27 June 2012 By Abdul Rahman Al-Rashid It is difficult for any political institution in
the world to deal with consecutive major shocks, such
as the death of the former Saudi Crown Prince Sultan
bin Abdul Aziz nearly 7 months ago, and now everyone's
shock at the passing of Crown Prince Naif bin Abdul
Aziz, one of the pillars of the Saudi state.
Nevertheless the Saudi ruling system stands strong; it
is an institution not an individual, and the state has
proven since its inception in its third guise more
than 80 years ago that by continuing within the
framework of a social contract it can overcome various
adversities, and likewise ensure its stability and
special relationship with society. Prince Naif was an important pillar; he was the
Minister of Interior among his other highly
significant functions. He was responsible for managing
crises in some of the most serious historical periods,
when the Kingdom faced some of its most serious
tribulations. He was not only victorious in his
battles, but he was victorious in every aspect of
them, and perhaps the best known and most recent
example was the war with al-Qaeda. The terrorist
organization had sought to strike almost every part of
the country; Riyadh, Mecca, Jeddah, Khobar, al-Qassim,
Yanbu and elsewhere. Some countries believed that the
Kingdom was rapidly deteriorating and closed down
their embassies, deported their communities and
stopped commercial flights. The international press
concluded that Saudi Arabia would not survive and even
if it did succeed in its war with al-Qaeda, it would
not emerge intact. Although terrorists attacked Prince Naif's office
in the Interior Ministry and tried to kill his son
Prince Muhammad at home, injuring some of security
personnel, the terrorist organization ultimately
failed. Prince Naif managed the battle on multiple fronts,
security was one of them, and social and political
aspects were among the others. His project sought to
besiege terrorism religiously, nationally and morally,
and to engage the Saudi citizen in his cause. Not only
did he eliminate the dormant and active cells of the
global terrorist organization in Saudi Arabia, he
succeeded in what others had failed to do. Soon it
became a war of the citizens against an ideology, an
organization and its individuals, and al-Qaeda's
rulers and members were besieged after failing to win
over the average citizen with their slogans,
allegations, fatwas and propaganda. Prince Naif was
keen for everyone to know that they were defending
their country, not a political regime. He paid
attention early to terrorists seeking to recruit
different members from various tribes and regions,
hoping to strike the Kingdom's social fabric and
besiege the state by doing so. Instead the game turned
on its head, whereby these targeted tribes and groups
turned against the organization and its surviving
members fled to the mountains of Yemen, Afghanistan
and Iran. The late Prince Naif cannot merely be summed up by
the terrorism issue, which is just a part of his
achievements, and just a part of his long history of
work. I think a lot has been said about Prince Naif,
but little was known about the true nature of his work
due to his rare public appearances. By virtue of my
career in journalism, I came to know Prince Naif.
Often I would not ask him about specific issues but
instead allow him to provide me with the information
he saw fit, not necessarily for publication, but such
was his style of disclosure. In the 1980s, I visited Prince Naif after
confrontations had intensified with the Iranians who
had been sent to disrupt the regime in Saudi Arabia
during the Hajj, within the context of a major
political and security battle. Iranian military planes
had penetrated the air space above Saudi waters;
thousands of Iranian "pilgrims" had been sent from the
Revolutionary Guards, trained to fight, a propaganda
campaign had been launched against the Kingdom and
soldiers had been killed in the Holy Mosque's outer
square. At the time I asked Prince Naif about a news item
reported by the Saudi Press Agency, claiming that some
Iranians had attacked the Baqi cemetery in Medina
where many companions of the Prophet Muhammad peace
be upon him are buried. I put it to him that this incident could have been
a misunderstanding, and not necessarily an intentional
act of chaos. He did not elaborate on what happened
but rather showed me photos of the incident, dozens of
them. Indeed, the scenes were very painful and
shameful to see, and Prince Naif said that security
forces had sought to put an end to them without
causing a rift between worshipers and visitors from
both communities. He said that there were those who
wanted to wage a battle in Medina, hence the prior
confrontations in front of the Holy Mosque, and that
he was not worried about deterring them but likewise
he did not want matters to escalate further. This,
according to Prince Naif, was what the Iranian regime
wanted, namely to create major new rifts on Saudi
Arabian soil. I am not going to talk further here about the
nature of the challenges that have continued since
1979 up until this day, but rather I will talk about
the nature of Saudi governance; smooth, resolute, and
able to withstand shocks, heal wounds and gain
prominence rapidly. Although Prince Naif could have
succeeded in his work by using force, he always
preferred to handle issues with wisdom, patience and
by calculating matters and putting things in
perspective. Saudi Arabia's leaders have characterised
and will always characterise the Saudi regime, in
their wisdom and their management style, and from our
experience we know that the family is able to survive
and adapt, despite the gravity of the loss of such a
man may God rest his soul who used to hold such a
significant place in the life of the Saudis.
Al Rashed is the general manager of Al -Arabiya
television. He is also the former editor-in-chief of
Asharq Al- Awsat, and the leading Arabic weekly
magazine, Al Majalla. He is also a senior Columnist in
the daily newspapers of Al Madina and Al Bilad. He is
a US post-graduate degree in mass communications. He
has been a guest on many TV current affairs programs.
He is currently based in Dubai. Comments 💬 التعليقات |