Doubts Raised About Effectiveness of New Saudi  Opposition Movement

A Saudi woman drives in Saudi Arabia, where women are still not allowed to drive**:**

FROM MY ARCHIVES:

24/10/2006

By Rasheed Abou-Alsamh

Christian Science Monitor

JEDDAH, Saudi Arabia – An exiled Saudi millionaire hastaken on the nearly impossible task of bringing reformto this conservative kingdom.Talal Al-Rasheed, a member of a leading Saudi familythat once ruled central Arabia for several decades,announced the launch of a new opposition movement inAugust that will focus on ending what he claims isendemic corruption in the kingdom.He joins a long tradition of opposition to the rulingAl-Saud family, some of it even from within the royalfamily itself. But all of these opposition movementshave failed in bringing dramatic change to a deeplysuspicious population that has been kept quiet throughmassive state subsidies and handsome payouts by theroyal family.Several Saudi analysts have said they doubt that therecently launched opposition movement will have muchsupport among the Saudi population.Al-Rasheed, who has lived in exile in Paris since1980, told the Christian Science Monitor in aninterview that his group seeks political and socialreforms in the oil-rich kingdom, which would see theestablishment of an elected parliament and more rightsfor women.The religiously conservative kingdom currently onlyhas a powerless appointed Shoura Council and women arebarred from driving, voting and holding politicaloffice. Although King Abdullah has allowed limitedreforms such as the municipal elections held last yearfor the first time in 40 years, many Saudis say thatchange is coming too slowly.“Our group seeks the following: Democratic,transparent parliamentary elections; liberating womenand giving them their full rights; arresting thepeople who are stealing the government’s money, givingthe press its freedom of expression, and to have theadministrative and legitimate authority at the handsof the citizens and their elected representativesonly,” said the 70-year-old Al-Rasheed.Al-Rasheed claims to have 2,000 supporters in thekingdom, both Sunni and Shia, conservative andliberal, and says that “there are many wealthy peoplewho support us.” But not everyone is sure of this widerange of support.“I do not believe that he has 2,000 supporters. I’mvery skeptical about this figure,” said AdelAl-Toraifi, an analyst and newspaper columnist basedin Riyadh.Nawaf Al-Obaid, a security advisor to the Saudigovernment, also doubts the level of support claimedby Al-Rasheed.“I have doubts about him saying he has 2,000supporters in the kingdom,” said Al-Obaid. “I thinkthey are Internet supporters, people who haveexpressed support on their website.”Al-Rasheed said that his group plans to beamopposition television programs into the kingdom viasatellite, run an Internet website and publish anewspaper.“Our TV station will air democratic programs that callfor justice and equality. We want to eliminatecorruption from governmental bodies, especially thejudiciary where people are using bribes to rule andissue judgments against Allah’s rules,” explained thereformer. “Everyone will have access to this TVstation, even people who disagree with us.”He denied rumors that he was joining forces withanother Saudi opposition leader, the London-based SaadAl-Faqeeh, although Al-Obaid claimed that Al-Rasheedwould be using the satellite broadcasting company ofAl-Faqeeh to beam programs into the kingdom.“We have no practical association with SaadAl-Faqeeh. We respect him because he’s a fighter whodeserves to be respected. However, we view thingsdifferently,” said Al-Rasheed.Al-Faqeeh and his Movement of Islamic Reform in Arabiahave been effectively neutralized since July 2005 whenthe US government managed to link him to Al-Qaeda byalleging that he posted messages written by the terrorgroup on his website. Al-Faqeeh’s websites have beensubsequently shut down and he has apparently stoppedbroadcasting TV programs into the country.The Al-Rasheed clan is very large and is part of theAl-Shammar Bedouin tribe that extends from Hail allthe way into Iraq. Long rulers of Hail in centralArabia, they ruled most of central Arabia, includingRiyadh, from 1887 until 1902, when the founder ofmodern Saudi Arabia Abdulaziz Al-Saud recapturedRiyadh after living in exile in Kuwait for severalyears.Many members of the Al-Rasheed clan have beenreceiving a monthly government stipend, much like themore than 5,000 princes of the royal Al-Saud familyreceive. This has served to pacify them and buy theirallegiance to the Saudi state, though many Al-Rasheedsstill believe that they are the legitimate rulers ofthe kingdom.Talal Al-Rasheed is said to have received millions ofdollars in stipends from the Saudi government over theyears, but he denied that he was still receiving astipend.“We belong to the Al-Rasheed family and as you knowit’s been a ruling family for decades. We have enoughfortune to cover the cost of our expenses and needs. Iused to receive regular stipends from the governmentuntil 1975. Since then I haven’t received any moneyfrom the Saudi government,” said Al-Rasheed.“He’s a pretty old man. He’s been living in Paris forthe past three decades. It’s doubtful that he has muchsupport among the Al-Rasheed clan,” said Al-Obaid.“He’s trying to have a unified opposition, but how canyou lump liberal Sunnis and Shias with hardcoreSalafis?”But Al-Rasheed said he was confident that his movementwould be successful because of its broad base andinclusiveness.“We can’t measure the success or failure of anopposition group by seizure of the government througha coup. Saudis today are not the same as in the past.They are now part of much smaller world. We arewalking on the same path as others because we wantreform. However, we’re different in being a nationalmovement that includes all regions of the country,”explained Al-Rasheed.But Al-Toraifi disagrees, saying that the reformistsin the kingdom are too disorganized and distracted topose much of a threat to the royal family. He alsobelieves that King Abdullah is trying to bring indemocratic reforms but faces much opposition both fromthe powerful “ulama” (religious scholars) and withinhis own family.“King Abdullah is going slowly with reforms as hefaces opposition from within the royal family andfaces regional problems such as the war in Lebanon andIran’s expansionist tendencies,” said Al-Toraifi.“Reforms are coming very, very slowly. The lack oftransparency on the part of King Abdullah in terms ofhis reform plan makes it difficult to gauge just howfar he’s willing to go.”