Sept. 11 Aftermath Strains U.S.-Saudi Ties
Oct. 31 -- Relationships between the United States and Arab Gulf monarchies are being strained by the fallout from the Sept. 11 terror attacks — including surveillance and detention of Arab nationals in the United States and an exodus of investments from the Gulf.
Prince Nayef, the Saudi Arabian interior minister who previously denounced U.S. airstrikes in Afghanistan, has warned that the kingdom will bring home its thousands of nationals in the United States unless their "harassment" ceases, the Saudi Press Agency reported Tuesday.
"The kingdom is working to end this harassment, and we hope it will stop. But if it continues, we would certainly tell our citizens to come home, or search for another place to live and work," Nayef said.
Saudi radio and television report that many Saudi students, professionals, blue-collar workers and hospital patients returning home since the Sept. 11 terror attacks claim they have been harassed, badly treated and humiliated, both by FBI and immigration authorities, and by the general public.
"We were under tremendous pressure," Abdallah Qattan, a student, told the SPA. "We had close searches, especially on U.S. interstate flights. They used police dogs to search our baggage and for body searches."
Qattan said people of other nationalities were not as closely examined.
"We felt extremely humiliated," he said.
Suspected Bin Laden Sympathizers Detained
Prince Nayef's Interior Ministry set up a hotline in Riyadh, the Saudi capital, to answer queries from families of Saudis detained in the United States. More than 100 Saudis were detained for questioning after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. U.S. officials said only 12 of these remained in custody, The Associated Press reported Tuesday.
Some of the 19 suspected hijackers in the suicide bombings in New York and Washington carried Saudi or Egyptian passports. Saudi authorities contend that some were using stolen passports and had assumed false Saudi identities.
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