GEOSTRATEGY-DIRECT INTELLIGENCE BRIEF
Western nations come to Saudis' rescue
UK, U.S. Germany send advisers to help with battle against al-Qaida
Posted: June 11, 2004
1:00 a.m. Eastern
Saudi and Western officials said countries such as Britain, France, Germany and
the United States have increased support to the kingdom to help equip, train
and advise Saudi security forces, reports intelligence newsletter
Geostrategy-Direct.
The Western effort is intended to improve what some officials have termed the
poor performance of Saudi forces against al-Qaida insurgents.
Saudi officials said the kingdom has sought Western training for Interior
Ministry security forces, which have borne the brunt of responsibility for the
campaign against al-Qaida insurgents. On June 2, the ministry reported that two
al-Qaida insurgents were killed near Taif. Saudi television showed helicopters
used in the operation.
"Saudi Arabia has received substantial technical advice from British, French,
German, Jordanian, Pakistani and U.S. experts," the Washington-based Center for
International and Strategic Studies said in a report, co-authored by former
Pentagon official Anthony Cordesman and Saudi security adviser Nawaf Obaid.
"Substantial numbers of British and French advisers served in Saudi Arabia in
the past, including seconded ex-government and military personnel, but it is
unclear how many have continued to serve since the early 1990s."
Officials said Britain has flown a team of counter-insurgency specialists to
Riyadh to help Saudi security forces. The team came from the British SO13
counter-terrorist unit and would also investigate the death of a British oil
executive, Michael Hamilton, executed by al-Qaida during its attack of a
Western compound outside Khobar on May 29.
The British government has also been discussing the sale of equipment to Saudi
Arabia for counter-insurgency operations and response to attacks, officials
said. They included an offer of biological and chemical protection devices,
ordnance disposal systems, command and control vehicles, C4I systems and
explosives detectors.
France and Germany have also been asked to train, equip and coordinate police
and Interior Ministry forces. Officials said there has been virtually no
interoperability between police, special forces and military units.
Interior Ministry forces have been hampered by a shortage of helicopters. The
helicopter unit deployed in the May 30 raid of the al-Qaida-captured housing
compound outside Khobar was composed of CH-47 heavy-lift helicopters operated
by the Saudi National Guard.
On June 2, al-Qaida insurgents fired toward a U.S. military convoy that left a
Saudi military base south of Riyadh. A U.S. Embassy statement said the military
personnel were employed to train the National Guard and that one American
soldier was slightly injured in the attack for which al-Qaida claimed
responsibility.
Officials said Riyadh has decided to intensify training and equipping of a
range of Saudi special forces aligned with the Interior Ministry. The focus
would be on the Special Emergency Forces, a 10,000-man force.
The Saudi security forces were said to have performed poorly in the operation
to end the al-Qaida hostage standoff at the Oasis compound outside Khobar.
Officials acknowledged that senior Saudi security figures, which could have
included Interior Minister Prince Nayef Bin Abdul Aziz, approved a deal in
which the al-Qaida insurgents would be allowed to escape if they stopped
executing hostages.
But the ministry has failed to explain the multiple attacks by what it asserted
was a four-man al-Qaida squad. Some officials assessed that there were two
al-Qaida teams, totaling seven insurgents. The two squads were believed to have
attacked both the Oasis compound as well as the Khobar Petroleum Center.
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| User: "Leigh_Bee" |
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| Title: Re: Western nations come to Saudis' rescue |
12 Jun 2004 06:11:05 AM |
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(TonyZ2001) wrote in message news:<20040611112424.05486.00000883@mb-m17.aol.com>...
GEOSTRATEGY-DIRECT INTELLIGENCE BRIEF
Western nations come to Saudis' rescue
UK, U.S. Germany send advisers to help with battle against al-Qaida
Posted: June 11, 2004
1:00 a.m. Eastern
Saudi and Western officials said countries such as Britain, France, Germany and
the United States have increased support to the kingdom to help equip, train
and advise Saudi security forces, reports intelligence newsletter
Geostrategy-Direct.
The Western effort is intended to improve what some officials have termed the
poor performance of Saudi forces against al-Qaida insurgents.
SNIP
Well is it not ***** Clark who said Saudi Arabia is worse than Iran
before the Shah left?
LB
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