LONDON, 11 August 2005 — Saudi Arabia’s ambassador to London blasted the British government for ignoring his constant warnings on Saudi dissidents, a British newspaper reported yesterday.
Prince Turki Al-Faisal, a former chief of Saudi intelligence, told The Times he had been “going round in circles” with British authorities over the threat posed by Saudi dissidents in Britain.
Prince Turki has been ambassador to Britain since January 2003 but is soon to transfer to Washington. He said his warnings had been passed around government departments. The situation got so bad that Crown Prince Abdullah, now the king, warned British ministers relations between the two countries would be damaged if no action was taken, the paper quoted the ambassador as saying.
“When you call somebody he says it is the other guy,” the prince told The Times. “So we have been in this runaround for the last two and a half years,” he said.
The prince’s chief grievances were over two Saudi dissidents, Saad Faqih and Mohammad Al-Masari. Faqih is on the United Nations terror list accused by the US of involvement in the 1998 bombing of their Nairobi embassy. Al-Masari runs an extremist website, posting videos of suicide bombings in Israel and Iraq.
“We have been urging your government to send them back since 1996, if not earlier. During my two and a half years here it was one of the most persistent and consistent topics,” the ambassador said.
He said when Abdullah raised the issue with Prime Minister Tony Blair in 2003, Blair said there was nothing he could do. Although Blair had promised to change the law on Abdullah’s suggestion, no action was taken.
Eventually, Faqih’s assets were seized once he was placed on the UN terror list in 2004. “He had 20 pounds (29 euros, 36 dollars), or something,” Prince Turki said. “We listed all the obligations now that his name was on the terrorist list. The response we got was ‘we are studying your proposals’.
“Basically, ‘don’t call us, we will call you’. It was very disappointing.”
King Abdullah sent the message home that relations would be damaged on Aug. 3 when Blair met him at the funeral of King Fahd, Prince Turki said, adding he doubted much would be done before his departure in September.
Earlier, speaking to a Saudi newspaper, Prince Turki highlighted his efforts to strengthen Saudi-British relations and promote friendship between the two peoples.
Prince Turki also emphasized Saudi Arabia’s efforts to combat terrorism. “We have never hesitated to extend our cooperation to Britain and other countries to root out the scourge,” he told Okaz Arabic daily.
He said the Kingdom had also informed British authorities about those extremists who incite violence and terrorism. “We have told them that it is high time to prevent these people from spreading hate and promoting violence and terrorism,” he said.
Prince Turki did not say when he was going to take up his new post in Washington, but stressed that he would work for further strengthening Saudi-US relations. “I will follow in the footsteps of my brother Prince Bandar ibn Sultan and make use of his long-standing experience in the field.”
