Inside Saudi Arabia

(3 of 3)
Caught between America and bin Laden: for Saudi rulers there could hardly be more uncomfortable terrain. Hence, the Saudis have been lobbying Washington against broad attacks on terrorist bases in the Middle East and downplaying the possible use of the state-of-the-art Prince Sultan Air Base near Riyadh for strikes. In the belief that President Bush's seeming ambivalence toward the Palestinian cause helped inflame tensions before Sept. 11, the Saudis are appealing for much stronger U.S. pressure on Israel to accept a Palestinian state. "Wake up, and look at what you are doing in the Middle East," Prince Alwaleed bin Talal al Saud, an investor with more than $11 billion in U.S. holdings, said to TIME last week. "Arabs and Muslims have become frustrated."

INTERACTIVE GRAPHICS Map: Hunting Osama Map: Nukes Pipeline Interactive: Taliban P.O.W. Revolt More Graphics Tora Bora Nukes Pipeline Taliban Revolt Last Bastions Women & Islam No Refuge Taliban on the Run Afghan Caves Mood of the Nation Mazar-I-Sharif Terrorist Timeline Al-Qaeda Suspects Flu/Anthrax Sharing Secrets Al-Qaeda's World Ground War 11.4.01 Bush Team Grades Bioterror Threats War in Winter Workplace Safety Afghan Targets Anthrax Pathogen A Ground War An Uneasy Ally Targets Hit Search & Destroy Firepower & Food Frozen Assets Safety Guide Mideast Leaders Agents of Death Afghanistan Military Buildup Terrorist Cells Our Weapons Deadly Paths Twin Terrors   CNN.com Latest news: War Against Terror RECENT COVER STORY Closing In Dec. 24, 2001 Past Issues Taliban Last Days Dec. 17, 2001 ----------------- Lifting the Veil Dec. 3, 2001 ----------------- Hunt for bin Laden Nov. 26, 2001 ----------------- Thanksgiving 2001 Nov. 19, 2001 ----------------- Inside Al-Qaeda Nov. 12, 2001 ----------------- Defender In Chief Nov. 5, 2001 ----------------- Going In Oct. 29, 2001 ----------------- The Fear   Factor Oct. 22, 2001 ----------------- Facing   the Fury Oct. 15, 2001 ----------------- How Real   Is the Threat? Oct. 8, 2001 ----------------- Life on the   Home Front Oct. 1, 2001 ----------------- One Nation,   Indivisible Sept. 24, 2001 ----------------- Day of Infamy Sept. 14, 2001   PHOTO ESSAYS Kabul Unveiled Taliban on the Run More Photos >>> MORE STORIES Where's OBL: Letter from Tora Bora Anthrax: Where the Investigation Stands TIME/CNN POLL: Americans Standing By Bush's War More Stories >>>

Saudi officials bitterly complain that America's automatic backing for Israel makes close Saudi ties with Washington a hard sell for their people. Still, much could be done to get the House of Saud in order and head off internal threats. While Crown Prince Abdullah, 78, has been instituting economic reforms and trimming perks like free air travel from the estimated 30,000 members of the extended clan, the public still gripes about rampant official corruption, ranging from taking commissions on arms deals to muscling in on private businessmen. Sclerosis in royal succession is also a problem: because tradition hands the reign from one son of Ibn Saud to another, the current King, 80, and the next three in line are all well past Western retirement age.

The collapse in the kingdom's per capita income, from more than $15,000 in 1981 to less than $7,000 today, poses challenges with no easy solutions for a nation of 17 million Saudis. For the first time since the oil boom of the 1970s, a generation of Saudis is growing up with shrinking educational and job opportunities. Many are Islamic militants, a potential pool of recruits for bin Laden's army. Mai Yamani, a Saudi research fellow at the Royal Institute of International Affairs in London, is monitoring the impact of the Sept. 11 attacks. "What worries me is an Osama bin Laden syndrome," Yamani says. "Is there going to be a radical trend that will grow?" To help ward off that chance, the Saudi government is already working to turn down the heat. During Friday prayers last week, for instance, the Imam of Mecca condemned terrorism and warned about "the spreading of evil on this earth."

Thus far, there have been no anti-American protests like the Muslim demonstrations last week in Pakistan and Indonesia. Saudi security is tight and justice swift, proven tools for discouraging potential agitators. Royals led by Crown Prince Abdullah seem keenly aware of the need to defuse tensions between the government and radical Saudi clergy. In 1999 Prince Naif, the Interior Minister, eased a tense standoff by freeing two militant imams, ideological allies of bin Laden who had been detained in 1994 for agitating against the government. Abdullah keeps an ear cocked toward public opinion: earlier this year, angered by U.S. inaction on the Palestinian problem, he pointedly declined an invitation from President Bush to visit the White House.

Saudis say they will be watching to see if U.S. military action in the war on terrorism produces a backlash on the streets of Riyadh and other Saudi cities. Most feel antigovernment sentiment will be contained by security clampdowns and a Saudi aversion to trouble. "Less than 1 in 100 would like to see bin Laden in power," says Riyadh ophthalmologist Osama Alem, 42. "People look at what the Taliban did to Afghanistan and ask, 'Would you like to be living there?'" Yet the warning signs are there, and not just among religious fanatics. Steering his leather-seated Mercedes through Riyadh's neon-lit shopping boulevards, Saudi journalist Omar al Zobidy is the picture of the Western-educated Saudi yuppie. But his rant against America is all bin Laden. "We are Arabs," al Zobidy cries as he speeds through an intersection. "Osama makes us feel like we are still alive. He is changing the balance of power."

1. McCain's Foreign Policy Frustration
2. Banksy: An Artist Unmasked
3. LeBron's Gold Guarantee
4. Berlin Awaits the 'Next JFK'
5. When Jellyfish Attack
6. A New Cold War in the Caribbean?
7. Woman Kills Self Before Foreclosure
8. Facebook: Movement or Business?
9. Goodbye to France's 35-Hour Week
10. Dr. Dre's Headphones: Chronically Good