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Saudi Arabia gets deathly serious about crackdown

There are police roadblocks everywhere in the Saudi capital. They inspect car boots, check identity cards and scan vehicles with metal detectors. They peer into the car looking for anything or anybody suspicious.

This scene is not familiar to Saudi Arabia, analysts say.

Security, previously devoted to protecting ministries and diplomatic missions, has become immeasurably greater since the May 12 bomb attacks on residential compounds in Riyadh in which 35 people died.

The crisis facing the kingdom began to take shape after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks on the US in which 15 of the 19 perpetrators were Saudis loyal to Saudi-born al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden.

"Since May 12 a remarkable crackdown manifested itself by the authorities going after the extremists," said one diplomat. "This is much more than a temporary reaction. Something has changed fundamentally here and it shows a lasting effort."

"The bombings certainly jolted the kingdom. The authorities have been very robust in their response," added another. "The May 12 attack was a wake up call."

No visitor can be in any doubt that Saudi Arabia, which contains the holiest shrines in Islam and the world's biggest oil reserves, is in a state of alert. And there is no denying that the battle against the militants is now in the open.

It is not only the heightened security that residents of Riyadh notice. Dozens of Saudis have been arrested or shot in clashes between militants and the police, and fighting terrorism has become a daily staple of official rhetoric.

Insufficient crackdown

The government has consciously brought the battle into the public domain by publicizing it through the media, which have taken to showing militants and arms seized with the intention of making people feel that they are at risk from "terrorism."

Analysts say this is an important departure from previous Saudi policy of either playing down or concealing altogether any symptom of internal unrest.

Saudi reformists, diplomats and officials say that military crackdown is essential but not sufficient. They said a social, economic and political overhaul was needed to address the deep-rooted causes of the crisis.

Reform will be a difficult balancing act in which the royal family will need to convince the powerful but conservative religious establishment eventually to allow an elected parliament, and to reform an educational curriculum that spawns hatred against the West.

It will at the same time have to address the poverty and high unemployment that leave young and angry Saudis prone to joining extremist groups.

Reforms, its advocates say, would "pull the rug from under the feet" of al-Qaeda-like groups seeking to recruit Saudis.

"Arresting and jailing militants will not solve the problem. On the contrary, it will intensify it," Saudi reformist Mohammad Ali al-Harfy said. "We need to eliminate the motives that lead to such acts. We need deep-rooted reforms."

The solution is not all in the hands of Saudi Arabia, diplomats and reformists say.

The hottest issue lies with the rising animosity Muslims have built up over the years against the US, which they see as the main protector of Israel in its conflict with the Palestinians.

Change not without risk

The ruling royal family's dilemma is that while it has to reform, the changes are not without risk.

The home-grown insurgency comes amid a battle between religious conservatives and liberal reformers over the future of the kingdom.

The House of Saud, which derives its legitimacy from an ultra-puritan form of Islam, is anxious not to antagonize the religious body determined to uphold Islamic Sharia law and oppose ideas such as the empowerment of women.

"There are constraints. They have to bring the clerics along and do the reforms gradually. Otherwise, there will be a backlash," one diplomat said.

Besides the crackdown, diplomats say, Riyadh and Washington have set up a joint task force to gather intelligence and tackle the funding of terrorism.

Diplomats say it is not easy to scrutinize the flow of funds in the cash-based society where there is no income tax.

Riyadh has banned all charities from sending money aboard without official approval and instructed banks not to transfer any charity money. It audited more than 200 charities, froze external Saudi ones and closed about 12 of those.

It has also sacked or demoted some 2,000 clerics for preaching intolerant Islam and inciting hatred against the West.

Diplomats and reformists believe the campaign has passed the point of no return because it threatens the Saudi statehood.

"There is a clear recognition that the kingdom is facing by far the worst and most serious crisis in its history and they are very determined to deal with it," one analyst said.
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