TRIBAL LEADERS MAKE AMENDS THE OLD-FASHIONED WAY

C O N F I D E N T I A L RIYADH 006335

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/08/2016
TAGS: PGOV PREL SA
SUBJECT: TRIBAL LEADERS MAKE AMENDS THE OLD-FASHIONED WAY

Classified By: Deputy Chief of Mission Michael Gfoeller for
reasons 1.4 (b) and (d).


1. (C) SUMMARY: Saudi press this week covered what is likely
a regular, but nonetheless rarely reported event, the
traditional process of reconciliation between two tribes
engaged in a potentially violent dispute. Though such events
are usually far from the local headlines and almost never the
subject of national-level discourse, the news reports of this
reconciliation provide a welcome view of traditional local
control and mechanisms for resolving conflicts that might
otherwise spin out of control. In this case, tribal leaders
in southern Saudi Arabia reconciled after a dispute between
two school-aged boys. Following a series of talks with
tribal leadership delegations, amends were made with the
swearing of oaths and the payment of 5,000 Riyals by the
tribe whose members were found to be at fault. END SUMMARY.


2. (U) Mainstream media reported a recent reconciliation in
the southern regions of the Kingdom, where the al-Sultan and
al-Shabnan, sub-tribes of the large Qahtan tribal
confederation, ended a dispute started by two teenage boys at
a local intermediate school. The student from the al-Sultan
tribe reportedly initiated a fight with a student from the
al-Shabnan tribe. That fight escalated into a dispute
between the two tribes, which threatened to become violent.


3. (U) To resolve the conflict, each tribe sent a leadership
delegation to participate in dialogue. After several rounds
of discussions between the delegations, the tribes agreed to
reconcile following the payment of 5,000 Riyals from the
al-Sultan to the al-Shabnan tribe and a swearing of oaths by
the two senior tribal leaders of the al-Sultan tribe. The
senior leaders took an oath, administered by a local
religious leader, swearing that the brawl between the two
boys took place without their knowledge and without their
encouragement. This oath swearing ceremony marked the end of
the conflict between the tribes.


4. (C) COMMENT: In the past, representatives of the Royal
Family would traditionally step in and pay the compensation
("blood money") for the offending tribe, often well in excess
of the traditional amount, in order to prevent violent
retribution. This particular reconciliation reportedly
occurred without significant political or financial
involvement of the Royal Family, and the requisite
compensation was a small amount. Despite the apparent lack
of visible, direct Royal Family involvement, it is likely
that the local governor or other representative of Riyadh
made clear to tribal leaders that what was apparently a
school yard incident was to stay in the school yard and not
escalate further.
END COMMENT.
OBERWETTER