Grand Mosque Seizure

[LazyLob]

I never knew about this and I can find little info on the net about it. Can anyone please elaborate?

Events

On November 20, 1979, some 200 dissidents took over Al-Masjid al-Haram in Mecca, taking hundreds of pilgrims present for hajj as hostages. The seizure left the Saudi government paralyzed. Before any military action, the Saudi government secured the permission of the religious establishement, as bloodshed is strictly prohibited in Mecca. Led by Juhaiman ibn Muhammad ibn Saif al Utaibi, belonging to a powerful Sunni family, the dissidents (men and women) were apparently protesting at the ruling Saudi dynasty. They claimed that the Saud family was corrupt, ostentatious and had destroyed Saudi culture by an aggressive policy of Westernization.[1]

The Saudi Special Security Force, which is the equivalent of a special weapons assault team (SWAT), was organized in response to the poor performance of the National Guard during the Grand Mosque seizure.Pakistani and French security forces retook the shrine in a battle which left approximately 250 dead, and 600 wounded. Pakistani and French troops reportedly entered the Grand Mosque and flooded it with water; applied electricity to it; and electrocuted most of the rebels. Other reports said that paralyzing gas was used. Still others say the highly trained French GIGN counter-terrorist commandos led the assault after receiving an instant conversion to Islam by Saudi religious leaders. The Pakistanis and French were called in after poor results from assaults by the Saudi Arabian National Guard (SANG). 127 were reported to have been killed. al Utaibi, was a member of SANG and some guardsmen were reported to have joined the rebels. This would have been especially shocking to the Saudi ruling family. The Saudi Army was not used as it is comprised of the poorer elements of Saudi society, while SANG's officers come from the upper strata. SANG was established as the crown prince's "personal army" and to protect the royal family from a coup by the regular military. To insure loyalty, SANG is mainly recruited from the tribes that have traditionally been most loyal to the al Saud family. The anxiety created by the poor results of SANG's assaults led to the calling in of the French and Pakistanis. The confusion stems from the fact that infidels(non-Muslims)are not allowed in the Holy City of Medina and especially the Grand Mosque enclosing the Sacred Kaaba. The Saudis, worried about their legitimacy in the Islamic world, do not mention the French in their official stories. Other official type statemnts say they were only used as advisors. Thus the number of French GIGN used varies from 3 to 40. The rebels' leader, Juhayman, was killed and 63 of his fellow rebels were publicly beheaded. Saudi television broadcast the executions live.

[I'mOnlyHalfPolish]

¿que? 1234

[Don Pascual]

That is true, I was talking with my sheik about it today... their leader proclamed himself the mahdi, and wanted that the king reconized him as such...

[LazyLob]

I'm more interested in the French operation. How it was set up and executed.

[BadKarma26]

Why isn't Osama blowing the **** out of Paris?!?!

[S'13]

Why isn't Osama blowing the **** out of Paris?!?!

How do you know he's not planning to?

[The Duke]

Pakistani and French troops reportedly entered the Grand Mosque and flooded it with water; applied electricity to it; and electrocuted most of the rebels.

Holy Sh1t!!!!

[duck]

Brilliant practical thinking. No damage to the holy Mosque.

[Laworkerbee]

LazyLob

I need the link to this man

[Laworkerbee]

Nevermind found it here

http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/gulf/mecca.htm

scroll to the bottom

[LazyLob]

Thanks Laworkerbee I've seen similar info on other sites already but none go into any more detail than that. One would think that after 27 years some more information would be out there. If not from the Saudis at least from the French involved.

[strana76]

Resurrecting an old post here!

Anyone found any more info out since this was written?

I'm doing a bit of research into this and other attacks in Saudi as part of a Masters degree. Some stuff I know/have heard...


* The French troops who took part in the operation were from the GIGN. One source (perhaps wikipedia...I should find something more academic!) said that they received an instant conversion to Islam by order of an ulema so that they could be in the area and take part in the operation. This fits with a pattern of ulemas issuing politically expedient fatwas at the behest of the government.

* The reasoning behind the use of gas, and electrocution as an option of last resort, was to eliminate the militants in the most humane way, according to the Sharia. Previous efforts by SNG units had also led to a lot of superficial damage to the building, with little effect. This also included the use of artillery.

There's a new book out this year just on the siege, claiming to be the first. That sounds about right, little is written about it or al-Utaybi. The book is called "The Siege of Mecca", by a chap with a Russian name, published by Doubleday.

[Ordie]

Saudi Prince Khalid bin Sultan (Gulf War 1 Commander of Joint Forces) mentioned the siege in his book "Fighter from the Desert".

He did not mention the French. But did mention the challenge of keeping the Saudi forces alive enough to complete the job. Many of the Saudi Forces were proned to wreckless suicide attacks in the Grand Mosque as an easy ticket to paradise and redemption.

[LazyLob]

The Leader of the seizure: Juhayman ibn Muhammad ibn Sayf al-Otaibi

wiki

Otayba tribe[3], he served in the Saudi Arabian National Guard from 1955[4] to c. 1973[5], leaving to study at the University of Medina. There he attended lectures by Sheikh Abdul Aziz ibn Baz and attracted a personal following composed mostly of local Saudis with an admixture of foreign students[6]. In 1974 he left the university, along with a number of his followers, returning to his hometown in Najd. For several years his group—styled the Ikhwan, after the Wahhabi brotherhood instrumental in Ibn Saud's rise to power—preached his doctrines and distributed pamphlets (which had to be printed in Kuwait[7]). These included "The Law of Loyalty and Obedience: Corrupt Government"[citation needed] and Saba Rasail ('Seven Letters'), the latter of which outlined the basic tenets of Juhayman's ideology:
1. The imperative to emulate the Prophet's example—revelation, propagation, and military takeover.
2. The necessity for the Muslims to overthrow their present corrupt rulers who are forced upon them and lack Islamic attributes since the Quran recognizes no king or dynasty.
3. The requirements for legitimate rulership are devotion to Islam and its practice, rulership by the Holy Book and not by repression, Qurashi tribal roots, and election by the Muslim believers.
4. The duty to base the Islamic faith on the Quran and the sunnah and not on the equivocal interpretations (taqlid) of the ulama and on their "incorrect" teachings in the schools and universities.
5. The necessity to isolate oneself from the sociopolitical system by refusing to accept any official positions.
6. The advent of the mahdi from the lineage of the Prophet through Husayn ibn Ali to remove the existing injustices and bring equity and peace to the faithful.
7. The duty to reject all worshipers of the partners of God (shirk), including worshipers of Ali, Fatimah and Muhammad, the Khawarij, and even music and technology.
8. The duty to establish a puritanical Islamic community which protects Islam from unbelievers and does not court foreigners.[8]
In the late 1970s he moved to Riyadh, where he drew the attention of the Saudi security forces. He and approximately 100 of his followers were arrested in the summer of 1978 for demonstrating against the monarchy, but were released after ibn Baz questioned them and pronounced them harmless[9].

His tribe:

'Utaybah (Arabic: عتيبة, also spelled Uteibah, Otaybah, and Oteibah) is a large tribe of the Arabian Peninsula. As is the case with many other large tribal confederations in the region, the name 'Utaybah only appeared within the last few centuries. Genealogist of the tribe, however, trace the origin of 'Utaybah to the mighty pre-Islamic tribe of Hawazin, who were once engaged in a large battle with Muhammad at Hunayn in 630 C.E.. Indeed, until sometime in the 19th century, 'Utaybah was concentrated in the area around Taif, which was Hawazin's old tribal land.
At around that time a large section of the tribe moved eastwards towards Nejd, which at the time was dominated by another large tribe known as Qahtan. Another group moved to what is now the United Arab Emirates. A mighty war ensued between 'Utaybah and Qahtan which led to 'Utaybah taking over most of Qahtan's grazing lands in western Nejd, pushing Qahtan further to the east and south. A large boulder in western Nejd where a group of Qahtani tribesmen made their last stand against 'Utaybah is still known today as Hassaat Ghatan ("Qahtan's Rock"). The tribe remained mostly bedouin, however, and only a small number of them settled in the towns of Nejd. Sections of the tribe ended up moving as far east as Kuwait and as far north as Jordan, suggesting that the tribe must have been remarkably large by the standards of Arabia at the time and had little choice but to burst into the surrounding areas as it did.
'Utaybah and Qahtan are generally considered to be two of the largest tribes in Saudi Arabia today, though no reliable statistics exist. The rivalry between the two tribes is still alive and vivid among their members, even though almost none of them maintain their old nomadic ways.
The tribe for a long time maintained a cool attitude towards the Wahhabi movement championed by the Al Saud clan of Nejd in the 18th and 19th centuries, and tended to side more with the Sharifs of Mecca.[1] In 1912, however, the founder of modern Saudi Arabia, Abdul Aziz Ibn Saud, began an ambitious plan to settle the nomadic tribes within his domains (which at the time included Nejd and Arabia's eastern coastal areas). This was to be coupled with indoctrination of the tribesmen into the religious ideals espoused by Muhammad ibn Abd Al-Wahhab, as the religious observance of the bedouin was hitherto considered to be somewhat loose. The new settlements were to be known as hijras and the accompanying religious movement was called the Ikhwan ("the Brotherhood"). As a result, a large number of 'Utaybi hijras sprung up across the land, especially in western Nejd. The most famous 'Utaybi hijras were 'Afif near Dwadmi, and Sajir near Shaqraa. A large contingent of 'Utaybah, led by Sultan ibn Bjad, joined the Ikhwan, who were then deployed by Ibn Saud against his rivals as he sought to unite as much of Arabia under his rule as possible. The Ikhwan were instrumental in gaining control of the Hejaz for Ibn Saud, but they then grew resentful and restless. The 'Utaybi leader of the Ikhwan joined with Ikhwan leaders from other tribes in revolt, but they were defeated by Ibn Saud's forces at the Battle of Sbilla near Zilfi in northeastern Nejd in 1930. The 'Utaybi hijras remained, however, and the hijra of 'Afif became particularly prosperous and is now considered a city in its own right, lying approximately half-way between Riyadh and Mecca.
Many 'Utaybis have entered the Saudi armed forces in the last few decades, and their presence is particularly heavy in the National Guard. Prominent members of the tribe include Khalaf ibn Hathal, a poet who rose to prominence during the First Gulf War, Juhayman Al-'Utaybi, the militant who led the 1979 seizure of the Sacred Mosque in Mecca (see Grand Mosque Seizure), and Dhaifallah Al-'Utaybi, mayor of Dammam and a former executive in the Saudi national oil company, Aramco.

There's a new book out this year just on the siege, claiming to be the first. That sounds about right, little is written about it or al-Utaybi. The book is called "The Siege of Mecca", by a chap with a Russian name, published by Doubleday.


Yaroslav Trofimov.

http://www.randomhouse.com/doubleday/siegeofmecca/index.php