U.S. and Saudi security officials, assisted by a team of FBI forensics experts sent out by Washington, launched an all-out investigation of the bombing-but despite competing claims of responsibility from three previously unknown Mideastern groups, the trail seemed to lead nowhere. At the weekend, speculation centered on the usual suspects: Iran, Iraq and Sudan, all hostile regimes that would be happy to shake the House of Saud. King Fahd ibn Abd al-Aziz al-Saud, the desert kingdom’s 72-year-old monarch, was described by one U.S. diplomat as “personally embarrassed, deeply horrified and genuinely hurt” by the brutal assault on his American protectors.
But this car bomb, the first such terrorist attack in Saudi history, was almost certainly aimed at the Saud dynasty as well-at Fahd himself, and at the lengthy and still growing list of royal brothers, sons, nephews and grandsons who rule the world’s biggest strategic petroleum reserve. Secretive, shrewd and wealthy beyond imagination, the Saud family runs Saudi Arabia like a feudal fiefdom–which it is, despite the glitzy commercialism visible along Thirty Street or the state-of-the-art Western technology the kingdom’s petrowealth has bought. Building on their historical role as guardians of Mecca and Medina, Islam’s holiest cities, the Sauds for years have depicted themselves as paragons of piety and patrons of the fading dream of pan-Arab unity. That imagery, like the traditional Bedouin regalia they often wear in public, has been effective camouflage until now.
But the reputation of some family members for fast living, their reputed penchant for demanding a percentage on business deals within the kingdom and, above all, the Sauds’ all too obvious reliance on the Great Satan have led to accusations of hypocrisy and betrayal from radical fundamentalists in Tehran, Baghdad and Khartoum. It has also led to rising disillusionment within Saudi Arabia itself-particularly since the gulf war, a multibillion-dollar burden on the royal treasury, forced cutbacks in the social programs that made most Saudi citizens contented monarchists. In London last week, the exiled leader of the opposition to the royal family, Muhammad al-Massari, denied any involvement in the bombing, but praised its timing as “very intelligently chosen.” And al-Massari went on to say, “The target is the Americans, but the war is against the [Sauds].”
No one predicts a revolution or any sort of popular uprising: the monarchy is supported by the 77,000-man Saudi National Guard, which is U.S.-trained and U.S.equipped, and by secret police and judges who enforce the harsh penalties, such as whipping, amputation and decapitation, that are prescribed in the Koran. Saudi Arabia is a sternly fundamentalist state that is often criticized for its repressive stance to-ward women and its human-rights abuses. The paradox, at least to Westerners, is that internal opposition to the monarchy comes almost entirely from Muslim firebrands who want an even purer regime.
So the bombing sent a clear message that the kingdom is vulnerable from within-despite the fact that Saudi Arabia’s ambassador to the United States, Prince Bandar bin Sultan, dismisses the threat of internal unrest as “hogwash.” Noel Koch, a former Pentagon terrorism expert, warns that Saudi Arabia is a soft target for terrorists. Other U.S. sources say a group calling itself the “Jihad wing” of the “Arabian Peninsula Islamic Change Movement” has warned of attacks on “colonial invading crusaders” in recent months. This group may be supported by Iran, Iraq or Sudan, and its objective may be to destabilize the region. NEWSWEEK has learned that the Saudis secretly sent hit teams to Khartoum to neutralize foreign-based terrorists during the Bush administration. But Fahd’s enemies will almost certainly play on the discontents of Saudi citizens.
Those discontents are real and largely focused on the American presence. The Americans “even run our foreign policy,” a publisher in Jeddah complained last week. “When we follow the American line, it makes the government look weak.” The ominous analogy, to some U.S. experts, is the Iranian revolution of 1979. Like Iran in the 1970s, Saudi society is conflicted be-tween its fundamentalist values and the steady creep of Western influence. “We want to import 21st-century technology and remain in a 10th-century environment,” a young merchant in Jeddah complains. “We don’t know who we are or where we are going.” And like Iran in the 1970s, Saudi Arabia is still enigmatic to Westerners, including the State Department’s own experts. That lack of knowledge worries U.S. officials– so much so that the U.S. Embassy in Riyadh, according to NEWSWEEK sources, recently conducted a secret political poll under the guise of a “marketing survey.” One question was whether Saudis favored more democracy; a plurality said yes. But fully 86 percent supported the need for more rigorous Islamic morality, an obvious rejection of Western influence.
The U.S. presence, meanwhile, has grown conspicuous since the gulf war. Some 5,000 U.S. troops are stationed within Saudi Arabia itself, and many more pass through Riyadh on their way to other bases around the region. Like the Fifth Fleet hovering offshore, U.S. forces are deployed in-country to protect the monarchy from the threat of renewed Iraqi aggression. But their very presence has become an issue. While the United States can defend Saudi Arabia from its neighbors, it is less clear that Washington can protect the Sauds from themselves.
Shrewd, secretive and wealthy, the Saud family has ruled for six decades. But now the House of Saud faces increasing criticism from a discontented middle class and a growing group of Islamic radicals.
Founder of modern-day Saudi Arabia in 1932, Ibn Saud re-established his ancestral claim–and eliminated powerful rivals-by marrying into many prominent nomadic tribes, creating a royal family that now includes some 6,000 princes.
Prince Sultan, 67. Brother of King Fahd-and the second most powerful leader in Saudi Arabia. As the outspoken minister of defense and civil aviation, Sultan oversees the $15 billion defense budget, and is a strong advocate of U.S. weaponry. He also controls lucrative “offset” businesses from military contracts, including petroleum and civic projects. Among his four sons are Khalid, who led the Arab forces during the 1991 gulf war, and Bandar, ambassador to the United States.
Prince Nayef, 62. Brother of Fahd and interior minister, Nayef is a tough boss who controls all matters of security and the press; he also gives final approval to candidates for regional and local councils.
Prince Salman, 59. The governor of Riyadh, said to be the brightest of the royals, he is the de facto chief of intelligence networks, censor of foreign publications that enter the country, and the head of cultural affairs.
Crown Prince Abdullah, 71. Half brother of Fahd, Abdullah was appointed first deputy prime minister and heir apparent in 1982. He also serves as commander of the 77,000-member National Guard.
King Fahd, 72, one of at least 48 sons of Ibn Saud. Once something of a playboy gambler, Fahd has helped shape the kingdom’s modernization and basically pro-Western stance, accepting the presence of U.S. troops during the gulf war. Nudging the country toward gradual reform, Fahd established a Consultative Council in 1993 to “advise” the king. Last summer, in an attempt to bring in a new generation of administrators, Fahd replaced 16 ministers of his 28-member cabinet.
Prince Saud al-Faisal, 55. Nephew of Fahd and son of King Faisal (assassinated in 1975), Prince Saud, the Western-educated foreign minister, welded nationalism and Islamic fervor by promoting the kingdom’s custodianship of Mecca.
Prince Turki al-Faisal, 50. Brother of Prince Saud and nephew of the king, Turki is the nominal head of Saudi intelligence. He went to prep school in New Jersey, and was Bill Clinton’s classmate at Georgetown University.
