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CNN Live Saturday

Terrorist Attacks Serve as Wake-Up Call for Saudis

Aired May 24, 2003 - 14:35   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: In Saudi Arabia, the U.S. says it's safe enough to reopen its embassy in Riyadh tomorrow. It's been shut down since the triple suicide attacks three weeks ago that claimed at least 34 lives. The attacks appeared to have had a sobering impact on Saudi attitudes about terrorism. CNN's Sheila MacVicar reports now.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SHEILA MACVICAR, CNN SR. INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice- over): Ali is just 2 years old. He has 44 stitches, most of them in his head. One of the youngest victims of the triple attacks in Riyadh. His parents are still in shock, still cannot believe the entire family survived that terrible night.

RHYM KAYALI, ALI'S MOTHER: I remember the moment when the window and the frame come very strong and --- very -- suddenly and -- strong, strong, very strong.

MACVICAR: The Kayali family lived here, in a house in the crescent right where the suicide bombers blew up their device at the Al Hamara compound. They were very lucky.

ABDO SALAAM KAYALI, ALI'S FATHER: My neighbor's dead. My right- side neighbor passed away. The guy from the left side, just steps from the house, he lost his kids. Unbelievable moment. Unbelievable.

MACVICAR: Seventy percent of the people who lived here were Arabs and Muslims. Many of them Saudis.

(on camera): In the past, many of the victims of terror attacks here were Westerners, often U.S. military personnel. Even the involvement of Saudis in 9/11 was largely ignored. Terrorism was something that happened to others, and the causes were easy to disregard. Saudis say there were many people here who had at least some sympathy for the terrorists and their causes.

(voice-over): This time, Saudi TV broadcast picture of the crown prince visiting the wounded. And it was a sight of Arabs struggling to come to terms with what happened to them, which has caused revulsion. And from the Saudi middle class, launched calls for real change.

RAED OUSTI, RIYADH BUREAU CHIEF, ARAB NEWS: Maybe they've not spoken up before. Maybe they were silent. Maybe they were mute. But this has sort of like woken them up from their sleep. ROBERT JORDAN, U.S. AMB. TO SAUDI ARABIA: This is a battleground right now and I think it needs to be treated as such.

MACVICAR: The U.S. ambassador to Saudi Arabia says he believes the government is now serious about reforms.

JORDAN: I think there will be a very sincere effort on their part, with our assistance, to the extent they wish it, to move forward and to drain the swamp, to eliminate some of these root causes that, in the long run, are going to be dangerous if not fatal, to the society.

MACVICAR: Saudi Arabia's leaders have called this a war. They are talking about changing what is taught in schools and ensuring that what is said in the mosques, all controlled by the government, does not incite or encourage extremists. They have threatened to fire Muslim clerics who preach hatred against the West.

OUSTI: For the first time I can remember, there is now more calls for tolerance than ever been before. People -- we no longer want to hear, in our sermons calls for destruction of Jews and Christians.

MACVICAR: Their biggest enemy, Saudis say now, is time. Deep root of reform will not take days or weeks, it may take a generation. Families like the Kiyalis have already paid the price for past complacency. The fear -- and there is real fear here -- is that many more will pay before they win this war.

Sheila MacVicar, CNN, Riyadh.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com






Aired May 24, 2003 - 14:35   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: In Saudi Arabia, the U.S. says it's safe enough to reopen its embassy in Riyadh tomorrow. It's been shut down since the triple suicide attacks three weeks ago that claimed at least 34 lives. The attacks appeared to have had a sobering impact on Saudi attitudes about terrorism. CNN's Sheila MacVicar reports now.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SHEILA MACVICAR, CNN SR. INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice- over): Ali is just 2 years old. He has 44 stitches, most of them in his head. One of the youngest victims of the triple attacks in Riyadh. His parents are still in shock, still cannot believe the entire family survived that terrible night.

RHYM KAYALI, ALI'S MOTHER: I remember the moment when the window and the frame come very strong and --- very -- suddenly and -- strong, strong, very strong.

MACVICAR: The Kayali family lived here, in a house in the crescent right where the suicide bombers blew up their device at the Al Hamara compound. They were very lucky.

ABDO SALAAM KAYALI, ALI'S FATHER: My neighbor's dead. My right- side neighbor passed away. The guy from the left side, just steps from the house, he lost his kids. Unbelievable moment. Unbelievable.

MACVICAR: Seventy percent of the people who lived here were Arabs and Muslims. Many of them Saudis.

(on camera): In the past, many of the victims of terror attacks here were Westerners, often U.S. military personnel. Even the involvement of Saudis in 9/11 was largely ignored. Terrorism was something that happened to others, and the causes were easy to disregard. Saudis say there were many people here who had at least some sympathy for the terrorists and their causes.

(voice-over): This time, Saudi TV broadcast picture of the crown prince visiting the wounded. And it was a sight of Arabs struggling to come to terms with what happened to them, which has caused revulsion. And from the Saudi middle class, launched calls for real change.

RAED OUSTI, RIYADH BUREAU CHIEF, ARAB NEWS: Maybe they've not spoken up before. Maybe they were silent. Maybe they were mute. But this has sort of like woken them up from their sleep. ROBERT JORDAN, U.S. AMB. TO SAUDI ARABIA: This is a battleground right now and I think it needs to be treated as such.

MACVICAR: The U.S. ambassador to Saudi Arabia says he believes the government is now serious about reforms.

JORDAN: I think there will be a very sincere effort on their part, with our assistance, to the extent they wish it, to move forward and to drain the swamp, to eliminate some of these root causes that, in the long run, are going to be dangerous if not fatal, to the society.

MACVICAR: Saudi Arabia's leaders have called this a war. They are talking about changing what is taught in schools and ensuring that what is said in the mosques, all controlled by the government, does not incite or encourage extremists. They have threatened to fire Muslim clerics who preach hatred against the West.

OUSTI: For the first time I can remember, there is now more calls for tolerance than ever been before. People -- we no longer want to hear, in our sermons calls for destruction of Jews and Christians.

MACVICAR: Their biggest enemy, Saudis say now, is time. Deep root of reform will not take days or weeks, it may take a generation. Families like the Kiyalis have already paid the price for past complacency. The fear -- and there is real fear here -- is that many more will pay before they win this war.

Sheila MacVicar, CNN, Riyadh.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com