Saudi Wahhabism - Background Of Its Spread.

The following is an anticle published on Oct. 30 by Malise Ruthven, author of "Islam In The World": "King Abdullah's [Oct. 29] complaint that British authorities ignored Saudi warnings of an imminent attack on the UK before the atrocities of 7 July 2005 might be more convincing if they came from the ruler of a country less sympathetic to the Islamist agenda. Since the 1970s, when rising oil revenues enabled the Saudis to export the Wahhabi brand of fundamentalist Sunni Islam, Saudi Arabia has been a major exporter of ideas and values that differ from those espoused by Osama bin Laden and his followers on issues of strategy, but not on the broader perspectives.

"During its years of rivalry with Gamal Abdel Nasser's Egypt, the Saudi government nurtured leading members of the Muslim Brotherhood which President Nasser had forced underground after an attempt on his life in 1954. Those exiled from Egypt included Muhammad Qutb, the brother of Sayyid Qutb - the Brotherhood's leading intellectual. His writings have helped to inspire a wave of terror attacks, from the assassination of Anwar Sadat in 1981 to the more recent attacks on New York, Madrid and London. While Muhammad became a shade more moderate than his more famous brother, who was executed 1966, they shared the fundamental belief, which is incompatible with modern pluralism, that Islam (in its narrow, political version) is the only religion for humanity.

"Fifteen of the 19 hijackers on 11 September 2001 were Saudi citizens. The Saudi monarchy, always vulnerable to the charge of corruption, nepotism and cosying up to the infidel West to protect its interests, may be belatedly opposed to the current manifestations of jihadism in Europe and America. But its very existence is the result of a successful jihadist movement launched by the kingdom's founder Ibn Saud between 1906 and 1926. The movement was built around an alliance between a tribal confederation led by the Al Saud family and followers of Muhammad ibn Abdul Wahhab, an 18th-century preacher who sought to purge Arabian Islam of alien influences, including devotional practices which had grown up in the centuries since the death of Muhammad in 632.

"The Wahhabi tribesmen who in 1924 conquered the Hijaz, the western part of what is now Saudi Arabia, were merciless. 'I have seen them hurl themselves on their enemies, utterly fearless of death, not caring how many fall, advancing rank upon rank with only one desire: the defeat and annihilation of the enemy', wrote one Arab witness. 'They normally give no quarter, sparing neither boys nor old men, veritable messengers of death from whose grasp no one escapes'.

"While the Al-Saud family eventually turned against the more radical tribal forces which brought them to power, defeating them in 1929, they remain vulnerable to the charge of selling out on the Wahhabi religious ideology. Women are still banned from driving and the notorious religious police enforce public morals so strictly that in March 2002 they allowed 14 schoolgirls to die when their school caught fire, rather than allow them to leave the building without the proper Islamic dress.

"In the 1990s, the Saudis actively supported the Taliban, with whom they have natural affinities, and they are still influential supporters of the Salafist ideas that inform the followers of political Islam in the West. Wahhabi and Salafist ideas are spread throughout the world through online fatwas (legal rulings) issued by Wahhabi sheikhs, conferences and lectures, television stations or cheap booklets.

"According to the distinguished French scholar Olivier Roy, these products are 'an important part of the curriculum of worldwide Muslim institutions' subsidised by Saudi and Gulf petrodollars. Through informal networks of disciples and former students, Wahhabi preachers reach lay audiences that are far larger than the madrasas [seminaries] in which they teach. M. Roy is far from being alone in his views.

"In a recent survey of jihadists, the risk consultancy Europe Exclusive Analysis concluded that 'activists invest considerable time and energy in self-study of Wahhabi Islam and subsequently the jihadi strain of Salafism'. King Abdullah has said it may take 30 years to defeat terrorism in his country. Unfortunately, terrorism is the sharp end of ideological forces in his kingdom that are much more entrenched.

"Although Saudi Arabia is rich enough to buy the latest weapons (with suitable commissions for princes) and modern technology, the Enlightenment ideas underpinning modern culture are mostly kept at bay. Terrorism is not just a threat to be countered by force. It is a by-product of the cultural schizophrenia that Saudis are helping to promote".

Qaeda Attack On US Embassy In Baku Foiled: Azerbaijan's authorities on Oct. 31 said they had detained a group of heavily armed Neo-Salafi militants plotting an attack on the US Embassy in Baku, which closed on Oct. 29 in response to the threat. The State Department in Washington said there was "specific and credible threat information", but gave no further details. The detained men were described as being Wahhabis and their ranks included an Army officer who had supplied assault rifles and grenade launchers. Reuters on Oct. 29 reported quoted a spokesman for the National Security Ministry, Arif Babayev, as saying part of the militant group was detained in the village of Mashtagi, near Baku, including the military officer, who had gone absent from his post. Babayev said: "It was established that the group...had four Kalashnikov rifles, one Kalashnikov grenade launcher, 20 grenades, rounds and other automatic weapon parts". The British Embassy in Baku also closed on Oct. 29 over "local security concerns".

The Associated Press reported a statement by the National Security Ministry that the arrests had prevented a wider terrorist plot against national and foreign targets. The ministry said: "That prevented a large-scale, horrifying terror attack that was being prepared by members of this group against several state structures in Baku and embassies and missions of the countries which are members of the international anti-terror coalition", adding that other members of the group were being sought. (Azerbaijan is a largely secular Muslim republic on the western shore of the oil-rich Caspian Sea).

Azerbaijan's relationship with neighboring Iran may have been the focus of a visit to Baku by CIC Director Michael Hayden. Gen. Hayden met Azeri President Ilham Aliyev on Sept. 28 during what US officials said was a regional tour to discuss security and international terrorism. Some local analysts believe the US wants to use Azerbaijan as a base for a possible military attack on Iran, according to Euroasianet.org. It also cited Ilgar Mammadov, an independent analyst, as drawing a link between Hayden's visit and the trial of a pro-Iran militant group. A preliminary hearing for the government's case against the 15-member group, named after its leader, Sa'id Dadashbeyli, took place at the end of September in Baku, the Turan news agency reported on October 1. Group members are charged with high treason, illegal arms possession, illegal contact with foreign intelligence services, robbery and other crimes. Dadashbeyli, an Azeri citizen, worked with radical Islamic groups and Iranian intelligence agents to set up a state with Shar'ia laws.

A military group, dubbed the Northern Army of Mehdi, was allegedly formed by several of the defendants, prosecutors allege. Prosecutors also claim that one of the group's members, Jeihun Aliyev, travelled to the Iranian holy city of Qom, where he was offered money by Iranian agents. The money was to be used to mount a propaganda campaign designed to undermine Western and Israeli influence in Azerbaijan.