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American Morning

Saudi Sentiment

Aired November 12, 2003 - 08:35   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.


BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Al Qaeda has claimed responsibility for last weekend's bombing of a neighborhood in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Authorities there say most of the killed and wounded were Arabs. Al Qaeda denied reports that it targeted the wrong community as first reported. For those who were there, they may have sympathized with al Qaeda, but could now the attitude be changing? John Zogby is with the polling, from Zogby International, has been polling regularly in Saudi Arabia. He's live in Utica, New York to talk about some recent results.
Good to have you here on AMERICAN MORNING.

JOHN ZOGBY, ZOGBY INTERNATIONAL: Thanks, Bill.

HEMMER: There are two bombings to talk about over a period of six months in Saudi Arabia. Take the May 12th bombing of about six months ago. You did some polling in the middle of the summer, three different parts of the kingdom. What did you find?

ZOGBY: What we found was that there is very little patience for al Qaeda, especially for those kinds of activities. After May 12th, Saudis told us overwhelmingly that the actions of al Qaeda, the killing of innocent civilians, does not represent Islam, does not represent Islam, does not represent the heart and soul of Saudi Arabia, that it was clearly was an atrocity. They also said overwhelmingly that Osama bin Laden does not speak for them.

HEMMER: What about now? How do you think the results would change or possibly even harden given the events of this past weekend?

ZOGBY: Well, The numbers why overwhelming in late July, early August, when we did the last poll. I'm sure that what you'll see is actually a backlash, that you will see actions, activities, demonstrations, even people speaking out vociferously against al Qaeda.

What we have here is a Saudi government that has stated that it is cooperating with the United States, and clearly, we can see from the polling we've done we can see that there is very little patience or any kind of identification with al Qaeda. So Saudi Arabia and its people now are anti-terrorists.

HEMMER: John Zogby, thanks, Utica, New York. Interesting results there. We'll talk again down the road.

Here now more on the Saudi attitudes. Fawaz Gerges back with us here, professor at Sarah Lawrence College, an absolute expert when it comes to observing the Middle East.

Good morning. Welcome back.

FAWAZ GERGES, SARAH LAWRENCE COLLEGE: Good morning, Bill.

HEMMER: These results surprise you at all, that Mr. Zogby is talking about?

GERGES: Not at all. The latest attack, met with widespread condemnation by clerics, civil society, the Arab press, Arab and Muslim public opinion, and ironically, The Islamists, which is a pro- Western Al Qaeda (ph) Web site, overall condemnation, not just in Saudi Arabia, throughout the Arab and Islam world.

HEMMER: So if that's the dominant attitude and if indeed it is true that it is changing, as you point out and so does John Zogby, how does that transfer to battling these groups in the Middle East?

GERGES: Well, I think this is really the big question here. I mean, I think in the eyes of Arabs and Muslims, bin Laden, the empire stands naked. They have discovered, even though belatedly, that he and al Qaeda have exploited their grievances to launch an unholy war against not just the West, but even against Arab and Muslim societies.

And the big question, Bill, is the following. We know terrorism cannot be defeated on the battlefield. What we need here is basically to engage not just government, but societies to confront this particular plot. And there is a heightened awareness, as John shows and as we read the landscape, heightened awareness among Arabs and Muslims, even though belated awareness, that somehow this particular threat, this form of terrorism presents a threat not just to Americans and Westerners, but to the well being of Arabs and Muslims.

HEMMER: That may be true, but they're still killing.

GERGES: Yes, absolutely. But let's remember, I mean, I think this is al Qaeda, and the regional and local affiliates are plunging into it a self-destruct suicide part. And the question is, there is implication now, Bill, for a multilateral intercultural, inter- religious alliance to mobilize Arab and Muslim public opinion against the false prophets and serial killers.

And here the United States can do a great deal, not just by taking stock of its foreign policies, by trying to resolve regional conflicts, and by also being much more sensitive to local and cultural sensibilities in the region.

HEMMER: And take all that together right now. What do you think is the state of al Qaeda today? Are they capable of launching an attack, again, against the U.S.?

GERGES: And this is really, again, the big point that we have, I mean, coming to realize in the last few months, al Qaeda, bill, it seems to me there's a consensus, is a shadow of its former self. What al Qaeda has been doing in the past year is to basically shift its tactics to attacking pro-Western Muslim regimes, as opposed to striking inside the United States itself. Al Qaeda does not have the means and the capacity to launch spectacular attacks along the same lines of 9/11. Of course American authorities do not come out and say so, because after all, they failed in predicting the 9/11 attacks.

But the consensus in the field, al Qaeda, the infrastructure of al Qaeda has been dismantled, and now we have regional and local affiliates who are taking initiatives into their hands and targeting local soft targets.

HEMMER: I hope your premise is right. Thanks, professor, Fawaz Gerges.

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 12, 2003 - 08:35   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Al Qaeda has claimed responsibility for last weekend's bombing of a neighborhood in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Authorities there say most of the killed and wounded were Arabs. Al Qaeda denied reports that it targeted the wrong community as first reported. For those who were there, they may have sympathized with al Qaeda, but could now the attitude be changing? John Zogby is with the polling, from Zogby International, has been polling regularly in Saudi Arabia. He's live in Utica, New York to talk about some recent results.
Good to have you here on AMERICAN MORNING.

JOHN ZOGBY, ZOGBY INTERNATIONAL: Thanks, Bill.

HEMMER: There are two bombings to talk about over a period of six months in Saudi Arabia. Take the May 12th bombing of about six months ago. You did some polling in the middle of the summer, three different parts of the kingdom. What did you find?

ZOGBY: What we found was that there is very little patience for al Qaeda, especially for those kinds of activities. After May 12th, Saudis told us overwhelmingly that the actions of al Qaeda, the killing of innocent civilians, does not represent Islam, does not represent Islam, does not represent the heart and soul of Saudi Arabia, that it was clearly was an atrocity. They also said overwhelmingly that Osama bin Laden does not speak for them.

HEMMER: What about now? How do you think the results would change or possibly even harden given the events of this past weekend?

ZOGBY: Well, The numbers why overwhelming in late July, early August, when we did the last poll. I'm sure that what you'll see is actually a backlash, that you will see actions, activities, demonstrations, even people speaking out vociferously against al Qaeda.

What we have here is a Saudi government that has stated that it is cooperating with the United States, and clearly, we can see from the polling we've done we can see that there is very little patience or any kind of identification with al Qaeda. So Saudi Arabia and its people now are anti-terrorists.

HEMMER: John Zogby, thanks, Utica, New York. Interesting results there. We'll talk again down the road.

Here now more on the Saudi attitudes. Fawaz Gerges back with us here, professor at Sarah Lawrence College, an absolute expert when it comes to observing the Middle East.

Good morning. Welcome back.

FAWAZ GERGES, SARAH LAWRENCE COLLEGE: Good morning, Bill.

HEMMER: These results surprise you at all, that Mr. Zogby is talking about?

GERGES: Not at all. The latest attack, met with widespread condemnation by clerics, civil society, the Arab press, Arab and Muslim public opinion, and ironically, The Islamists, which is a pro- Western Al Qaeda (ph) Web site, overall condemnation, not just in Saudi Arabia, throughout the Arab and Islam world.

HEMMER: So if that's the dominant attitude and if indeed it is true that it is changing, as you point out and so does John Zogby, how does that transfer to battling these groups in the Middle East?

GERGES: Well, I think this is really the big question here. I mean, I think in the eyes of Arabs and Muslims, bin Laden, the empire stands naked. They have discovered, even though belatedly, that he and al Qaeda have exploited their grievances to launch an unholy war against not just the West, but even against Arab and Muslim societies.

And the big question, Bill, is the following. We know terrorism cannot be defeated on the battlefield. What we need here is basically to engage not just government, but societies to confront this particular plot. And there is a heightened awareness, as John shows and as we read the landscape, heightened awareness among Arabs and Muslims, even though belated awareness, that somehow this particular threat, this form of terrorism presents a threat not just to Americans and Westerners, but to the well being of Arabs and Muslims.

HEMMER: That may be true, but they're still killing.

GERGES: Yes, absolutely. But let's remember, I mean, I think this is al Qaeda, and the regional and local affiliates are plunging into it a self-destruct suicide part. And the question is, there is implication now, Bill, for a multilateral intercultural, inter- religious alliance to mobilize Arab and Muslim public opinion against the false prophets and serial killers.

And here the United States can do a great deal, not just by taking stock of its foreign policies, by trying to resolve regional conflicts, and by also being much more sensitive to local and cultural sensibilities in the region.

HEMMER: And take all that together right now. What do you think is the state of al Qaeda today? Are they capable of launching an attack, again, against the U.S.?

GERGES: And this is really, again, the big point that we have, I mean, coming to realize in the last few months, al Qaeda, bill, it seems to me there's a consensus, is a shadow of its former self. What al Qaeda has been doing in the past year is to basically shift its tactics to attacking pro-Western Muslim regimes, as opposed to striking inside the United States itself. Al Qaeda does not have the means and the capacity to launch spectacular attacks along the same lines of 9/11. Of course American authorities do not come out and say so, because after all, they failed in predicting the 9/11 attacks.

But the consensus in the field, al Qaeda, the infrastructure of al Qaeda has been dismantled, and now we have regional and local affiliates who are taking initiatives into their hands and targeting local soft targets.

HEMMER: I hope your premise is right. Thanks, professor, Fawaz Gerges.

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