Royals, clergy bargain to stop terror with those close to al-Qaida, bin Laden
Posted: November 23, 2003
1:00 a.m. Eastern
Editor's note: Joseph Farah's G2 Bulletin is an online, subscription intelligence news service from the creator of WorldNetDaily.com – a journalist who has been developing sources around the world for the last 25 years.
© 2003 WorldNetDaily.com
Following the bomb blast in a residential complex in Riyadh two weeks ago, Saudi royal family members talked tough about a crackdown on Islamist terror.
But it was just talk, reports Joseph Farah's G2 Bulletin, a premium online intelligence newsletter.
In fact, they say Islamic radicals and Saudi leaders have ''reunited'' to save the kingdom following a three-day meeting last weekend of royal family members, Muslim clerics and those sympathetic with Osama bin Laden.
Crown Prince Abdullah and a group of more than 40 Saudi scholars gathered in Mecca for discussions on mediation between the government and al-Qaida. The meeting included a mentor of Osama bin Laden, Muslim theologian Safar al-Hawali, who denies claims that the recent Riyadh bombing could be considered jihad.
''Our problem as Muslims is with those who seek to destroy us and our religion – and they are well known – not with the Arab and Islamic governments in our countries,'' al-Hawali was quoted as saying.
He and other Saudi radicals believe that the government should use them as a conduit to open dialogue with the rebels. They say that most rebels would turn themselves in if they were guaranteed fair treatment.
''This initiative (with Crown Prince Abdullah) aims to stop any new terrorist attacks, (to stop) the bloodshed and to open a dialogue between the government and the extremists,'' al-Hawali said.
Al-Hawali is the secretary general of the Global Anti-Aggression Campaign, which was established in April in Egypt by more than 225 religious and political figures over the Islamic world as a means of uniting efforts ''in alerting the community concerning its right to self-defense and resistance to the aggression of enemies in all possible legitimate and effective means.''
''The Muslim nation has been subjected to vicious aggression at the hands of the forces of tyranny and oppression, especially the Zionists and the American administration led by right-wing extremists,'' read a statement by the founders of the group.
Saudi authorities decided to initiate dialogue with the radicals to ask them not to bring instability into the kingdom. The former intelligence chief of Saudi Arabia, Prince Turki al-Faisal, was chosen to accomplish this task, and some meetings took place in London, were Turki had been posted as an ambassador.
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