Saudis Confront Terrorism Anxieties

From the perfume counters at Saks Fifth Avenue to the sheep markets on this city’s edge, Saudis are unnerved about terrorists plotting in their neighborhoods and police lights flashing as the call to prayer echoes over skyscrapers and into the desert wind.

There is little solace here these days. Long accused of exporting terrorism, this nation, shaken by attacks on three residential compounds for foreigners that killed 34 people this month, is confronting the reality that it can happen here too. Suspicious-looking men are rounded up, military helicopters circle, and the rich, sipping mint tea by swimming pools, are wary of venturing beyond their compound walls.

“We are living in fear,” said Abdurrahman Saad Muhanna, walking with his family in a shopping mall. “I wanted to come here two days ago, but I was afraid something would blow up. I feel Saudis are the victims of two attacks: the World Trade Center bombings because we were all blamed for being terrorists, and now the bombings here that killed our own citizens.”

Saudis say they feel the way Americans did after Sept. 11, 2001: They wonder how it happened. How men stockpiled explosives, collected wigs for disguises. How a force so secret and sinister moved among them.

The attacks have reopened debates about curbing Islamic fanaticism, reforming the religious school system, reducing high unemployment and addressing the uncomfortable fact that hundreds -- if not thousands -- of young Saudi men have chosen to follow Osama bin Laden.

One Saudi official described the frustration of hunting terrorists this way: “It’s like fighting ghosts, these people seeking death.”

Some suggest that the Saudis are the victims of their own illusions. Many here privately cheered terrorist attacks in the U.S. and Indonesia, viewing them as justifiable retribution for American policies in the Middle East. But the recent explosions that rocked the neighborhoods of this city -- aimed at Westerners but killing at least seven Saudis -- are forcing this kingdom’s citizens to retune their sympathies. More attacks, they fear, will jeopardize their oil fields and threaten their livelihoods.

The Saudi Cabinet this week condemned the bombing as a “vicious crime” and vowed to fight terrorism by scouring the country for militant cells, arresting sympathizers and cracking down on clerics who espouse holy war. The government, however, calibrated its language so as not to appear to be doing the bidding of the U.S., which for years has urged this country to aggressively battle Bin Laden’s Al Qaeda terrorist network.

The bombings have forced Saudis to reexamine their country’s relationship with Washington. Some say the bond between the two nations will grow stronger; others worry that such an alliance is dangerous in this part of the world.

To underscore that point, some Saudis note that the bombings came weeks after the Bush administration announced it was withdrawing most of the more than 4,000 U.S. troops here by summer’s end -- a move that should have decreased the chances of a terrorist strike.

Since oil was discovered here in the 1930s, the Saudi government, juggling the political ambitions of the royal family and the Wahhabi brand of Islamic conservatism, to which the family belongs, has had a complex relationship with the West. An image of the coexistence was glimpsed the other day at the Al Hamra Oasis Village, where car bombs May 12 blew the walls off the compound’s villas and sent fires whirling through the palms. While carrying a Koran from a demolished home, a security guard walked past a blackened Harry Potter book lying in the street -- Eastern religion vying with Western fantasy.

Such juxtapositions -- along with U.S. troops on Saudi soil and such Western cultural symbols as Planet Hollywood -- have made the government here an enemy of Bin Laden. He has vowed to destroy the royal family, which he blames for defiling the sacred land of Allah. But few Saudis believed that Al Qaeda operatives would strike at targets so deep within the Islamic world. The fact that they did, according to Saudis from across the spectrum, means that the terrorist network’s global jihad, or holy war, has gone domestic.

“Bin Laden’s war is not with the U.S.,” said Abdulmuhsin A. Akkas, a member of the advisory Shura Council’s foreign affairs committee. “It is against the Muslims and the Arabs. Bin Laden’s form of Islam is a fascist, violent way of life, and the Riyadh bombings showed us that. This is no longer an intellectual pastime. This is face to face with us.... The attacks violated Saudi culture. The Westerners here were our guests. We have to protect our guests with our lives. Bin Laden violated Saudi honor.”

The affront has insinuated its way into daily life. Barricades have been erected around hotels as guards with mirrors check the undercarriages of cars. Roadblocks suddenly appear on highways. Neighborhood entrances are sealed. Newspapers carry pictures and articles about suspected militants, and families of suicide bombers speak of how their sons and brothers were enticed by false promises.

“We need to get to the deeper problem of where all this comes from,” Akkas said. “These bombings might end up being the magic key that opens the door.”

Since the attacks nearly two weeks ago, business is down 30% at the coffee shop in the Panda shopping center. Many of the 70,000 expatriates stationed in Saudi Arabia have fled. The U.S., British and German embassies are temporarily closed. Saudis are staying away from stores that hint of globalization. The afternoons have become steadily quiet for Badr Erazy, who’s used to cranking out a lot more lattes.

“Something has changed here,” he said. “You have to be careful. You have to watch who you hang out with. You don’t loan anyone your car. The police patrol every five minutes. I don’t mind all the security. We need it until the terrorists are arrested.”

“I’m not comfortable in my life anymore,” said Khalid Subaiye, standing with his 2-year-old son outside the coffee shop. “I’m always anxious. These attacks will take us backwards. They will hurt our economy and our relations with other countries. Who will invest in a nation where there are such bombings? This terrorism is not a belief of ours. It’s not Saudi. Those who did this have slipped away from us.”

The royal family has been under pressure to fix the economy, which has plummeted as per capita income has dwindled over the last 20 years from $28,000 to $7,230. With spoiled princes and costly palaces, the royal family is divided from within and accused of corruption and not addressing the ills of society that spawn terrorism. The anger against the royal family is becoming more brazen in a state with limited civil liberties.

The kingdom’s de facto ruler, Crown Prince Abdullah, concerned that the bombings will create more chaos for the royal family, is improving cooperation with American intelligence agencies. This contrasts with the aftermath of the 1996 Khobar Towers bombing, when some U.S. officials blamed the Saudis for failing to aggressively investigate the deaths of 19 American service members.

The Saudi government has not been this threatened since 1979, when fundamentalists stormed the Grand Mosque in Mecca. Soldiers captured more than 60 perpetrators who were later beheaded. A U.S. official said the Saudi government is sharing critical information today about terrorist cells and realizes that Al Qaeda poses “as much a threat against them as it was to us.”

Conversations with many Saudis about this threat often veer into the thicket of Middle East politics. In interviews across this city, Saudis deplored the recent attacks and how such hate could fester in their nation. Self-reflection was fleeting, however, and within minutes arose the inclination to blame Washington for its handling of the Israeli-Palestinian peace process and of the war in Iraq. The attitudes suggested that for many here, the word “terrorist” is a relative term, and the U.S. -- although a reliable oil customer -- is not to be trusted.

“When the U.S. sends a pilot to drop a 4,000-pound bomb at 20,000 feet, he is not a terrorist,” said one Saudi official, who was educated and worked in America and asked not to be named. “But a guy who’s driving a car bomb is a terrorist. I think your average person out there can’t buy that.”

On the outskirts of the city, American foreign policy is seldom discussed when shepherds arrive in the afternoon to sell their flocks for slaughter. They carry daggers, and a few have cell phones. They are hard men from the desert; their pickups clatter with the hoofs of nervous sheep. The men know about the bombings; some saw the fireballs in the sky. They don’t want whatever caused that kind of destruction to head their way.

“I’m scared until they get rid of these terrorists,” said Mushin Musfer Dosary, surrounded by his sheep in the sunlight. “This is not acting in the way of Islam.”

“I never expected it here. Who could imagine such a thing?” said Marzag Nuwar Alofaibi, his brown headdress blowing in the hot breeze. “Whatever Allah says will happen, will happen.”