US Expels Saudi diplomats

Jan. 30 - One of the biggest undercurrents in the war on terror has been the uncertain role of the Saudis. There's been implicit criticism of the administration occasionally fed and/or muted by rumours, like this one: U.S. has quietly expelled dozens of Saudi diplomats:

The United States has ordered the expulsion of dozens of Saudi diplomats suspected of helping promulgate Al Qaida ideology, diplomatic sources said. The State Dept. has refused to either confirm or deny the action..

The State Department revoked the diplomatic credentials of the Saudi diplomats in Washington over the last month in an effort to crack down on Saudi efforts to promote Al Qaida interests in the United States.

The diplomatic sources said about 70 diplomats and embassy staffers were expelled in late 2003 and dozens of others were ordered to leave the United States by mid-February. Many of those expelled were said to have worked in the office of the Saudi defense attache.

Read the whole thing.

One thing I found interesting is a theory at the bottom of the article:

[On Thursday, a statement purportedly issued by Bin Laden said Al Qaida's strategy was to launch a major attack on the United States. The statement, which appeared on the Voice of Jihad website, said Al Qaida wants to provoke the United States to retaliate against Saudi Arabia.] (Original brackets.)

So are we being manipulated to attack the Saudis, or does the statement serve merely to provide Saudi plausible deniability?

(Via InstaNews. Heh.)

Posted by: Debbye at 11:24 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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