A REFORMIST VOICE IN SAUDI ARABIA SHUT

By Ian Urbina

HONG KONG 3 June (THE ASIA TIMES) While many people have been fixated on the firing of Mohammed Jassem al-Ali, the Editor in Chief of al Jazira Television, due to allegations of ties to Saddam Hoseyn’s intelligence, the sudden ouster of Jamal Khashoggi, Editor of the anti-extremist Saudi newspaper “al-Watan” may have lasting and dire repercussions for the prospects of reform in that country.

Above all, the move is meant as a message from right-wing clerics that they will not tolerate the growing tide of criticism against them. Ever since 11September, there have been pointed questions about the role of these clerics in breeding radical and armed fundamentalists. Khashoggi was one of the few critical voices coming from within the kingdom itself, and in many ways he hoped that al-Watan would push the envelope toward increased press legitimacy so that other papers might follow the lead.

Choosing to act now, many conservative clerics probably foresaw that the 12 May bombing in Riyadh would kick up additional criticism at their expense. But the more immediate impetus was a number of articles published in al-Watan about the Committee for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, the religious police notorious for stalking the streets searching for any form of "un-Islamic" activity.

Inappropriate chit-chat on cell phone text-messaging, women with any exposed skin, men not at work - all of these could invite the wrath of these stick-wielding officers.

Al-Watan was striking a more challenging posture toward these behaviour police when it ran an article about the attempted suicide of a man who was detained with his children for 12 hours for the crime of having been caught smoking.

Also stoking the ire of authorities was an article about the desire of many women to attend soccer games. Especially irksome were the paper’s cartoons, which often depicted scraggly clerics in full-length garb equipped with rolled up fatwas (religious decrees) resembling sticks of dynamite.

Having joined the paper only two months ago, Khashoggi had already written numerous editorials critical of clerical influence. Subsequent to the Riyadh bombing, he cited religious extremism as the cause of such violence.

Khashoggi wrote of the bombings: "Those who committed yesterday's crime, which will have a painful impact on the peaceful nature of our nation, are not only the suicide bombers, but also everyone who instigated or justified the attacks, everyone who called them mojahedeen, even everyone who ignored this irregular direction in our religion and nature, or tried to find excuses for it".

But, according to “The Guardian” of London, the final straw for the clerics was an article which pitted Ibn Taimaya, a famous 14th century Muslim philosopher, against Saudi nationalism itself.

Ibn Taimaya is famous for having taught that religious scholars could assume the task of declaring holy war even if their rulers opted otherwise. Taimaya is considered a main inspiration for the conservative and austere Wahhabi brand of Islam rooted in the kingdom.

An article titled, "Who is more important - the nation or Ibn Taimaya?" intellectually threatened Wahhabi clerics with the implication that they may not be the exclusive bastions of national heritage. As a result, one day before Khashoggi's firing, a prominent cleric released a fatwa making it a sin to buy al-Watan. The fatwa implored law-abiding and ethical citizens not to buy the paper.

Officially, al-Watan - which means "The Homeland" in Arabic, is classified in Saudi Arabia as a private newspaper. Members of the royal family however, largely own it and the government is in charge of hiring and firing. Khashoggi, for example, received his dismissal notice from the Minister of Information.

As the society is being torn from two different directions, Saudi Arabia is clearly facing a political turning point. On the one hand, the government, in order to win favour with the United States, is increasing its domestic crackdowns. Arbitrary round-ups that prove government resolve to root out terrorists are not uncommon and to question the propriety, ethics or legality of these hasty and shady round-ups is to risk accusations of sympathy for indiscriminate and fundamentalist murderers.

On the other hand, conservative clerics (some of whom support radical elements) are tightening their squeeze on society. These clerics demonise reformists as being in legion with foreign enemies.

On both fronts, the losers are average working Saudis and proponents for reform.

Unfortunately, the sacking of Khashoggi does not seem to be an aberration. When asked about the firing and the possible legitimacy of criticism against the conservative clerics, Prince Nayef, the Interior Minister who oversees all press matters, lambasted reporters for even raising the matter. He was quoted as saying, "As a Saudi, you should be ashamed to be asking this question".

Many will watch to see if any of the country's other papers dare to rally behind al-Watan. On principle, they should. But the consequences could be dire. It is also an open question whether other Arab news outlets will step up to criticise the events within the Arabian Peninsula's political heavyweight.

Their reaction, too, may be an indicator of just how chilly reformist politics will get in the desert kingdom. ENDS SAUDI PRESS 3603

Editor’s note: The article was posted on the Hong Kong-based The Asia Time Online on 2 June.

Some editing, phonetisation of names and highlights are by IPS