palace intrigues, and jealousy are only the start of the Al
Sa’ud story. The Al Sa’ud are as violent and vengeful as any Mafia family. The first Saudi to
write a book critical of the kingdom was kidnapped in Beirut and presumably murdered in the
early 1970s. I learned, after I left the CIA, that in the mid-1990s, Na’if was behind at least
two attempts on the life of Muhammad al-Masari, the leader of the London-based Committee for
the Defense of Legitimate Rights. Surely that ought to be reason enough for al-Masari to join
others in taking up arms against the Al Sa’ud - Osama bin Laden, for example. In another case,
‘Abd-al-Karim Naqshabandi, a Syrian who irritated a member of the royal family, was beheaded on
the streets of Riyadh in 1996, despite the pleas of human-rights activists from around the
world. The charge: sorcery. Anything can be a capital crime in Saudi Arabia if it serves the
interest of a Saudi don.
Like royals anywhere the Al Sa’ud are enormously resistant to change.
They don’t want to admit to the rot in the Kingdom. In particular, they don’t want to talk
about the fact that Fahd’s stroke has set the country adrift, allowing corrupt princes to make
fortunes in illegal ventures, from selling visas and alcohol to stealing property. They also do
not want to talk about the fact that the importation of foreign labor has resulted in large
numbers of young Saudis out of work, encouraging them to spend their time in the mosque being
indoctrinated for jihad and righteous murder.
Every Saudi prince receives a substantial allowance, but since none can
ever have enough money, many supplement their royal allotments through bribes on construction
projects (mostly from the bin Laden family), arms deals, and outright theft of property from
commoners. Besides visas, they also sell liquor and narcotics. In July 2002, Na’if bin Sultan
bin Fawaz al-Shaalan was indicted by a Florida grand jury on charges that he used his personal
plane to transport two tons of cocaine from Caracas to Paris in 1999. That incident surprised
even me: I’ve known the Shaalan family for over a decade. Until then, they’d managed to avoid
infection by the kingdom.
Stories of Al Sa’ud profligacy are legion, but Fahd’s youngest son,
Azouzi, broke the mold when he built himself a sprawling theme park outside Riyadh because he
was “interested” in history. He has told visitors that the park cost $4.6 billion. The property
includes a scale model of old Mecca, with actors attending mosque and chanting prayers
twenty-four hours a day. Also on the property: replicas of the Alhambra, old Mecca, and Medina,
and half a dozen other Islamic landmarks. True to form, Azouzi seized the land the park was
built on.
But he’s only following family tradition. When King Fahd’s family
visits the palace at Marbella, they spend on average $5 million a day in the local stores, so
much that shopkeepers want to name a street after the king. Yet as much as the Al Sa’uds love
the objects money buys - diamonds, yachts, palaces, planes - they love human flesh more. Put
simply, the Al Sa’ud are obsessed with sex, everything from prostitutes to little boys.
Incidentally, Interior Minister Na’if has sex on the brain, too: He spends his spare time
consulting with doctors about a cure for his impotence. It’s apparently affected his wife,
Maha, who has a severe anger-management problem. In 1995, on a visit to Orlando, she assaulted
a male servant, accusing him of helping steal $200,000 in cash and jewelry. As Maha beat the
servant bloody in front of the off-duty sheriff’s department deputies assigned to her security
detail, no one raised a hand. She had diplomatic immunity. The lesson didn’t go unnoticed. Six
years later, also in Orlando, another Saudi princess was charged not only with beating her
servant but pushing her down a flight of stairs. This princess didn’t
Sa’ud story. The Al Sa’ud are as violent and vengeful as any Mafia family. The first Saudi to
write a book critical of the kingdom was kidnapped in Beirut and presumably murdered in the
early 1970s. I learned, after I left the CIA, that in the mid-1990s, Na’if was behind at least
two attempts on the life of Muhammad al-Masari, the leader of the London-based Committee for
the Defense of Legitimate Rights. Surely that ought to be reason enough for al-Masari to join
others in taking up arms against the Al Sa’ud - Osama bin Laden, for example. In another case,
‘Abd-al-Karim Naqshabandi, a Syrian who irritated a member of the royal family, was beheaded on
the streets of Riyadh in 1996, despite the pleas of human-rights activists from around the
world. The charge: sorcery. Anything can be a capital crime in Saudi Arabia if it serves the
interest of a Saudi don.
Like royals anywhere the Al Sa’ud are enormously resistant to change.
They don’t want to admit to the rot in the Kingdom. In particular, they don’t want to talk
about the fact that Fahd’s stroke has set the country adrift, allowing corrupt princes to make
fortunes in illegal ventures, from selling visas and alcohol to stealing property. They also do
not want to talk about the fact that the importation of foreign labor has resulted in large
numbers of young Saudis out of work, encouraging them to spend their time in the mosque being
indoctrinated for jihad and righteous murder.
Every Saudi prince receives a substantial allowance, but since none can
ever have enough money, many supplement their royal allotments through bribes on construction
projects (mostly from the bin Laden family), arms deals, and outright theft of property from
commoners. Besides visas, they also sell liquor and narcotics. In July 2002, Na’if bin Sultan
bin Fawaz al-Shaalan was indicted by a Florida grand jury on charges that he used his personal
plane to transport two tons of cocaine from Caracas to Paris in 1999. That incident surprised
even me: I’ve known the Shaalan family for over a decade. Until then, they’d managed to avoid
infection by the kingdom.
Stories of Al Sa’ud profligacy are legion, but Fahd’s youngest son,
Azouzi, broke the mold when he built himself a sprawling theme park outside Riyadh because he
was “interested” in history. He has told visitors that the park cost $4.6 billion. The property
includes a scale model of old Mecca, with actors attending mosque and chanting prayers
twenty-four hours a day. Also on the property: replicas of the Alhambra, old Mecca, and Medina,
and half a dozen other Islamic landmarks. True to form, Azouzi seized the land the park was
built on.
But he’s only following family tradition. When King Fahd’s family
visits the palace at Marbella, they spend on average $5 million a day in the local stores, so
much that shopkeepers want to name a street after the king. Yet as much as the Al Sa’uds love
the objects money buys - diamonds, yachts, palaces, planes - they love human flesh more. Put
simply, the Al Sa’ud are obsessed with sex, everything from prostitutes to little boys.
Incidentally, Interior Minister Na’if has sex on the brain, too: He spends his spare time
consulting with doctors about a cure for his impotence. It’s apparently affected his wife,
Maha, who has a severe anger-management problem. In 1995, on a visit to Orlando, she assaulted
a male servant, accusing him of helping steal $200,000 in cash and jewelry. As Maha beat the
servant bloody in front of the off-duty sheriff’s department deputies assigned to her security
detail, no one raised a hand. She had diplomatic immunity. The lesson didn’t go unnoticed. Six
years later, also in Orlando, another Saudi princess was charged not only with beating her
servant but pushing her down a flight of stairs. This princess didn’t
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