Prince Talal bin Abdel-Aziz, half-brother of Saudi Arabiaâs King Fahd bin Abdel-Aziz, told the Foreign Press Association in Paris earlier this week that he welcomed the embryonic reform process getting underway in his country, but is worried that recent devastating bomb attacks there were intended to bring down the monarchy.
Prince Talal, president of the Arab Gulf Program for United Nations Development Organizations, expressed his relief that reforms have started to take effect in Saudi Arabia, saying such measures are necessary across most of the Arab region. âI am one of several persons who have been demanding reforms for many years. Therefore, I believe that the hopes and demands of those who have been seeking reforms are now being realized. This is a good thing. Reforms are not required only in Saudi Arabia ⊠we are in need of democracy and human rights in most of the Arab countries,â he said.
| "But no place quite as much as Soddy Arabia..." |
But while welcoming reform, the prince expressed a fear widely held among the Saudi rulers that terror organizations are now directly targeting their hold on power. âUnfortunately, the terrorist operations that have afflicted Saudi Arabia are intended to destabilize the regime,â he said Tuesday.
| Rather like Soddy "charities" are intended to destabilize infidel regimes, in fact... |
Prince Talal called for those who incite violence to be put on trial, including radical clerics who he named as leading instigators of terror. âOne of their theoreticians is a senior sheikh called Sheikh Ali bin Khodeir al-Khodeir, and there is another who goes by the name of Sheikh Nassir ibn Hamad al-Fahd. They had been preaching to these individuals and encouraging them to become terrorists by issuing fatwas (religious rulings) and authoring books to this effect. A few days ago, we were surprised to see these two men retreating from their fatwas. Is the fatwa a game? Does this mean that you can issue a fatwa to shed the blood of people? How many victims fell after they issued these fatwas? How many men, women and children died because of these fatwas? They must stand trial,â he said.
| Oh, go ahead. Cut their heads off. You know you want to... |
The prince also said the Saudis will turn into human shields to defend their country against any US attempt to partition it.
| This is new, at least coming from the Soddies... |
Prince Talal claimed Saudi Arabia has come to know through senior US officials that there were plans to partition the region.
| Really? That's fascinating. And a damned good idea, if I do say so myself... |
Asked whether such reports were mere rumors, Prince Talal replied that US President George W. Bush had said the US should reconsider its relations with countries that do not have democratic government. US Secretary of State Colin Powell has also alluded to a possible reconsideration of the Middle East map, explained the prince.
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