The Saudis’ Mixed Signals

Perennial feuds between the Pentagon and the State Department come to mind while viewing similar head-butting in Saudi Arabia, where the Interior Ministry and Prince Nayif ibn Abdulaziz, its leader, too often undercut Crown Prince Abdullah, a force for reform. The men ruling the kingdom should understand they need to give their citizens more chances to speak their minds and not force them to resort to violence in a land that helped incubate Al Qaeda.

In March, the government arrested more than a dozen men, considered liberals or moderates, known for calling for reform. While in Riyadh, the capital, Secretary of State Colin L. Powell rightly criticized the arrests of the writers, professors and intellectuals. The foreign minister dismissed Powell’s concern, calling the arrests an “internal matter.” That may be the view inside Saudi Arabia; from the outside, it appears the country that produced 15 of the 19 Sept. 11 hijackers is moving too slowly to liberalize.

Last October, the crown prince and other moderate members of the royal family -- a collection of hundreds of princes -- called for municipal elections; the government also hosted an international conference on human rights. But when hundreds of Saudis protested on Riyadh’s King Fahd street to call for reform, the Interior Ministry arrested more that 100. Public protests are banned in the country, as are political parties.

Al Qaeda is believed responsible for bombings in Riyadh last year that killed more than 50 people and spurred the government to take the threat seriously. After years of letting citizens give Al Qaeda money directly or indirectly through suspect “charities,” Saudi Arabia has taken steps to crack down; U.S. officials say the government banned cash contributions in mosques and removed cash collection boxes for charities from shopping malls. Those are needed actions, as is the requirement that charities use only a single bank account.

Saudi Arabia’s recent establishment of a human rights organization can be a step forward, but only if the group is allowed to criticize freely and is not a royal lapdog. The government also needs to press ahead with reforms like rewriting textbooks to remove propaganda and firing preachers who pour gasoline on fires. Al Qaeda threatens Saudi Arabia as much as any other country. If the world’s major oil producer and custodian of the holiest sites in Islam becomes unstable, it threatens the already fragile region with more upheavals and terrorism.