LAT: Once Indifferent, Saudis Allied with U.S. in Fighting Al Qaeda

[DeepModem Mom]

THE WORLD
Once Indifferent, Saudis Allied With U.S. in Fighting Al Qaeda

By Douglas Frantz, Times Staff Writer


RIYADH, Saudi Arabia — After years of giving tacit support and back-channel financing to Islamic extremists, the Saudi government has joined forces with the United States in an intensive battle against Al Qaeda in the desert kingdom.

For the last year, U.S. intelligence analysts have been sitting side by side with their Saudi counterparts at a secret location here in the capital, sharing raw intelligence and plotting counterattacks, said a former U.S. ambassador to the country, Robert Jordan, and a senior Saudi government official.

Even critics who accuse the Saudis of turning a blind eye to militant Islamic terrorism in the past — and who remain skeptical about the extent of their cooperation — agreed that Saudi security forces were taking the Al Qaeda threat seriously and responding forcefully....

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But just as the Saudi government has shifted its strategy, so has Al Qaeda. In a bid to expand its influence and win recruits from a vast pool of Saudis who have long chafed under the repressive monarchy, Al Qaeda operatives have been switching their emphasis from killing foreigners to assassinating a member of the royal family, people close to the terrorist group and Western intelligence officials said.

These sources described the assassination plans, posted on an Al Qaeda website in June, as the next phase in the group's ruthless campaign to topple the government and impose a strict Taliban-like theocracy....


http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-saudi8aug08,1,4948910.story?coll=la-home-headlines

[thebigidea]

1. as opposed to the freedomlovin non-strict non-Taliban like Saudi govt now?

[saigon68]

2. kick