Revive Al-Qaeda,” Khaleej Times, February 8, 2009.
258 eighty-five radical young Saudis: “Eighty-five on Wanted List of Militants,” Saudi Gazette, February 3, 2009.
258 “Whoever wins society”: Mohammed bin Nayef, interview with author, Riyadh, February 3, 2009.
259 the phone call: Talal Al-Zahrani, interview with author, Taif, July 27, 2006.
259 “duty to God”: Talal Al-Zahrani, interview with author, Jeddah, July 16, 2006.
259 captured alongside Yasser: “Abu Fawwaz,” interview with author, Jeddah, January 22, 2007.
260 misled his interrogators: Summary of Evidence for Combatant Status Review Tribunal—Al-Zahrani, Yasser, September 24, 2004, no. 000149, unclassified.
260 “committed suicide”: See Wikipedia, “Guantánamo Suicide Attempts” for a comprehensive survey of the press coverage of the suicides. Also “U.S. Group Sues Pentagon over 2 Guantánamo Suicides—Claims Filed on Behalf of Relatives,” Associated Press in International Herald Tribune, June 11, 2008; Carol J. Williams, “Covering Gitmo,” Los Angeles Times, June 18, 2006; Michael Melia, “Saudi Arabian Guantánamo Detainee Dies in Apparent Suicide,” San Diego Union Tribune, May 31, 2007.
260 “entrance to hell”: “Abu Fawwaz,” interview with author, Jeddah, January 22, 2007.
261 larynx had been removed: Final Autopsy Report on Al Zahrani, Yasir T., 02 August 2006, Armed Forces Institute of Pathology, Naval Hospital, Guantánamo Bay, Cuba. This report describes the larynx as “lined by intact white mucosa.”
262 “three thousand lies”: Talal Al-Zahrani, telephone conversation with Hala Al-Houti, November 26, 2008.
262 “a coordinated suicide pact”: Andy Worthington, “Guantánamo Suicide Report: Truth or Travesty?” Web report on Antiwar.com, the Huffington Post, Counter-Punch, Znet, and AlterNet.
262 “my son’s handwriting”: Talal Al-Zahrani, telephone conversation with Hala Al-Houti, November 26, 2008.
262 like a corpse: Hala Al-Houti, interview with author, Taif, July 27, 2006.
Chapter 28: King Abdullah
264 “The Angel of Death”: Off the record, August 2006.
265 new private jet: Information from a senior pilot with Saudia, April 2, 2008. Confirmed by a senior member of the royal family.
265 required to pay: Saudi journalist, Jeddah, July 2006.
265 “same schedule”: Off-the-record interview, December 2008.
266 chlorinated water vapor: From a member of Abdullah’s inner circle.
266 poolside ponderings: From one of Abdullah’s advisers
266 intellectual dimension: Dr. Majid Al-Moneef, interview with author, November 18, 2008.
266 Al-Jabri . . . Arkoun: Ibid.
267 “Eid Al Adha . . . Eid Al Fitr”:http://www.2eids.com/introduction_to_eid.php.
268 “nonroyal Saudis”: Defeated candidate, interview with author, Al-Khobar, April 2007.
268 Saudi voting craze: Abdullah interview with Le Monde, reprinted in Saudi-U.S. Relations Information Service (SUSRIS), www.saudi-us-relations.org., April 14, 2005, p. 2.
269 “Allegiance Council”: Abdullah personally worked out the role and mechanisms of the council, according to a senior member of the royal family.
269 nomination for crown prince: “Saudi Arabia Issues Rules for Succession Council,” Reuters, October 9, 2007.
269 “We should do it now”: Information provided to the author by a senior member of the royal family.
270 news of the council’s creation: Information from a local journalist who covered the story.
270 television viewers: Mohammed Saeed Tayeb interview with author, Jeddah, November 27, 2008.
270 Allegiance Council met: P. K. Abdul Ghafour, “Mishaal Named Allegiance Commission Chairman,” Arab News, December 11, 2007.
270 late father’s vote: Description from a member of the Allegiance Commission.
271 “the principle of tolerance”: Remarks by King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz at the United Nations “Culture of Peace” Conference, New York, November 12, 2008.
271 “respect the opinions”: Arab News, June 23, 2003.
271 “institutions of civil society”: Abdullah interview with Le Monde, reprinted in SUSRIS, April 14, 2005, p. 2.
272 rocketed in three years: Weston, p. 483.
272 improvement was tangible: See Country Tables in World Bank, Doing Business 2009 (London: Palgrave Macmillan, 2008).
273 eighteen million natives: The CIA’s World Factbook is one of several sources that estimates the Saudi population at around 28 million in July 2008, with 5.5 million legal nonnationals.
273 13 percent of GDP: Henny Sender, “What the U.S. Can Learn from Saudi Arabia,” Financial Times, February 6, 2009.
273 $513 billion: Saudi Arabian Monetary Authority figures in “GCC Sovereign Funds: Reversal of Fortune,” by Brad Setser and Rachel Ziemba, Working Paper, Center for Geoeconomic Studies, Council on Foreign Relations, January 2009, p. 2.
Chapter 29: Girls of Saudi
275 “do not exist”: Suzanne Al-Mashhadi, “I am Black and You are White,” Al-Hayat, February 22, 2007.
275 “good at being ready to die”: Khaled Bahaziq, interview with author, Jeddah, December 9, 2006.
277 “Unconditional love”: Ibid.
277 “crazy about him”: “Mashael,” telephone interview, January 29, 2008, and meeting, February 11, 2008.
278 Saudi female campuses: Numerous Saudi women.
281 “Is She a Disgrace?”: Arab News, October 10, 2008.
281 “euphemisms”: Ibid.
282 “cherished his wives”: Hadith 170, book 73, narrated by Anas bin Malik: “The Prophet came to some of his wives among whom there was Umm Sulaim, and said, ‘May Allah be merciful to you, O Anjasha! Drive the camels slowly, as they are carrying glass vessels!’ ”
282 pictures of Muhannad: Faiza Saleh Ambah, “A Subversive Soap Roils Saudi Arabia,” Washington Post, August 3, 2008.
282 condemning the show:http://www.ammaro.com/2008/07/divorces-tv-shows-fatwas.htm.
282 “call for corruption”:http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/world/middle_east/7613575.stm.
282 oldest Islamic scholar: “Al-Laheedan Raps Distortion of Remarks,” Arab News, September 13, 2008.
Chapter 30: Illegitimate Occupation
284 “This is royalty”: From a member of the Crawford Ranch gathering.
284 appealed to Bush: Ibid.
284 “a man I can trust”: Ibid.
285 “two men of faith”: Ibid.
285 several thousand translations: Arab News, April 22, 2002.
285 peace proposal: Thomas L. Friedman, “An Intriguing Signal from the Saudi Crown Prince,” New York Times, February 17, 2002.
285 “some authentic sampling”: Adviser to Abdullah, interview with author, Riyadh, February 2007.
285 scrapbook of news photographs: Glenn Kessler and Karen DeYoung, “Saudis Publicly Get Tough With U.S.,” Washington Post, March 30, 2007.
286 Kinko’s: Recollection of a Saudi official who helped collate the photo album.
286 “empty-handed”: And previous sentences. Recollection of an official present at the meeting.
286 “playing games?”: Robert Jordan, Interview with the author, Washington, DC, May 1, 2007.
286 voices grew so loud: DeYoung, p. 386.
286 “in peace and security”:http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2002 /06/20020 624-3.html.
287 talking “past each other”: Ottaway, p. 237.
287 “aligned with U.S. interests”: Michael Schwartz, “When Success Is Failure in Iraq,” September 10, 2008, http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/JI10Ak01.html.
287 “An American-led overthrow”: Ibid.
287 “hit Saddam Hussein”: National Commission on Terrorist Attacks, (“9/11 Report”), p. 335.
287 possible Iraqi links: Clarke cited in National Commission on Terrorist Attacks (“9/11 Report”), p. 334.
288 “no legal basis for it”: Bill Sammon, “Saudis Want Inspections, Not Iraq Attack,” Washington Times, August 28, 2002.
288 sent back to Riyadh: Thomas E. Ricks, “Briefing Depicts Saudis as Enemies,” Washington Post, August 6, 2002. For details of the twenty-four slides, see Jack Shafer, “The PowerPoint That Rocked the Pentagon,” Slate, August 7, 2002,http://www.slate.com/id/2069119/.
289 “the kernel of evil”: Ibid.
289 “Saudis cooperate fully”: Thomas E. Ricks, “Briefing Depicts Saudis as Enemies,” Washington Post, August 6, 2002.
289 aggressive views: Murawiec, book jacket quotations.
289 neoconservative strategy: Thomas E. Ricks, “Briefing Depicts Saudis as Enemies,” Washington Post, August 6, 2002.
289 “allies for over sixty years”: Ibid.
289 “The answer is no”: Dana Milbank and Glenn Kessler, “Bush Moves to Ease Tensions with Saudis,” Washington Post, August 28, 2002.
290 Saddam crashing down: Ottaway, p. 214. See also Elsa Walsh, “The Prince,” New Yorker, March 24, 2003.
290 have him assassinated: Ottaway, p. 214.
290 “utter nonsense . . . Saudi policy”: Information from a long-standing professional colleague of Prince Bandar’s, Jeddah, November 26, 2008.
290 “a de facto member”: Ottaway, p. 214.
290 briefed Bandar: Woodward, pp. 264-266.
291 Two . . . wives . . . Shammar: Information from a member of the royal court, December 2008.
291 “cut and run”: Personal opinion of a senior Saudi diplomat involved in the U.S.-Saudi communications in these years.
291 air base at al-Kharj: Thomas E. Ricks, “American Way of War in Saudi Desert,” Washington Post, January 7, 2003.
291 undercover operations: Rowan Scarborough, “U.S. to Pull Forces from Saudi Arabia,” Washington Times, April 30, 2003.
Chapter 31: End of the Affair
292 “a Muslim marriage”: Ottaway, p. 226.
292 other countries in Asia: Between 1991 and 2001 Saudi oil sales were running at approximately 2 million barrels per day (mbd) to Japan and South Korea, 2 mbd to other Asian countries including China, 2 mbd to Europe, 2 mbd to the U.S., and 1 mbd on domestic consumption. Information from an oil consultant based in Bahrain.
292 China’s principal supplier: Between 2002 and 2008 China increased its oil consumption to about 8 mbd, of which 50 percent was imported. Saudi Arabia provided about a quarter of those imports (1 mbd).
292 “strategic relationship”: Ali Al-Naimi, “The Asian Outlook and Saudi Arabia’s Oil Policy,” World Petroleum Congress, Shanghai, China, September 29, 2001.
293 $3.5 billion refinery: Arab News, January 23, 2006.
293 “history as a mirror”: Ibid., April 24, 2006.
294 Chinese CSS-2 missiles: Simon Henderson, “Chinese-Saudi Cooperation: Oil but also Missiles,” Washington Institute, Policy Watch #1095, April 21, 2006.
294 the nuclear option: Ottaway, pp. 228-29.
294 poverty-stricken Saudis: For the early history of Saudi-Soviet relations, see Lacey, pp. 240, 241.
295 vying alternatively: the two countries continue to compete in the 8-9 mbd range. Information from an oil consultant based in Bahrain.
295 26 percent . . . 31 percent: World Almanac and Book of Facts (New York: World Almanac Books, 2007), p. 113.
295 In January 2004: The deal was signed in November 2003 for a 40-year concession covering 81,000 square miles. Arab News, January 27, 2004.
295 the “unipolar world”: Vladimir Putin, speech at the 43rd Munich Conference on Security Policy, February 10, 2007.
295 nuclear technology: According to one royal adviser, this Russian “shopping list” has since been discarded because of Abdullah’s suspicions of Saudi kickbacks in the deal.
296 reconstruction process: Diplomatic official, interview with author, Riyadh, November 2006.
297 carried royal messages: Prince Turki Al-Faisal, conversation with author, Paris, December 15, 2008.
297 embarrassing for lesser Saudi officials: Ottaway, p. 259.
297 arguing for calm: “Transcript of Prince Turki Al-Faisal Remarks,” October 4, 2006, Royal Embassy of Saudi Arabia, http://www.suadiembassy.net/2006News/Statements/SpeechDetail.asp?cIndex=644.
298 influence of Iran: Saud Al-Faisal, “The Fight Against Extremism and the Search for Peace,” Council on Foreign Relations, September 23, 2005.
298 large sums of money: Robin Wright, “Royal Intrigue, Unpaid Bills Preceded Saudi Ambassador’s Exit,” Washington Post, December 23, 2006. A Saudi official involved in the contract denies the sum of $10 million mentioned in the Washington Post—setting the figure closer to a tenth of that.
299 honor of third place: Ottaway, p. 249.
300 double the $1.41 level: Ibid., p. 247.
300 refineries to match: States News Service, April 25, 2005.
301 “the radicalizing of my sons”: Recollection by an official present at the meeting at the king’s Janadriyya farm. Adel Al-Jubeir, who translated for the king in his meetings with Michael Cherthoff during this visit, says he has no recollection of this conversation taking place.
301 “relative poundages”: Recollection by an official present at the meeting, Riyadh, November 19, 2008.
302 “make a Muslim of him yet”: This story circulated soon after Abdullah’s arrival in the U.S. in November 2008. Adel Al-Jubeir, the Saudi ambassador who was with the king for much of the time, agrees that Abdullah received a private call from Obama soon after his arrival in November 2009, but says that the king did not make the comment attributed to him.
Chapter 32: Condition of the People
303 open-sided tent: Named a fillabee after Harry St. John Philby (1885-1960), the English explorer, bird-watcher, and colonial servant turned adviser to King Abdul Aziz, who was said to have brought the first of these tall, straight-sided marquees from India. Philby converted to Islam, taking the name Abdullah, and wrote several books about Arabia. Apart from the fillabee, he is remembered in ornithology for Philby’s partridge (Alectoris philbyi)—and in non-Saudi history for being the father of Kim Philby, the British spy turned Soviet double agent.
303 into the desert: In France this small wooden ball is known as the cochonnet, or piglet.
303 king tends to win: Related by a foreign player of Saudi boules. Several Saudi sources have denied that the king plays with an extra boule, but people in Prince Charles’s party in 2004 have a clear memory of the home advantage.
303 comforts of his farm: These details were described to the author by a confidant of the king’s.
304 “He is our Muawiyah”: Hala Al-Houti, interview with author, Jeddah, February 1, 2009.
304 pull them gently: Algosaibi, Yes, (Saudi) Minister!, p. 17.
304 classical learning: Ibid.
304 the “Thunder” sura: Koran, sura 13, verse 11.
304 the royal eye: Adviser to King Abdullah, interview with author, Riyadh, November 20, 2006.
305 “cloud of confusion”:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Kt4oFP_N1k.
305 “nineteen types of rice”: Al-Jazirah (newspaper), August 17, 2007.
306 been with other men: This account of the rape of the Qateef girl is based on an interview with Fouad Ali Al-Mushaikhis in Al-Awjam, January 16, 2008, and on follow-up conversations in Dhahran and Qateef, November 24, 2008; on visits to some of the sites of the incident with Al-Mushaikhis and with Ali Al-Marzouq; on interviews with Abdul-Rahman Al-Lahem in Riyadh, February 9, 2008, and March 10, 2008, and on interviews with Ebtihal Mubarak, Suzan Zawawi, and other journalists who covered the case.
307 a small plastic tree: Fouad Al-Mushaikhis, interview with author, Dhahran, November 24, 2008.
307 “a boy and a girl”: Fouad Al-Mushaikhis, interview with author, Al-Awjam, January 16, 2008.
308 importance of “face”: Interview with clinical psychologist, Riyadh, March 2008.
309 processing rape allegations: Survey by Safaa Al-Ahmad, 2007.
310 “ ‘more afraid of them’ ”: Fouad Al-Mushaikhis, interview with author, Dhahran, November 24, 2008.
311 “improper premarital closeness”: Sheikh Abdul Muhsin Al-Abaiqan, interview with author, Riyadh, March 11, 2008.
312 “hovering around”: Fouad Al-Mushaikhis, interview with author, Dhahran, November 24, 2008.
313 “invited by a sinful woman”: Ibid.
313 tarnished the court’s reputation: “Saudi Arabia: Rape Victim Punished for Speaking Out,” Human Rights Watch, New York, November 17, 2007. http://hrw.org/english/docs/2007/07/18/saudia16399.htm.
313 “the death penalty”: Interview in Okaz, November 27, 2007, reported in “Saudi Rape Case Spurs Calls for Reform,” by Rasheed Abou-AlSamh, New York Times, December 1, 2007.
314 “my wife’s ‘honor’ ”: Ebtihal Mubarak, interview with author, Jeddah, February 24, 2008.
314 pardons for the Qateef girl: Abdul Rahman Al-Lahem, interview with author, Riyadh, March 10, 2008.
314 “the dark tunnel of iniquity”: Abdul Rahman Al-Lahem, interview with author, Riyadh, February 9, 2008.
315 had to leave: Fouad Al-Mushaikhis, interview with author, Dhahran, November 24, 2008.
Epilogue
317 some ten million: Galal Fakkar, “Many Land Lucrative Jobs Dodging the Rules,” Arab News, November 13, 2008.
317 seventy-three per year: Robert F. Worth, “Saudi Arabia: Executions Rose in 2008,” New York Times, October 15, 2008.
317 forty-two per year: “Facts About the Death Penalty,” http://www.deathpenaltyinfo. org/FactSheet.pdf , Death Penalty Information Center, April 1, 2008.
317 three hundred people: “Ashcroft Announces Closed-Circuit Telecast of McVeigh Execution,” CourtTV (2001-04-12).
317 shamefully tortured: Hollingsworth and Mitchell.
317 “Have you been tortured”: Off-the-record interviews.
317 “soft policing”: See, for example, Christopher Boucek, Saudi Arabia’s “Soft” Counterterrorism Strategy: Prevention, Rehabilitation, and Aftercare (Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Middle East Program, no. 97, September 2008).
318 were a running club: Fouad Al-Farhan, interview with author, Jeddah, November 12, 2008.
318 “a cake in prison”: Ibid.
318 rice and sheep: Fouad Al-Farhan, interview with author, Jeddah, February 5, 2009.
319 “hunt down al-Qaeda”: Fouad Al-Farhan, interview with author, November 12, 2008.
319 security reasons: Prince Mohammed bin Nayef, interview with author, Riyadh, February 3, 2009.
319 “as God commands”: Off-the-record interview, Washington, October 2008.
320 “Isn’t that mental—and physical—abuse?”: Fouad Al-Farhan, interview with author, November 12, 2008.
320 “a different opinion”: Mohammed Saeed Tayeb, interview with author, November 27, 2008.
321 “ ‘not your thobe’ ”: Ibid.
321 in the course of revision: Prince Mohammed bin Nayef, interview with author, Riyadh, February 3, 2009.
321 middle of March 2009: Mohammed Saeed Tayeb, telephone conversation, March 15, 2009.
321 “no reformers there”: Fouad Al-Farhan, March 16, 2009.
322 “control your hunger”: Ahmad Sabri, interview with author, Jeddah, September 20, 2007.
324 earning fatwas: Pascal Ménoret, “Saudi TV’s Dangerous Hit,” Le Monde Diplomatique, September 16, 2004.
324 receiving death threats: Mahmoud Ahmad, “Tash Ma Tash Actors Receive Death Threats,” Arab News, October 27, 2004.
324 “don’t make fun”: Nasser Al-Gasabi, interview with author, Dubai, November 8, 2007.
325 “mental change may follow”: Khaled Bahaziq, interview with author, Jeddah, September 12, 2007.
325 “permission of their mahram”: Dr. Fawzia Al-Bakr, telephone conversation, June 8, 2008.
325 “a sort of sisterhood”: Ibid.
325 The June 2004 gathering: Weston, p. 435.
327 “a Wahhabi between quotation marks”: Turki Al-Faisal, U.S.-Arab Policy Conference, Washington, DC, October 31, 2008.
327 dominating the screen: This description comes from several who saw this single episode of the canceled TV series.
327 shoulder operation: Statement to the author by a representative of Prince Bandar, Jeddah, November 26, 2008.
327 “low profile”: Explanation to the author by a member of Prince Bandar’s staff.
327 tribal areas of Pakistan: Nico Hines, “CIA Says Osama Bin Laden Cut Off from al-Qaeda,” Timesonline, November 14, 2008.
327 some seventy million riyals: Statement to the author by an adviser to the Bin Laden family, Jeddah, November 29, 2008.
328 surviving wives and children: Bin Laden family member, interview with author, Jeddah, September 2007.
328 “a more modern Islam”:http://www.washingtonpost.com/wpdyn/content/article/2007/07/20/AR200707200188.html.
328 “sports at home”:http://www.islamlight.net cited in Faiza Ambah, “A Drive Toward the Goal of Greater Freedom,” Washington Post, April 15, 2008.
329 “realities of modern life”: Tawfiq Al-Seif, interview with author, Tarut Island, June 8, 2007.
330 “evolving too slowly”: Dr. Ahmad Al-Tuwayjri, interview with author, Riyadh, April 1, 2006.
330 more than thirty years: Interview with a confidant of King Abdullah, Jeddah, November 30, 2008. Abdullah had to wait until he became king—and until the price of oil rose—to afford his dream.
330 House of Knowledge: I am grateful to Ambassador Chas Freeman for this insight into the Bayt Al-Hekma and its role in King Abdullah’s vision for KAUST.
331 $10 billion endowment: New York Times, March 6, 2008.
331 second only to that of Harvard: Financial Times, May 19, 2008.
332 palm trees and sand: This account was related to the author by someone who traveled on the bus.
332 stayed longer at his prayers: recounted by a member of the family who was with the king that evening.