After the assassination of King Faysal in 1975, the Rashidi family was forced to flee the country out of concern for their safety. The king's assassin, Faysal bin Musa'id bin Abd al-Aziz, was the son of Musa'id and Watfa bint Muhammad bin Talal Al Rashid, the product of one of the political marriages arranged between the Saud and Rashidi families after the overthrow of the Ha'il-based principality in 1921. Although Faysal bin Musa'id was most likely taking revenge for the shooting of his brother, Khalid, who had been killed a few years earlier by police during a civil demonstration - he was led to believe that King Faysal was responsible for having ordering the police to open fire - rumors soon swirled that the affair involved a Rashidi connection, due to Faysal bin Musa'id's maternal relations. Though there was no evidence to support this claim, charges that the Rashidi had instigated the assassination were in wide circulation, making the climate sufficiently hostile to force most members of the immediate family to leave.
Following the lead of similar opposition groups, the Rashidi-led Movement for Democratic Reform in Saudi Arabia now plans to unveil a satellite network which will broadcast into the Kingdom. Much as previous organizations used novel means of communication such as the fax machine to propogate their message, this tactic will capitalize on new technology to reach a broad audience. Talal bin Muhammad Al Rashid says he is launching the satellite channel at this time to capitalize on domestic backlash against the royal family for their critical assessment of Hizballah during last summer's war in Lebanon (and not "praising them as martyrs", as he would have preferred). However, such a complex undertaking with its attendant financing and logistics must surely have been months, if not years, in the works, and it is more likely that Rashid has taken advantage of a fortuitous co-incidence to announce an already-scheduled commencement of his activities.
Rashid's rhetoric, with his calls for "100 percent democracy" in Saudi Arabia, is designed to appeal to Western liberals. The group, however, is linked to Islamist organizations like the Movement for Islamic Reform in Arabia (MIRA), and the London-based Committee for the Defense of Legitimate Rights (CDLR).
MIRA is headed by Sa'd Rashid Muhammad al-Faqih, and based in London. The US Treasury designated the group for providing material support to al-Qaeda in July, 2005, and the UK froze the group's assets in December, 2004. MIRA was allegedly behind an assassination attempt on King Abdallah in 2004, and claimed responsibility for a series of terrorist attacks in the province of al-Jauf in 2003. Its radio station, al-Islah (available on Helas-Sat and Internet) has been controversial for its extremist bias.
The CDLR (more accurately the Committee for the Defense of Shari'ah Rights) is also under investigation in connection with terrorist activity, and politicians in the UK are calling for the deportation of its leader, Muhammad bin Abdallah al-Mas'ari. The Saudi government has been requesting his extradition since he escaped from prison there in 1993. His radio station, al-Tajdid, has provoked outrage in the UK for its glorification of terrorism and celebration of attacks on British troops fighting in Iraq, who al-Mas'ari feels are legitimate targets. Air time has in the past been given to al-Zarqawi of al-Qaeda's Iraq offshoot.
More recently, al-Mas'ari has headed the Movement for Islamic Innovation (Harakat al-Tajdid al-Islam). Despite sheltering behind slogans advocating human rights and non-violent reform, the CDLR has at least two militant offshoots which have ties with and were supported by al-Qaeda. Usama bin Ladin's Committee for Advice and Reform also co-operated with the CDLR in the early 1990s. There are also apparent associations with Hizb al-Tahrir (banned in Muslim countries) and al-Muhajirun.
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War, Peace and Politics - The Royal Family and Palestine (Part II)
After the death of the first Saudi king, Abd al-Aziz, his son Saud took the throne. Despite taking the Palestinian issue to heart, the new monarch was unable to ever fully comprehend the depth of American support for Israel. In the end, Saud's weak leadership, disinterest, and lack of regional clout frustrated his scattered and unfocused efforts at resolution. |
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War, Peace and Politics - The Royal Family and Palestine (Part I)
The October 7 surprise attack on Israel by Hamas, and the resulting war this precipitated, has exposed the shortcomings of the Abraham Accords. Further, the lack of available arrows in the Saudi diplomatic quiver highlights the failure of decades-long efforts to reach a meaningful consensus on the issue of Palestinian statehood. Yet, starting with the reign of the Kingdom's founder, Abd al-Aziz, solidarity with Palestine and opposition to the Zionist project has been a core tenet of the royal identity. |
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Stage Management: Spectacles, Sidelining And Dissent
Even as the Kingdom takes steps towards cultural liberalization, an intense crackdown on activists and political dissidents continues unabated. Can the attempt to change its international image be reconciled with the extraordinary sentences being handed down by the courts? |
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A Royal in Morocco: The Strange Case of Princess Fahda al-Hithlayn
News of the lavish Moroccan holiday of Fahda, the wife of Saudi King Salman, seems to fly in the face of widespread reports of her supposed captivity on the orders of her own son, the crown prince. Was the sensational allegation by foreign intelligence agencies flawed, or has a family reconciliation taken place? |
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Reform, Crackdown and Succession: Continuity or Disruption?
As the crown prince and de facto regent Muhammad bin Salman presses ahead with an ambitious program of social and structural reforms, it is often assumed that he is pursuing a radically vision than that preferred by his more conservative father, King Salman. A closer look, however, reveals that the two are in fact closely aligned. |