Saudis 'kidnap reformist prince'
Interesting news from the
BBC
One of the more liberal Saudi Princes commented on how reform would be a good idea. This Prince (Prince Sultan bin Turki bin Abdel-Aziz - a grandson of Saudi Arabia's first king) was attending a conference in Davos Switzerland and:
bq. Prince Sultan bin Turki bin Abdel-Aziz says he was lured to a meeting in Geneva, where he was drugged before being flown back to the desert kingdom.
bq. The prince says he is currently under house arrest in the capital, Riyadh.
bq. The claims come at an awkward time for the ruling family, amid growing internal calls for change.
And more:
bq. Speaking to the BBC from his home in Riyadh - where he says he is in poor health and under house arrest - he described what happened in June, when, he says, two Saudi ministers lured him to a meeting in Geneva.
bq. Five masked men came in and kidnapped and drugged him.
bq. When he regained consciousness he discovered he had been transported back to Saudi Arabia, where he spent several weeks in hospital.
bq. Public rifts in the Saudi ruling family are relatively rare - but the prince's branch of the family has been in trouble before.
bq. His father, Prince Turki bin Abdel-Aziz - a brother of the country's ailing monarch, King Fahd - moved to Cairo after a falling-out with senior princes.
bq. His son's allegations come at an awkward time for the ruling House of Saud, as it attempts to crush Islamic militants thought to be linked to al-Qaeda - and to meet growing demands for political and economic reform.
To quote the last paragraph: " allegations come at an awkward time for the ruling House of Saud, as it attempts to crush Islamic militants thought to be linked to al-Qaeda - and to meet growing demands for political and economic reform "
OK - so they are trying to introduce reform but then they kidnap one of their own because this person talks publicly about reform? Someone is not serious and someone is in for a very big surprise.
If the
Royals were
serious about bringing their country into the modern world, if the
Royals were
serious about caring for their citizens, they could still do all of this and still maintain the trappings of power they now have - the people would be grateful for the openness, caring and progress. As it stands now, people are seeing what is happening in other places, craving some of this. Also, there is enough discontent that the al-Qaeda cult can gain foothold. What does that say about the government...
Posted by DaveH at January 22, 2004 10:36 PM