Inside the Kingdom Page 43
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 indi
cates 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.