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Brothels and bombs in Saudi Arabia
EFL, keep salt handy
The suicide bomb attack at the Muhaya residential compound in the Saudi Arabian capital of Riyadh on November 9 in which at least 17 people were killed - most of them foreign Arabs - was neither an episode of global jihadi terrorism nor part of a conspiracy to destabilize the House of Saud. A Pakistani undercover intelligence operator who recently returned from Riyadh told Asia Times Online that the attack was in fact the result of a deep divide within Saudi society between strict religious conservatives with little exposure to the outside world, and a more "liberal" element with the money and power to indulge in restricted activities.
The compound attacked on November 9 was inhabited mainly by Lebanese, Palestinians and Egyptians, and it had earned notoriety as a "pleasure ground" for Saudi "playboys" in a country in which prostitution is outlawed.
| They boomed it because there are whorehouses there? How is that not terrorism? |
Apparently, some of the female residents of the compound were well known for their "exotic erotica", for which they were showered with money and gifts. The goings-on in the compound were seemingly known to the authorities, including agents of the Saudi religious police - the Committee for the Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice - but nothing had been done about it, much to the anger of conservatives who wanted to "eliminate the evil in their society" and what they called the "Arab brothel of Riyadh".
| So they boomed it? Haven't they ever heard of zoning laws? Community associations? |
It was as a result of this anger that the conservatives decided to bomb the complex, according to the Pakistani intelligence agent.
| First, I'd hesitate to take the word of a "Pak expert" if he told me cheese went well with crackers or beer complements pretzels. Second, since Qaeda has claimed credit for the booms, it looks like an effort to blacken the reputation of the victims — regardless of what the truth might actually be. Third, I know lots of people whose activities I don't approve of. I've yet to explode car bombs anywhere near them. |
Initially, after the attack, several conservative groups stepped up their calls in support of the enforcement of strict rules in the country, but under immense pressure and the house arrest of two leading clerics by the Saudi government, these segments condemned "these acts of terror". The Saudi government has officially blamed al-Qaeda, even though the group is highly unlikely to be the culprit.
| Even though they said they dunnit. Where do they get these people? |
Posted by: Paul Moloney 2003-12-08 |
