Ever since the first terrorist attack on Shiite houses of worship in Saudi Arabia, it has been clear that a plan has been put in place to target the country’s unity and stability, suggests the columnist Tareq Al Homayed in the pan- Arab daily Asharq Al Awsat on Monday.
The plot was announced following the two terrorist explosions at mosques in Al Qudeeh and Dammam in Saudi Arabia. ISIL issued a statement that shows the extent of its criminal intentions against the kingdom.
ISIL’s statement, he noted, declares the organisation’s plans to target Shiites on the Arabian Peninsula, a plan that brings to mind similar statements made by Al Qaeda in the late 1990s.
“ISIL’s criminal statement could only mean one thing: their plan is to stoke sectarian strife in Saudi Arabia, plunging the country into turmoil in a bid to serve the interests of many parties,” Al Homayed said.
“Caution is called for at every level, especially at this time, when Saudi Arabia is in an open confrontation with criminal systems and militias in the region.”
Cautionary measures should begin with strict monitoring of the media and a clampdown on sectarian speech, he suggested.
Given the kingdom’s past experience fighting Al Qaeda, one can suppose that its population has become more aware and less susceptible to inflammatory hate speech.
For his part, the columnist Jasser Al Jasser wrote in the London-based daily Al Hayat that Saudi Arabia is waging three wars to protect its territories, assert its weight and entrench its role in the region.
The kingdom has engaged in a battle to rescue Yemen and preserve its Arab identity against a vicious attack that almost turned Yemen into a platform to spread mayhem and destruction throughout the whole region.
Saudi Arabia is waging an internal war against terrorism as evil hands attempt to instil fear and spread sedition. The country is also fighting a war on the drugs that are invading its territories and targeting its youth, the writer said.
“Saudi Arabia’s confrontation is an existential one. But the government and the people have proven that they are fully aware of the hidden intentions behind these attacks and have come together to form an impenetrable wall that deters all criminal aggressions,” he noted.
Writing in Al Ittihad, the sister paper of The National, columnist Abdullah Al Otaibi pointed out that this new phase of sectarianism in Saudi Arabia demonstrates a new alliance between Iran and its Shiite affiliates on one side and radical Sunni groups such as the Muslim Brotherhood, Al Qaeda and ISIL on the other side.
“Al Qaeda has targeted Saudi, but never made any attempts on Iran. ISIL attacked Saudi, but never Iran. ISIL struck an alliance with Iran’s Syrian allies and Bashar Al Assad, and in Iraq, ISIL is avenging Al Qaeda against the Anbar tribes that eradicated the terrorist group in that region,” the writer said.
“But, just as Saudi was able to prevail over fundamentalist terrorism, it shall certainly prevail over sectarian terrorism as well,” the writer concluded.
* Racha Makarem
rmakarem@thenational.ae
Biography
Her family: She has four sons, aged 29, 27, 25 and 24 and is a grandmother-of-nine
Favourite book: Flashes of Thought by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid
Favourite drink: Water
Her hobbies: Reading and volunteer work
Favourite music: Classical music
Her motto: I don't wait, I initiate
Skewed figures
In the village of Mevagissey in southwest England the housing stock has doubled in the last century while the number of residents is half the historic high. The village's Neighbourhood Development Plan states that 26% of homes are holiday retreats. Prices are high, averaging around £300,000, £50,000 more than the Cornish average of £250,000. The local average wage is £15,458.
FIGHT CARD
1. Featherweight 66kg
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Mohammed Kareem Aljnan (SYR) v Alphonse Besala (CMR)
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Marcos Costa (BRA) v Abdelhakim Wahid (MAR)
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COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
Started: 2021
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
Based: Tunisia
Sector: Water technology
Number of staff: 22
Investment raised: $4 million
The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
Ms Yang's top tips for parents new to the UAE
- Join parent networks
- Look beyond school fees
- Keep an open mind
Company: Instabug
Founded: 2013
Based: Egypt, Cairo
Sector: IT
Employees: 100
Stage: Series A
Investors: Flat6Labs, Accel, Y Combinator and angel investors
The National's picks
4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
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The specs
Engine: 6.2-litre V8
Power: 502hp at 7,600rpm
Torque: 637Nm at 5,150rpm
Transmission: 8-speed dual-clutch auto
Price: from Dh317,671
On sale: now