KARACHI - Never mind the smokescreen raised by much of the media about al-Qaeda, Saudi Arabia's royal intelligence is investigating other militant groups in connection with the car bomb that claimed the lives of at least 17 people in a housing estate in the capital, Riyadh, at the weekend.
Sources in Saudi Arabia have told Asia Times Online that the ruling establishment is aware of several emerging threats, but is reluctant to name them for fear of admitting to the presence of a "substantial number of enemies" in the kingdom, which, until a few years ago, was exemplary for its stability and peace.
The latest terror attack in Saudi Arabia - there was one in May this year, also in a housing compound - follows a recent sweep in Dharan and other eastern provinces in which Saudi security forces captured a large cache of arms and ammunition. A number of militants were arrested, all of them Shi'ites suspected of links with underground Saudi militant movements campaigning against the monarchy, including the little-known al-Iqwan and Saudi Hezbollah. Shi'ites are thought to be a majority in the east, where, as it happens, most of the country's oil lies.
The weapons cache was so big that the Saudi establishment now believes that there are strong supply lines behind the militants that pay and arm them in their isolated desert hubs.
Shi'ites have long complained of discrimination in Saudi Arabia, which is now particularly nervous about the resurgence of the Shi'ite majority in neighboring Iraq following the United States-led invasion that toppled Sunni president Saddam Hussein. Most Saudis belong to the austere Wahhabi branch of Sunni Islam.
The September 11, 2001 terror attacks on the US, in which 15 out of the 19 hijackers were Saudis, turned the world's attention on Riyadh, which has traditionally been a staunch US ally and home to thousands of its troops until a few months ago. The Saudi royal establishment's indirect role in support of Islamic movements could no longer be brushed under the carpet.
And the US-led attacks on Afghanistan and Iraq have given an emotional boost to various Saudi dissident groups, including those who fought in the Afghan war in the 1980s against the Soviets and which had some connection with al-Qaeda - including some members of the vast royal family who are known to have met, and have some sympathy for, Osama bin Laden's cause.
The Movement for Islamic Reform in Arabia (MIRA) is headed by Dr Saad al-Fagih, a Saudi dissident based in London. This was a little-know group before September 11, but its profile has been considerably raised since then. Nowadays, Saad is frequently quoted in the world's media, most recently for his calls for protests in Riyadh. He's also one of the "experts" that the media like to draw on to understand what makes bin Laden tick.
Despite the group's extremist notions, it is still allowed to operate in the United Kingdom, while other such outfits have had their wings clipped. It should be added, though, that MIRA is not known to be directly involved in militancy, but it does aim to inflame sentiment against all of the pillars of power in the Saudi monarchy, including King Fahd, Crown Prince Abdullah, the royal family and the clergy.
Certainly, Saudi Arabia's rulers have their internal problems. As US allies, they publicly declared their support for the Bush administration's "war on terror" and enthusiastically embarked on a roundup of suspects. However, a number of their targets were Shi'ite dissidents who had nothing to do with any global campaigns, rather they were involved in an internal power struggle against the royal establishment.
The royal family, though, is itself split, with many of its members taking sides with hardliners. There are about 14,000 male members in the royal family, so naturally only a few hundred hold key positions, with the remainder left to simply wear the royal tag on their chests. In such a politically-locked society, bin Laden's slogan-based militant politicking is one way of letting off steam.
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/EK13Ak01.html
