Okaz newspaper

What I do not understand is why Saad Al-Faqih agreed to be a tool of the Qatari regime although the country’s ruling system is very similar to that of Saudi Arabia.

SUDDENLY Saudi dissident Saad Al-Faqih reappeared on the Qatari channel Al-Jazeera for an interview. I thought the Qataris would be bored with Al-Faqih and his anonymous Twitter accounts because he has nothing new to offer.

The disappearance of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi confused the Qataris and they decided to rehabilitate Al-Faqih and host him again in order to complete their plot against Saudi Arabia. Can Al-Faqih stand his ground or is he going to start cursing, spread lies and hurl false accusations on air or through his Twitter accounts?

In the mid-1990s, Al-Faqih was the first Saudi dissident to be picked up by then Qatari Emir Hamad Bin Khalifa and his Foreign Minister Hamad Bin Jassim. They used him to harm Saudi Arabia. What I do not understand is why Al-Faqih agreed to be a tool of the Qatari regime although the country’s ruling system is very similar to that of Saudi Arabia. The system is very much the same with the exception of a few minor details like in other GCC countries.

Since then Saudi Arabia made many advancements in civil rights and held municipal elections to establish city councils. Saudi Arabia also empowered women by appointing them to the Shoura Council, where they occupy one-third the seats. Qatar did not have such a council until last year.

Qatar is neither an oasis of democracy nor is it a bastion of civil liberties. At the end of the day, Qatar is not Switzerland. Then why did Al-Faqih decide to betray his country in favor of Qatar, the country that is committing the same “sins” that Al-Faqih oppose?

Qatar received Israelis and has a very good relationship with them. It opened the country for American military bases. Female marines are seen everywhere and are having fun in Qatari markets. Qatari hotels are places full of sin; they have nightclubs and serve alcoholic drinks.

Al-Faqih was one of the first activists who tried to turn the Saudi people against their government after Riyadh called in American forces to help liberate Kuwait. Two years later, Al-Faqih escaped to the United Kingdom. Why the United Kingdom specifically is another story.

The Qatari emir’s confessions in his infamous phone call with former Libyan strongman Muammar Qaddafi exposed his nexus with Al-Faqih. He said the Qatari intelligence succeeded in recruiting Al-Faqih for their project to destroy Saudi Arabia. He said Al-Faqih was working with a group of people within Saudi mosques.

Al-Faqih hatched his plot in London and started to circulate his lies among the Saudi people. He talked about Saudi women, attacking their honor. Saudis rejected his speeches and considered them demeaning and disrespectful.

The Saudi people may disagree with others but they will not talk about the honor of their women, no matter how big their disagreements were.

Al-Faqih committed his first mistake and he never stopped since.

If we checked the popularity of Al-Faqih at the time he left Riyadh in 1994, we will find it to be null. He gained support from the likes of Azzam Al-Tamimi, Al-Dawaheri, Al-Julani and other hateful figures that lived in Europe, Qatar and Turkey. Al-Faqih has been listening to his own echo.

Al-Faqih, with his Al-Qaeda ideology, has been promoting extremism that is far worse than that of Al-Qaeda and ISIS. He supported Al-Qaeda terrorist operations in Saudi Arabia, where hundreds of civilians and officers were killed. He appeared on Al-Jazeera, which he used to harm Saudi Arabia and describe the terrorists who carried out disruptive activities in the Kingdom as “mujahideen”. One can search Al-Jazeera archives to find his recordings. He stood against the projects of reform and was skeptical about them. He was trying hard to incite the Saudi people raising petty issues. All his efforts failed and it engraved in the minds of Saudi people a very bad image of him.

Al-Faqih, who was calling for democracy in the footsteps of Al-Qaeda and Muslim Brotherhood, could not accept his fellow dissident Muhammad Al-Masri as a partner. They disagreed early on and each one of them went in their own separate ways. Then they were reunited by the Qatari and Libyan intelligence in their attempt to assassinate King Abdullah.

The disappearance of Khashoggi, who was cooperating with the Qatari intelligence as the leaked reports from Qatar confirmed, created a state of shock because the secret project that they were working on to spread chaos in Saudi Arabia failed. They are now back to square one.

Is it logical for the Qatari channel A-Jazeera to bring back Al-Faqih unless they have run out of traitors?