RIYADH, 24 March 2003 — During the Gulf War 12 years ago, there were no satellite television channels to cover the crisis on a 24-hour basis, and the public had to depend on what Saudi Television’s Channels 1 and 2 showed them. News was pre-recorded from CNN and aired at a later hour — after censorship of some material — which sent people to the radio as a source of fresh uncensored news.

With Iraqi forces massing on the Saudi border and several Iraqi Scud missiles landing in the Eastern Province and Riyadh, fear grasped people in those regions.

Saudi citizens shared with Arab News their memories of the bitter reality of the time.

Zakariya Murshid, 64, says he learned about the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait when people started phoning him in the morning.

“I was in Riyadh at the time and my family was in Egypt. As soon as I had learned about the crisis, I transferred some money to my wife and daughters and asked them to stay there until the situation settled down here.”

Several Scud missiles landed in Riyadh during the first Gulf crisis.

“The first one landed and ripped through the Civil Rights building in Al-Washim Street. The second landed in Olaya district, and the third landed in Al-Naseem district.

“It was only when the third one landed in my district that I finally left Riyadh for Jeddah,” he added.

Murshid recalls the programs recorded by Civil Defense on Saudi TV that demonstrated to citizens and residents the necessary precautions for a chemical attack. People were advised to buy duct tape and seal their windows and aircondition units.

“The government was distributing free gas masks for the public at Civil Defense stations. Any citizen could get them for himself and his family by producing the family ID card.

“Everyone was panicking. People jammed supermarkets to buy rice and other foodstuffs, coal — in case the gas cylinder finished — and candles,” he added.

Several Saudis installed extra locks in their homes for fear that some individuals would take advantage of the chaos to break into homes, especially since most people had left their homes in Riyadh for other cities in Saudi Arabia.

Bakr Abulkhair, 52, told Arab News that he learned of the first Gulf crisis from the cable news service in the United States during his visit there. “I returned to the Kingdom a few days after I heard the news. Amazingly, I returned to find that Saudi Arabian Television had not even revealed the news of the invasion.”

A lot of Saudis living in Riyadh, particularly employees, sent their families to Jeddah and moved temporarily to Al-Mazahimia (about 50 km away), he said. “Radios with multiple band frequencies were in great demand,” he added.

Abulkhair said Saudis felt that there was no imminent threat from Iraq this time round, especially as most of Iraq’s long-range missiles have been destroyed over the past 12 years.

Fahd Abdullah Al-Midyan, 52, was among the few Saudis that had a satellite dish in 1990 and saw the beginning of the crisis on television.

“CNN showed live footage of Iraqi troops battling with the Kuwaiti guards in front of Al-Saif Palace gate in Kuwait,” he said.

He described how “Iraqi troops raided and destroyed anything they could get their hands on.”

Only a very small percentage of Saudis had satellite dishes installed in their homes, “not more than 5 percent of the population,” says Al-Midyan. “Satellite dishes used to cost more than SR50,000.”

Al-Midyan recalls the voluntary military training centers in various parts of the Kingdom. “A lot of people joined the military training centers — both young and old. They were trained in the use of guns and were given outfits to wear.”

“When Scud missiles landed in Riyadh we would hear a loud explosion. Sometimes when Patriot missiles intercepted a Scud, buildings would shake from the power of the explosion,” he said.

He added that the BBC World Service and Radio Monte Carlo were among people’s favorite radio stations for news.