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Saudis Vow to Eradicate 'Disease'

Aired November 13, 2003 - 13:10   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.


BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Now to Saudi Arabia, where a government that many believed treated terror groups with a wink and a nod for decades is today calling terror a disease.
CNN's Nic Robertson live from Riyadh, with an exclusive and extensive interview with one of the Saudi princes.

Hello, Nic.

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Miles.

Well, certainly, the situation here in Riyadh, a sense that although other attacks are possible, we're told they could come at anytime, the interior minister today saying that the situation, the security situation here, is satisfactory. There is a sense now of evaluation of what can be done to stop more attacks, of what's gone wrong in the past, and I got a sense of that thinking, that evaluation, what when I talked with Prince Waleed Bin Talal. He is one of the world's most wealthy men. He is the nephew of King Fahad here in Saudi Arabia. He is perhaps one of the more reform-minded, outspoken people in Saudi Arabia at this time. Certainly, what he has to say, very interesting, critical of Saudi Arabia for letting terrorists, if you will, lie dormant here for so long.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERTSON: The government calls them al Qaeda. How have they been able to grow? What has allowed them to grow in this country?

PRINCE WALEED BIN TALAL, SAUDI ARABIA: Well, I think we have been very loose with these people, we have been accommodative with them right now. However, after the events of the 12th of May, and the latest events that took place on the 8th of November, whereby not only Westerners were killed, some Arabs were killed, some Muslims were killed, the people are very much united right now with the nation, with the rulers, to really fight those terrorists and weed out our nation from them.

So I think the process right now has began. It will take some time, but we're at a point of no return.

ROBERTSON: But how do you deal with that long-term issue, the environment that has allowed them to gather support?

PRINCE WALEED BIN TALAL: This matter cannot just be fought with weapons or security. There's no doubt that Saudi Arabia will have to begin looking at the grass root of the problem, and that is the way thinking. There's no doubt, and like many Saudis, know the fact that we have some problems in the way of thinking, whereby some of these extreme people have hijacked our religion and began dictating the way of thinking, which is not accepted by the majority of people.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERTSON: So those reforms the prince talked about there, reforms such as removing 2,000 clerics from mosques in Saudi Arabia, because their message to their communities has been deemed to be too extreme. The reforms include removing books and text that are being -- were until a year ago were being handed out to children in Saudi Arabia to learn from. These are the sorts of reforms Prince Al Waleed Bin Talal was talking about. He very much wanted to see those reforms come in. But it was a bureaucracy, he says, here in Saudi Arabia, that is still in elements of a conservative, and perhaps slowing down some of those reforms -- Miles.

O'BRIEN: CNN's Nic Robertson in Riyadh, thank you very much.

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 November 13, 2003 - 13:10   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Now to Saudi Arabia, where a government that many believed treated terror groups with a wink and a nod for decades is today calling terror a disease.
CNN's Nic Robertson live from Riyadh, with an exclusive and extensive interview with one of the Saudi princes.

Hello, Nic.

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Miles.

Well, certainly, the situation here in Riyadh, a sense that although other attacks are possible, we're told they could come at anytime, the interior minister today saying that the situation, the security situation here, is satisfactory. There is a sense now of evaluation of what can be done to stop more attacks, of what's gone wrong in the past, and I got a sense of that thinking, that evaluation, what when I talked with Prince Waleed Bin Talal. He is one of the world's most wealthy men. He is the nephew of King Fahad here in Saudi Arabia. He is perhaps one of the more reform-minded, outspoken people in Saudi Arabia at this time. Certainly, what he has to say, very interesting, critical of Saudi Arabia for letting terrorists, if you will, lie dormant here for so long.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERTSON: The government calls them al Qaeda. How have they been able to grow? What has allowed them to grow in this country?

PRINCE WALEED BIN TALAL, SAUDI ARABIA: Well, I think we have been very loose with these people, we have been accommodative with them right now. However, after the events of the 12th of May, and the latest events that took place on the 8th of November, whereby not only Westerners were killed, some Arabs were killed, some Muslims were killed, the people are very much united right now with the nation, with the rulers, to really fight those terrorists and weed out our nation from them.

So I think the process right now has began. It will take some time, but we're at a point of no return.

ROBERTSON: But how do you deal with that long-term issue, the environment that has allowed them to gather support?

PRINCE WALEED BIN TALAL: This matter cannot just be fought with weapons or security. There's no doubt that Saudi Arabia will have to begin looking at the grass root of the problem, and that is the way thinking. There's no doubt, and like many Saudis, know the fact that we have some problems in the way of thinking, whereby some of these extreme people have hijacked our religion and began dictating the way of thinking, which is not accepted by the majority of people.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERTSON: So those reforms the prince talked about there, reforms such as removing 2,000 clerics from mosques in Saudi Arabia, because their message to their communities has been deemed to be too extreme. The reforms include removing books and text that are being -- were until a year ago were being handed out to children in Saudi Arabia to learn from. These are the sorts of reforms Prince Al Waleed Bin Talal was talking about. He very much wanted to see those reforms come in. But it was a bureaucracy, he says, here in Saudi Arabia, that is still in elements of a conservative, and perhaps slowing down some of those reforms -- Miles.

O'BRIEN: CNN's Nic Robertson in Riyadh, thank you very much.

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