US embassy cable - 89RIYADH9763

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 RIYADH 09763 
 
E.O. 12356:  N/A 
TAGS:  PTER, KPRP, SA 
SUBJECT: SAUDI ARABIA: 1989 ANNUAL TERRORISM REPORT 
 
REF:  STATE 363024 
 
1.  THERE FOLLOWS DRAFT VERSION OF SAUDI ARABIAN 
SUBMISSION TO THE 1989 REPORT TO CONGRESS ON 
INTERNATIONAL TERRORISM, KEYED TO REFTEL.  DRAFT 
VERSION OF CLASSIFIED ANNEX IS BEING SENT SEPTEL. 
 
2.  REPORTING REQUIREMENTS FOR ALL POSTS -- 
 
-     A. RESULTS OF 1989 COURT PROSECUTIONS INVOLVING 
INTERNATIONAL TERRORISM OR SIGNIFICANT ACTS OF DOMESTIC 
TERRORISM: 
 
-      IN THE AFTERMATH OF THE JULY 1989 BOMBINGS AT 
MECCA, SAUDI SECURITY FORCES DETAINED A LARGE NUMBER OF 
PEOPLE, POSSIBLY RUNNING INTO THE HUNDREDS, BUT MOST WERE 
QUICKLY RELEASED AFTER INTERROGATION.  THE PERSONS 
FINALLY ARRESTED WERE TRIED WITHOUT PUBLICITY AND 
ACCORDING TO SHARIA LAW, THE CUSTOMARY LEGAL PROCEDURE IN 
SAUDI ARABIA, WHICH DOES NOT PROVIDE FOR PUBLIC TRIALS OR 
A DEFENSE ATTORNEY FOR THE ACCUSED BUT HAS A BUILT-IN 
APPEALS SYSTEM.  ON SEPTEMBER 21, AFTER REVIEW OF THE 
SENTENCES BY TWO DIFFERENT APPEALS BOARDS AND THE KING, 
16 MEN WERE BEHEADED NEAR THE GRAND MOSQUE IN MECCA.  ALL 
WERE SHIA MUSLIMS OF KUWAITI NATIONALITY, ALTHOUGH TWO 
WERE SAID TO BE OF SAUDI AND ONE OF QATARI DESCENT.  AT 
THE SAME TIME, FOUR SHIA OF KUWAITI NATIONALITY WERE 
SENTENCED TO PRISON TERMS AND FLOGGINGS OF 1000 OR 1500 
LASHES, TO BE GIVEN IN INSTALLMENTS OVER THE TERM OF 
THEIR SENTENCES.  NINE SHIA OF KUWAITI NATIONALITY WERE 
RELEASED WITHOUT PUNISHMENT AND REPATRIATED TO KUWAIT. 
 
IN AN ALMOST UNPRECEDENTED SHOW OF OPENNESS, SAUDI 
TELEVISION BROADCAST PICTURES OF THE BOMBING SITES, 
INTERVIEWS WITH VICTIMS, AND FULL VIDEOTAPED CONFESSIONS 
BY THE SIXTEEN EXECUTED MEN, WHO DID NOT APPEAR TO BE 
UNDER DURESS AND IN MOST CASES SPOKE CALMLY.  SEVERAL 
STATED IN THEIR CONFESSIONS THAT THEY OBTAINED THE 
EXPLOSIVES USED IN THE BOMBS THROUGH THE IRANIAN EMBASSY 
IN KUWAIT, BUT SAUDI MEDIA DID NOT INITIALLY STRESS THE 
IRANIAN ELEMENT IN THE CASE.  AFTER AN INITIAL PERIOD OF 
RESTRAINT, HOWEVER, THE IRANIAN MEDIA CRITICIZED SAUDI 
ARABIA HARSHLY FOR THE EXECUTIONS, AT WHICH POINT THE 
SAUDI MEDIA BEGAN TO DEAL MORE SPECIFICALLY WITH THE 
POSSIBILITY OF IRANIAN INVOLVEMENT.  THE SAUDIS ALSO 
PUBLICIZED MESSAGES OF SUPPORT FOR THE TRIALS AND 
EXECUTIONS BY OTHER MUSLIM GOVERNMENTS AND BY MUSLIM 
RELIGIOUS BODIES, INCLUDING SEVERAL SHIA GROUPS IN THE 
EASTERN PROVINCE.  NO EVIDENCE WAS EVER PUBLISHED OF 
INVOLVEMENT IN THE CASE BY SAUDI SHIA, AND SOME EASTERN 
PROVINCE SHIA REPORTEDLY SENT A LETTER TO THE KING 
SUPPORTING THE SENTENCES AND CONDEMNING THE BOMBINGS. 
 
-     B. STATEMENTS BY HOST COUNTRY IN SUPPORT OF 
TERRORISM-SUPPORTING COUNTRIES ON A TERRORISM ISSUE: 
 
-     SAUDI ARABIA DID NOT MAKE ANY SUCH STATEMENTS IN 
1989.  IN FACT, HIGH OFFICIALS STRONGLY CONDEMNED 
TERRORISM ON A NUMBER OF OCCASIONS, MOST NOTABLY AT THE 
TIME OF THE MECCA BOMBINGS NOTED ABOVE, BUT ALSO ON THE 
OCCASION OF TERRORIST ACTS AGAINST SAUDI PERSONNEL AND 
PROPERTY IN SEVERAL DIFFERENT COUNTRIES DURING 1989, 
AND FOLLOWING THE ASSASSINATION OF PRESIDENT MOAWAD OF 
LEBANON.  THE SAUDI GOVERNMENT NEVER MADE ANY OFFICIAL 
COMMENT ON THE RUSHDIE CASE.  THE MUSLIM WORLD LEAGUE, 
HEADQUARTERED IN MECCA, AND THE ORGANIZATION OF THE 
ISLAMIC CONFERENCE (OIC), HEADQUARTERED IN JEDDAH, BOTH 
PASSED RESOLUTIONS CONDEMNING RUSHDIE'S BOOK AND URGING 
AN INTERNATIONAL BOYCOTT OF IT, BUT AN IRANIAN PROPOSAL 
THAT THE OIC ENDORSE IRAN'S DEATH SENTENCE ON RUSHIE WAS 
TURNED DOWN WITHOUT A VOTE. 
 
3.  SPECIFIC POST REPORTING REQUIREMENTS: 
 
-     A.  REVIEW OF MAJOR COUNTERTERRORISM EFFORTS 
UNDERTAKEN IN 1989, INCLUDING STEPS TAKEN IN 
INTERNATIONAL FORA: 
 
-      SAUDI ARABIA CONTINUED TO SPEAK OUT STRONGLY AND 
VOTE AGAINST TERRORISM IN 1989 ON ALL APPROPRIATE 
OCCASIONS.  IN THE FIELD OF ANTI-TERRORISM TRAINING, THE 
MINISTRY OF INTERIOR ANNOUNCED IN NOVEMBER THAT THE 
ANTI-TERRORISM UNIT (ATU) OF THE SAUDI SPECIAL FORCES 
(SSF), WHICH BEGAN TRAINING IN 1988, WAS BEING DISBANDED 
AND ITS WEST GERMAN TRAINERS REPATRIATED.  THE REASON 
GIVEN WAS THAT ITS SAUDI COMPONENTS HAD SHOWN THEY NEEDED 
MORE BASIC TRAINING BEFORE THEY COULD ABSORB THE 
SOPHISTICATED TECHNIQUES TAUGHT BY THE WEST GERMANS. 
FOLLOWING A NUMBER OF TERRORIST ACTS OR THREATS AGAINST 
SAUDI DIPLOMATIC PERSONNEL ABROAD, THE MINISTRY OF 
FOREIGN AFFAIRS INITITATED A PROGRAM OF COOPERATION WITH 
THE DIPLOMATIC SECURITY DIVISION OF THE DEPARTMENT OF 
STATE, AIMED AT SETTING UP AN EMBASSY GUARD SERVICE AND A 
SYSTEM OF REGIONAL SECURITY OFFICES SIMILAR TO THAT USED 
BY U.S. MISSIONS.  SEVERAL SAUDI OFFICIALS FROM THE 
MINISTRY'S SECURITY OFFICE TRAVELLED TO THE U.S. FOR 
TRAINING IN WASHINGTON AND AT QUANTICO, AND A STATE 
DEPARTMENT MOBILE TRAINING TEAM VISITED RIYADH TO OFFER 
A SHORT COURSE IN THREAT AWARENESS AND SELF-DEFENSE TO 
MINISTRY PERSONNEL.  THE DEPARTMENT'S THREAT ASESSMENT 
DIVISION ALSO SENT A TEAM TO SAUDI ARABIA TO CONSULT WITH 
THE SAUDIS ABOUT SHARING INFORMATION IN THE FIELD OF 
TERRORIST ACTIVITY. 
 
FOLLOWING THE EXECUTIONS OF THE MECCA BOMBERS, AND 
SUBSEQUENT THREATS OF RETALIATION BY HIZBULLAH AND OTHER 
TERRORIST GROUPS, SAUDI SECURITY AGENCIES INTENSIFIED 
INTERNAL CONTROLS, ESPECIALLY IN AIRPORTS AND IN THE 
RIYADH AREA.  THESE PRECAUTIONS WERE GRADUALLY RELAXED IN 
THE FOLLOWING WEEKS, BUT AS OF EARLY DECEMBER, POLICE 
WERE CONTINUING TO SET UP ROADBLOCKS AND CARRY OUT 
IDENTIFICATION CHECKS ON AN APPARENTLY RANDOM BASIS, 
ESPECIALLY IN THE RIYADH AREA. 
 
-     B. RESPONSE OF THE JUDICIAL SYSTEM, INCLUDING 
EXTRADITION ACTIONS, ACTIONS ON TERRORISM AFFECTING 
AMERICAN CITIZENS AND FACILITIES, OR DEALING WITH OTHER 
SIGNIFICANT ACTS OF TERRORISM: 
 
-     AS NOTED ABOVE, THE SAUDI JUDICIAL SYSTEM WAS 
CALLED INTO PLAY FOR THE TRIAL OF THE 29 PERSONS ARRESTED 
FOR THE MECCA BOMBINGS.  AFTER THE TRIAL BEFORE A SHARIA 
COURT, THE SENTENCES WERE REVIEWED BY A CASSATION COURT, 
NEXT BY A HIGHER APPEALS COURT, AND FINALLY BY THE KING, 
WHICH IS STANDARD PRACTICE IN ALL SAUDI CASES INVOLVING 
THE DEATH PENALTY.  THOSE INVOLVED IN THE MECCA CASES 
WERE ACTUALLY TRIED FOR THE CRIME OF "APOSTASY", BASED ON 
THEIR DISRUPTION OF THE HAJJ, RATHER THAN UNDER THE 1988 
DECREE ON TERRORISM, SABOTAGE AND HIJACKING. 
 
-     C. SIGNIFICANT SUPPORT, IF ANY, FOR INTERNATIONAL 
TERRORISM, INCLUDING POLITICAL AND FINANCIAL SUPPORT FOR 
TERRORISTS; DIPLOMATIC SUPPORT THROUGH DIPLOMATIC 
RECOGNITION, MISUSE OF THE DIPLOMATIC POUCH AND OTHER 
PRIVILEGES TO SUPPORT TERRORISM; SANCTUARY EXTENDED TO 
TERRORISTS OR TERRORIST GROUPS; AND POSITIONS TAKEN ON 
TERRORISM ISSUES IN INTERNATIONAL FORA, INCLUDING VOTING 
RECORDS: 
 
-       THE SAUDI GOVERNMENT DOES NOT PROVIDE POLITICAL 
OR FINANCIAL SUPPORT FOR INTERNATIONAL TERRORISM AND HAS 
REPEATEDLY SPOKEN AND VOTED AGAINST TERRORIST ACTS IN 
INTERNATIONAL FORA.  SAUDI OFFICIALS MAKE A CAREFUL 
DISTINCTION BETWEEN SUPPORT OF TERRORISM AND SUPPORT OF 
THE PLO, WHICH THEY CONSIDER A LEGITIMATE NATIONAL 
LIBERATION MOVEMENT, AND WERE ONE OF THE FIRST 
GOVERNMENTS TO EXTEND RECOGNITION TO THE PALESTINIAN 
"STATE."  WHILE SUPPORTING THE PLO BOTH POLITICALLY AND 
FINANCIALLY (INDEED, IT IS ONE OF THAT ORGANIZATION'S 
LEADING DONORS), SAUDI ARABIA DECRYS ACTS OF TERRORISM 
ALLEGEDLY COMMITTED IN THE NAME OF THE PALESTINIAN 
CAUSE.  SAUDI ARABIA IS NOT A KNOWN SANCTUARY FOR 
TERRORISTS, NOR DOES IT MISUSE DIPLOMATIC PRIVILEGES TO 
SUPPORT TERRORIST GROUPS. 
 
 
FREEMAN