Inside the Kingdom (72 page)

292
“a
Muslim
marriage”:
Ottaway, p. 226.

292
other countries in Asia:
Between 1991 and 2001 Saudi oil sales were running at approximately 2 million barrels per day (mbd) to Japan and South Korea, 2 mbd to other Asian countries including China, 2 mbd to Europe, 2 mbd to the U.S., and 1 mbd on domestic consumption. Information from an oil consultant based in Bahrain.

292
China’s principal supplier:
Between 2002 and 2008 China increased its oil consumption to about 8 mbd, of which 50 percent was imported. Saudi Arabia provided about a quarter of those imports (1 mbd).

292
“strategic relationship”:
Ali Al-Naimi, “The Asian Outlook and Saudi Arabia’s Oil Policy,” World Petroleum Congress, Shanghai, China, September 29, 2001.

293
$3.5 billion refinery:
Arab News
, January 23, 2006.

293
“history as a mirror”:
Ibid., April 24, 2006.

294
Chinese CSS-2 missiles:
Simon Henderson, “Chinese-Saudi Cooperation: Oil but also Missiles,” Washington Institute, Policy Watch #1095, April 21, 2006.

294
the nuclear option:
Ottaway, pp. 228-29.

294
poverty-stricken Saudis:
For the early history of Saudi-Soviet relations, see Lacey, pp. 240, 241.

295
vying alternatively:
the two countries continue to compete in the 8-9 mbd range. Information from an oil consultant based in Bahrain.

295
26 percent . . . 31 percent:
World Almanac and Book of Facts
(New York: World Almanac Books, 2007), p. 113.

295
In January 2004:
The deal was signed in November 2003 for a 40-year concession covering 81,000 square miles.
Arab News
, January 27, 2004.

295
the “unipolar world”:
Vladimir Putin, speech at the 43rd Munich Conference on Security Policy, February 10, 2007.

295
nuclear technology:
According to one royal adviser, this Russian “shopping list” has since been discarded because of Abdullah’s suspicions of Saudi kickbacks in the deal.

296
reconstruction process:
Diplomatic official, interview with author, Riyadh, November 2006.

297
carried royal messages:
Prince Turki Al-Faisal, conversation with author, Paris, December 15, 2008.

297
embarrassing for lesser Saudi officials:
Ottaway, p. 259.

297
arguing for calm:
“Transcript of Prince Turki Al-Faisal Remarks,” October 4, 2006, Royal Embassy of Saudi Arabia,
http://www.suadiembassy.net/2006News/Statements/SpeechDetail.asp?cIndex=644
.

298
influence of Iran:
Saud Al-Faisal, “The Fight Against Extremism and the Search for Peace,” Council on Foreign Relations, September 23, 2005.

298
large sums of money:
Robin Wright, “Royal Intrigue, Unpaid Bills Preceded Saudi Ambassador’s Exit,”
Washington Post
, December 23, 2006. A Saudi official involved in the contract denies the sum of $10 million mentioned in the
Washington Post
—setting the figure closer to a tenth of that.

299
honor of third place:
Ottaway, p. 249.

300
double the $1.41 level:
Ibid., p. 247.

300
refineries to match:
States News Service, April 25, 2005.

301
“the radicalizing of my sons”:
Recollection by an official present at the meeting at the king’s Janadriyya farm. Adel Al-Jubeir, who translated for the king in his meetings with Michael Cherthoff during this visit, says he has no recollection of this conversation taking place.

301
“relative poundages”:
Recollection by an official present at the meeting, Riyadh, November 19, 2008.

302
“make a Muslim of him yet”:
This story circulated soon after Abdullah’s arrival in the U.S. in November 2008. Adel Al-Jubeir, the Saudi ambassador who was with the king for much of the time, agrees that Abdullah received a private call from Obama soon after his arrival in November 2009, but says that the king did not make the comment attributed to him.

303
open-sided tent:
Named a
fillabee
after Harry St. John Philby (1885-1960), the English explorer, bird-watcher, and colonial servant turned adviser to King Abdul Aziz, who was said to have brought the first of these tall, straight-sided marquees from India. Philby converted to Islam, taking the name Abdullah, and wrote several books about Arabia. Apart from the fillabee, he is remembered in ornithology for Philby’s partridge (
Alectoris philbyi
)—and in non-Saudi history for being the father of Kim Philby, the British spy turned Soviet double agent.

303
into the desert:
In France this small wooden ball is known as the
cochonnet,
or piglet.

303
king tends to win:
Related by a foreign player of Saudi boules. Several Saudi sources have denied that the king plays with an extra boule, but people in Prince Charles’s party in 2004 have a clear memory of the home advantage.

303
comforts of his farm:
These details were described to the author by a confidant of the king’s.

304
“He is our Muawiyah”:
Hala Al-Houti, interview with author, Jeddah, February 1, 2009.

304
pull them gently:
Algosaibi,
Yes, (Saudi) Minister!,
p. 17.

304
classical learning:
Ibid.

304
the “Thunder” sura:
Koran, sura 13, verse 11.

304
the royal eye:
Adviser to King Abdullah, interview with author, Riyadh, November 20, 2006.

305
“cloud of confusion”:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Kt4oFP_N1k
.

305
“nineteen types of rice”:
Al-Jazirah
(newspaper), August 17, 2007.

306
been with other men:
This account of the rape of the Qateef girl is based on an interview with Fouad Ali Al-Mushaikhis in Al-Awjam, January 16, 2008, and on follow-up conversations in Dhahran and Qateef, November 24, 2008; on visits to some of the sites of the incident with Al-Mushaikhis and with Ali Al-Marzouq; on interviews with Abdul-Rahman Al-Lahem in Riyadh, February 9, 2008, and March 10, 2008, and on interviews with Ebtihal Mubarak, Suzan Zawawi, and other journalists who covered the case.

307
a small plastic tree:
Fouad Al-Mushaikhis, interview with author, Dhahran, November 24, 2008.

307
“a boy and a girl”:
Fouad Al-Mushaikhis, interview with author, Al-Awjam, January 16, 2008.

308
importance of “face”:
Interview with clinical psychologist, Riyadh, March 2008.

309
processing rape allegations:
Survey by Safaa Al-Ahmad, 2007.

310
“ ‘more afraid of them’ ”:
Fouad Al-Mushaikhis, interview with author, Dhahran, November 24, 2008.

311
“improper premarital closeness”:
Sheikh Abdul Muhsin Al-Abaiqan, interview with author, Riyadh, March 11, 2008.

312
“hovering around”:
Fouad Al-Mushaikhis, interview with author, Dhahran, November 24, 2008.

313
“invited by a sinful woman”:
Ibid.

313
tarnished the court’s reputation:
“Saudi Arabia: Rape Victim Punished for Speaking Out,”
Human Rights Watch
, New York, November 17, 2007.
http://hrw.org/english/docs/2007/07/18/saudia16399.htm
.

313
“the death penalty”:
Interview in
Okaz
, November 27, 2007, reported in “Saudi Rape Case Spurs Calls for Reform,” by Rasheed Abou-AlSamh,
New York Times
, December 1, 2007.

314
“my wife’s ‘honor’ ”:
Ebtihal Mubarak, interview with author, Jeddah, February 24, 2008.

314
pardons for the Qateef girl:
Abdul Rahman Al-Lahem, interview with author, Riyadh, March 10, 2008.

314
“the dark tunnel of iniquity”:
Abdul Rahman Al-Lahem, interview with author, Riyadh, February 9, 2008.

315
had to leave:
Fouad Al-Mushaikhis, interview with author, Dhahran, November 24, 2008.

317
some ten million:
Galal Fakkar, “Many Land Lucrative Jobs Dodging the Rules,”
Arab News
, November 13, 2008.

317
seventy-three per year:
Robert F. Worth, “Saudi Arabia: Executions Rose in 2008,”
New York Times
, October 15, 2008.

317
forty-two per year:
“Facts About the Death Penalty,”
http://www.deathpenaltyinfo. org/FactSheet.pdf
, Death Penalty Information Center, April 1, 2008.

317
three hundred people:
“Ashcroft Announces Closed-Circuit Telecast of McVeigh Execution,” CourtTV (2001-04-12).

317
shamefully tortured:
Hollingsworth and Mitchell.

317
“Have you been tortured”:
Off-the-record interviews.

317
“soft policing”:
See, for example, Christopher Boucek,
Saudi Arabia’s “Soft” Counterterrorism Strategy: Prevention, Rehabilitation, and Aftercare
(Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Middle East Program, no. 97, September 2008).

318
were a running club:
Fouad Al-Farhan, interview with author, Jeddah, November 12, 2008.

318
“a cake in prison”:
Ibid.

318
rice and sheep:
Fouad Al-Farhan, interview with author, Jeddah, February 5, 2009.

319
“hunt down al-Qaeda”:
Fouad Al-Farhan, interview with author, November 12, 2008.

319
security reasons:
Prince Mohammed bin Nayef, interview with author, Riyadh, February 3, 2009.

319
“as God commands”:
Off-the-record interview, Washington, October 2008.

320
“Isn’t that mental—and physical—abuse?”:
Fouad Al-Farhan, interview with author, November 12, 2008.

320
“a different opinion”:
Mohammed Saeed Tayeb, interview with author, November 27, 2008.

321
“ ‘not your thobe’ ”:
Ibid.

321
in the course of revision:
Prince Mohammed bin Nayef, interview with author, Riyadh, February 3, 2009.

321
middle of March 2009:
Mohammed Saeed Tayeb, telephone conversation, March 15, 2009.

321
“no reformers there”:
Fouad Al-Farhan, March 16, 2009.

322
“control your hunger”:
Ahmad Sabri, interview with author, Jeddah, September 20, 2007.

324
earning fatwas:
Pascal Ménoret, “Saudi TV’s Dangerous Hit,”
Le Monde Diplomatique
, September 16, 2004.

324
receiving death threats:
Mahmoud Ahmad, “Tash Ma Tash Actors Receive Death Threats,”
Arab News
, October 27, 2004.

324
“don’t make fun”:
Nasser Al-Gasabi, interview with author, Dubai, November 8, 2007.

325
“mental change may follow”:
Khaled Bahaziq, interview with author, Jeddah, September 12, 2007.

325
“permission of their mahram”:
Dr. Fawzia Al-Bakr, telephone conversation, June 8, 2008.

325
“a sort of sisterhood”:
Ibid.

325
The June 2004 gathering:
Weston, p. 435.

327
“a Wahhabi between quotation marks”:
Turki Al-Faisal, U.S.-Arab Policy Conference, Washington, DC, October 31, 2008.

327
dominating the screen:
This description comes from several who saw this single episode of the canceled TV series.

327
shoulder operation:
Statement to the author by a representative of Prince Bandar, Jeddah, November 26, 2008.

327
“low profile”:
Explanation to the author by a member of Prince Bandar’s staff.

327
tribal areas of Pakistan:
Nico Hines, “CIA Says Osama Bin Laden Cut Off from al-Qaeda,”
Timesonline
, November 14, 2008.

327
some seventy million riyals:
Statement to the author by an adviser to the Bin Laden family, Jeddah, November 29, 2008.

328
surviving wives and children:
Bin Laden family member, interview with author, Jeddah, September 2007.

328
“a more modern Islam”:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wpdyn/content/article/2007/07/20/AR200707200188.html
.

328
“sports at home”:
http://www.islamlight.net
cited in Faiza Ambah, “A Drive Toward the Goal of Greater Freedom,”
Washington Post
, April 15, 2008.

329
“realities of modern life”:
Tawfiq Al-Seif, interview with author, Tarut Island, June 8, 2007.

330
“evolving too slowly”:
Dr. Ahmad Al-Tuwayjri, interview with author, Riyadh, April 1, 2006.

330
more than thirty years:
Interview with a confidant of King Abdullah, Jeddah, November 30, 2008. Abdullah had to wait until he became king—and until the price of oil rose—to afford his dream.

330
House of Knowledge:
I am grateful to Ambassador Chas Freeman for this insight into the Bayt Al-Hekma and its role in King Abdullah’s vision for KAUST.

331
$10 billion endowment:
New York Times
, March 6, 2008.

331
second only to that of Harvard:
Financial Times
, May 19, 2008.

332
palm trees and sand:
This account was related to the author by someone who traveled on the bus.

332
stayed longer at his prayers:
recounted by a member of the family who was with the king that evening.