Khobar Tower Bombing Revisited: On al-Qaeda, Hezbullah, and Bait & Switch
“The Bald Lie that is called Saudi Hezbullah: Sometime during the past decade there was an intelligence leak about the existence of a secret Saudi organization supported by Iran that was allegedly behind the bombing of a housing complex at al-Khobar in 1996. Nineteen Americans were killed and 372 others were wounded. Some ‘analysts’ claim that the accused were tried and convicted. That the trial was held in secrecy, and some claimed at the time that the secrecy of the trial was in order to avoid an American military strike against Iran had the secrets of the trial become public!....
“New-old leaks are coming now as a result of the recent declassification of information and a series of articles by Gareth Porter of IPS claiming that al-Qaeda was actually behind the bombings. Gareth also claims that the incriminating evidence at the trial was mostly fabricated by the Saudis, while the absolving evidence was suppressed…..
“Actually there is no such thing as Saudi Hezbullah. The main accused, Hani al-Sayegh, admittedly a Hezbullah sympathizer, was arrested by Canadian authorities and handed over to the USA, where he was interrogated by the CIA and FBI. He was found to have no connection to the Khobar bombing, but was accordingly handed over to the Saudi authorities in 1998....
“In fact, it is a lie to say that the accused were tried and convicted. There has been no trial: they have been held for years without a trial…. The same goes for others, including al-Qaeda members, who were arrested in Saudi Arabia: none was ever tried…...
“One theory making the rounds now is that the admittance that Iran was not involved is a step toward the expected dialog with that country…. Another theory is that the USA is pressuring the Saudis in order to force them to cooperate on some regional matters….This explains why the report claims that high Saudi officials were engaged in lies and fabricating evidence..…..”
This piece is one interesting take on the recent revelations about the 1996 bombing at al-Khobar. It is based largely on the series of investigative reports by Gareth Porter of IPS.
There has been much talk in Saudi media and its satellite newspapers in Persian Gulf states, like alseyassah of Kuwait which used to be an ardent supporter of Saddam, about mini-Hezbullahs throughout the Gulf, and in other Arab countries. There has been mention of places as far as Egypt and Morocco.
These mini-Hezbullahs are supposed to be local (Shi’as, of course), trained, and ready for some kind of action at the behest of the ruling mullahs of Iran. That would point to one possible big neighborly brother whocan save us from the Iranian clergy, just like Saddam did in the 1980s.
I don’t know enough to be certain, but looking at who is propagating this idea, I tend to believe that it is part of a disinformation campaign. It shifts the blame away from local al-Qaeda supporters, and fans the flame of sectarian, anti-Shi’a, hatred in the various absolute tribal monarchies. It is not exactly a bait and switch tactic, but close enough.
Cheers
mhg
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