[Mb-civic] EDITORIAL Saudis Have One Eye Open LATimes

[Michael Butler]

http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/editorials/la-ed-saudi10aug10.story

EDITORIAL

Saudis Have One Eye Open

 August 10, 2004

 In the months after Sept. 11, Saudi Arabian officials at first declared
that 15 of the 19 hijackers could not possibly have been Saudis, then
reluctantly accepted that fact. Efforts to stop Saudis from funding Al Qaeda
and other terrorist groups remained lackadaisical, and many Saudis seemed
willing to believe any loopy conspiracy theory that would blame the suicide
hijackings on the United States or Israel. Only last year, when suicide car
bombers attacked three housing complexes in Riyadh, the capital, killing
more than 30 people, did officials fully grasp that the kingdom was
threatened by the same brand of terror.

 Since then Saudis have welcomed U.S. analysts, who sit with Saudi
counterparts and collect intelligence on threats. The mutuality is clear:
Saudi security officials need expertise in analyzing information and
plotting counterattacks; the U.S. needs stability in a major oil supplier, a
country that also contains the two holiest sites in Islam.

 Smarter intelligence cooperation, however, may only delay the collapse of
autocratic royal rule in Saudi Arabia. The gap between rich and poor has
widened in the kingdom. Young men, the recruiting pool for extremists, go
jobless. But democratic reforms are still brushed aside, and Saudi princes
willfully ignore the anger that is hidden by suppression. On Monday, the
government began the trial of three men who brought their advocacy of
democratic reform to the public, still an illegal act in Saudi Arabia. At
least the proceeding was public, a welcome reversal of usual procedure.

 The three on trial are the last prisoners among 13 reformist intellectuals
arrested in March. Some had signed a letter to the crown prince calling for
political and social reforms, including elections for a parliament. Others
sought a constitutional, rather than absolute, monarchy (although it would
no doubt look more like Jordan than democratic Britain). The U.S. State
Department too mildly said the arrests were "inconsistent" with democratic
reforms.



 A slightly more hopeful sign was a government announcement Monday regarding
women. The announcement failed to overtly exclude women from voting in the
country's first-ever municipal elections this year. Some limits on women
have been eased, but the country injures half its population and deprives
itself of an economic resource by restricting women's ability to work or
divorce a husband or even drive a car.



 Saudi Arabia's leaders have not fully made the connection between
democratic reform and counter-terrorism. Osama bin Laden has urged the
overthrow of the royal regime for more than a decade and has many devoted
followers in the land where he was born. The increased security visible in
the capital since last year may prevent some assaults. But improved
intelligence-gathering is only a tactic. Long-term stability will depend on
engaging more Saudis in the operation of their government. The handful of
princes running the realm could start by listening, rather than jailing
those who speak.


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