Rebellion brewing in Saudi Arabia?
Hat tip to
Instapundit. From
The Straits Times comes this story:
bq.
Rebellion brewing in Saudi city
Assassinations in Sakaka, power base of a branch of the royal family, reflect nationwide anger against the monarchy.
bq. The tiny city of Sakaka in the remote al-Jouf province that borders Iraq may seem an unlikely setting for the beginning of a revolution against the ruling al-Saud family.
bq. But one does not have to spend too long here to realise that this is what is happening.
And more:
bq. And there are also, everyone agrees, new social problems in al-Jouf, of the kind that is now plaguing this once crime-free Islamic state.
bq. Archaeological sites, defaced by the graffiti of the alienated, are also littered with the evidence of widespread drug abuse.
And more:
bq. They say it stems from the fact that al-Jouf is the historic power base of the al-Sudairy branch of the royal family, which includes King Fahd and his six full brothers.
bq. Known as the Sudairy Seven, they include Prince Naif, the Interior Minister, Prince Sultan, the Defence Minister, and Prince Salman, the Governor of Riyadh.
bq. They make all the important economic and political decisions in Saudi Arabia, with the King's favourite son, Abdul Aziz, standing in increasingly for his father.
And more:
bq. The families and tribes here are exploiting the vulnerability of a perhaps fatally weakened Saudi ruling family to reassert their territorial claims over those of the al-Sudairy.
bq. As many as 60 per cent of Saudis identify strongly with a tribe.
bq. Since the increased instability following last year's bombings in Riyadh on May 12 and Nov 8, the ruling family has been eager to show that it has the full support of the tribal sheikhs.
bq. But al-Jouf shows what everyone knows: that tribes will switch their 'allegiance' as soon as it is convenient.
Interesting - the Wahabbists have ruled for seventy years but maybe it is time for a change...
Posted by DaveH at January 28, 2004 10:49 AM