by Robert Lacey
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 camp
uses: 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 mu
ch 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.