Nothing But Politics

[Amaunet]

Wait, CT, it gets better.

Saudi Arabia throws in with Russia to the great displeasure of the United States and Israel.

According to a source close to OPEC in Riyadh at the time, the Saudi royal family moved within days of the arrest of Khodorkovsky on October 26, 2003, to capitalize on the apparent sea change in Kremlin policy, approving the first official visit to Moscow by a crown prince in 71 years.
http://www.moscowtimes.ru/stories/2003/12/29/001.html

Almost immediately following the Saudi Arabian overtures to Russia there was a terrorist attack in the Saudi capital of Riyadh that to an analytical eye does not look like the work of Al-Qaeda, in fact it is a shocking departure.


Armitage said the bombing bears the "hallmark" of Al-Qaeda and that he believes the Saudi royal family was the target. "It is quite clear to me that Al-Qaeda wants to take down the [Saudi] royal family and the government of Saudi Arabia," he said.

Yes, but so does the United States and Israel. Is Saudi under attack from all sides including Al-Qaeda? -Am

There have been no terrorist attacks in the United States since 11 September 2001. But attacks attributed to Al-Qaeda have been mounted elsewhere, notably in Kenya, Indonesia, and, more recently, in Saudi Arabia. This raises the question of whether the terror network may have shifted its focus from the U.S. and, perhaps, made the Saudis their primary victims.

Washington, 11 November 2003 (RFE/RL) – A Lebanese woman, hospitalized with injuries suffered in this weekend's terrorist attack in the Saudi capital of Riyadh, expressed bewilderment on 9 November about the attack's target, a residential complex that housed mostly foreign Muslims.

Brown tells RFE/RL that Al-Qaeda is not known for claims of responsibility, even for its boldest strikes against the United States. He believes some sort of avowal is necessary to explain the meaning of the attack.

"I think we're going to have to wait until we get some kind of statement [before] we understand exactly what the thinking is behind this. It just makes no sense to me. [Al-Qaeda is] a group that's hard to figure out, but this one's almost impossible," he said.

Still, Brown says, if Al-Qaeda is responsible for the attack, it may be a sign the group is shifting its strategy. He notes that originally, Al-Qaeda's goal was to overthrow governments that it saw as insufficiently Islamic and that cooperated with the West, particularly the United States. Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden made no secret of the fact that he wanted to overthrow the Saud dynasty, which is widely perceived as subservient to the U.S.

But nearly a decade ago, Brown says, Al-Qaeda decided that its best target was not the governments of predominantly Muslim nations, but the United States, for helping to corrupt those governments. And it objected vehemently to the presence of U.S. forces -- which included Christians and Jews -- in Saudi Arabia, which the group considers holy Muslim soil.

"[Al-Qaeda's] target has been, since the mid- to late '90s, the United States and not their own government," Brown said. "And the most recent attack targets not the Saudi government but Saudi citizens and others who are in Saudi Arabia from Muslim countries. And if this is an Al-Qaeda attack, it's not simply a departure, but a shocking departure."
excerpt:
http://www.rferl.org/nca/features/2003/11/11112003172149.asp

U.S. and Saudi officials were quick to pin the attack on Al-Qaeda -- although there is no public evidence yet to support the claim. U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage, on a visit to the region, said he is "quite sure" Al-Qaeda was behind the attack. In an interview today with the Al-Arabiyah satellite television network, Armitage said the bombing bears the "hallmark" of Al-Qaeda and that he believes the Saudi royal family was the target. "It is quite clear to me that Al-Qaeda wants to take down the [Saudi] royal family and the government of Saudi Arabia," he said.

That may be the case. But Daniel Neep, the head of the Middle East and North Africa program at London's Royal United Services Institute, cautions that, increasingly, the words "Al-Qaeda" are being used to refer to a style of attack rather than to a specific organization or individual.

"'Al-Qaeda' is increasingly used to refer to a type of attack -- one that follows certain broad ideological guidelines, rather than something that's been orchestrated from the top down. Certainly, the tactics, the style of the attack, was very much what we've come to recognize as part of the Al-Qaeda brand," Neep said.

He says it's important to remember that Al-Qaeda is not a traditional hierarchical organization. "[Al-Qaeda] isn't a strict hierarchical organization that operates from the top down," he said. "It's essentially a loose-knit network of associated bodies, individual cells, who may not be in contact with other cells in the same country, [and even] less so with international networks."

The attack's "MO," or mode of operation, was certainly straight out of the Al-Qaeda playbook. Reports say the attack began with gunmen firing on the compound from a nearby hill. The attackers -- probably dressed in Saudi police uniforms -- overpowered guards at the complex and drove an explosives-laden vehicle into the compound. It is unclear whether any of the attackers were killed.
excerpt:
http://www.rferl.org/nca/features/2003/11/10112003171643.asp