AL-SAHAT: AFTER BRIEF SHUTDOWN, ACCUSATIONS THAT

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 JEDDAH 000374

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

RIYADH, PLEASE PASS TO DHAHRAN; DEPARTMENT FOR NEA/ARP;
LONDON FOR TSOU; PARIS FOR ZEYA

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: KISL KWMN PGOV PREL PTER SA SCUL SOCI
SUBJECT: AL-SAHAT: AFTER BRIEF SHUTDOWN, ACCUSATIONS THAT
CONGEN JEDDAH IS "CORRUPTING SAUDI WOMEN"

REF: A. JEDDAH 263

B. JEDDAH 356


1. SUMMARY. Al-Sahat, a popular Arabic-language website
frequently denounced as extremist, mysteriously went offline
from April 18 to 22, sparking rumors the Saudi government had
caused the site to be shut down. ConGen Jeddah and its
officers are regular subjects of commentary, criticism, and
the occasional threat on the site, and shortly after full
access to the site was restored, an online debate ensued
accusing ConGen Jeddah of forming a liberal, mixed-gender
Saudi society and of bribing writers to attack a prominent
Saudi columnist critical of USG efforts to promote women's
rights in the Kingdom. The debate echoed an earlier
discussion in which Embassy Riyadh was accused of bribing
journalists to plant stories in the press. END SUMMARY.

AL-SAHAT: EXTREMIST MESSAGES, EXTREMELY POPULAR


2. Al-Sahat is an Arabic-language website consisting of a
number of fora in which readers can post their opinions and
join the debate on such topics as sports, cars, and
computers, as well as political issues, terrorism, and Islam.
Al-Sahat is based in Abu Dhabi, but most of the site's
contributors come from Saudi Arabia. Since its establishment
in the late 1990s, the site has been denounced regularly in
the government-controlled Saudi media for the extremist views
expressed by some contributors. Saudi posters have used the
site to spearhead harsh campaigns against Saudi officials,
including Ghazi al-Qusaibi, the Minister of Labor, and Iyad
Madani, the Minister of Culture and Information, as well as
liberal writers and public figures.


3. According to the Saudi-financed pan-Arab newspaper
Asharq Alawsat, al-Qaeda and other terrorist organizations
and sympathizers have used al-Sahat to publicize their
activities. For instance, one al-Sahat contributor, who went
by the pseudonym Akhu man Ta' Allah, edited a magazine called
"Voice of Jihad" and published it on al-Sahat, and, according
to the Ministry of the Interior, was an active member of
al-Qaeda in Saudi Arabia until his arrest in May 2005.


4. Al-Sahat's owner Tariq Fares was reportedly offered
4,000,000 Saudi riyals (approximately $1.1 million) for the
site. Al-Sahat boasts more than 100,000 registered members,
of whom 20,000 are thought to be active contributors. The
site is now closed to new members, other than those
"recommended" by a current member. According to Asharq
Alawsat, membership is in such high demand that current
members can sell their recommendation or old log-in
information for as much as 4,000 Saudi riyals.

AL-SAHAT GOES OFFLINE, SPARKING RUMORS OF SAUDI GOVERNMENT
INVOLVEMENT


5. On April 18, al-Sahat readers were surprised to find
the site unavailable. Abdullah Hasim, the assistant director
of eCompany, the internet division of the United Arab
Emirates telecommunications company Etisalat, attributed the
site's going offline to technical difficulties. Al-Sahat went
back online on April 22, but its political forum remained
unavailable. Access to the political forum was restored on
April 25, though discussions were, at first, more moderate
than usual. By May 1, al-Sahat had returned to form.


6. Rumors circulated around Saudi Arabia that the Emirati
government had shut al-Sahat down in response to pressure
from the Saudi government. The King Abdulaziz City for
Science and Technology (KACST),the Saudi governmental
authority responsible for censoring the internet, has in the
past blocked access to al-Sahat from the Kingdom. A few weeks
ago, KACST blocked the site for several hours after a
particularly scathing posting accused Ghazi al-Qusaibi of
"conspiring against Islam." Now that access to al-Sahat has
been restored, at least for the time being, posters have been
discussing alternative ways to communicate with one another
should the Saudi or Emirati government shut the site down
permanently.

CONGEN JEDDAH ACCUSED OF "UNLEASHING HIRED WRITERS" AGAINST
SAUDI COLUMNIST


JEDDAH 00000374 002 OF 002



7. ConGen Jeddah and its officers are regular subjects of
commentary, criticism, and the occasional threat from
al-Sahat contributors. Eyebrows were raised when, within
hours of the May 12 shooting at ConGen Jeddah, the site
carried a biography of the suspected shooter (reftel b).


8. On May 3, a poster wrote that ConGen Jeddah "has
formed a liberal Saudi society for men and women that meets
regularly at the Consulate" and, further, "is behind the
agenda and speakers of the Jeddah Economic Forum." He went on
to accuse the Consulate of bribing writers to attack Nora
al-Saad, a columnist for the newspaper al-Riyadh, who has
been critical of USG efforts to promote women's rights in
Saudi Arabia. ConGen Jeddah, he wrote, "which is specialized
in corrupting the Saudi Woman, unleashed its hired (or mad)
writers to criticize the honorable Dr. Nora al-Saad." He
cited an article published in al-Watan, the most liberal of
Saudi Arabia's government-controlled papers, which, he
claimed, was written by a Consulate "agent" and mocked
al-Saad and "terrorized" her "by accusing her of belonging to
al-Qaeda." The poster wrote that "these highly paid writers,
who are influenced by the American Strategic Media and are
highly ranked in their papers, are the tools of the 'American
Democratic Islam Project.'" This online debate echoed an
earlier discussion on al-Sahat, in which Embassy Riyadh was
accused of bribing Saudi journalists to plant stories in the
press (reftel a).
Gfoeller