Dr. Sayed al-Faghi says Saudi Arabia framed the British government for the Riyadh bombings, in an effort to stop his group from criticizing the Saudi regime (CBS)
CBS’ 60 Minutes sparked worldwide outrage over the abuse of Iraqi prisoners by American troops. Now it seems they are going after Our Friends the Saudis. They report on the case of innocent Britons who were tortured into confessing they had set off bombs around Riyadh. In the halcyon days before 9/11 it was easier for the Saudis to round up the usual suspects “” foreigners “” that to admit they had a problem with fundamentalist jihadis.
Six years ago, Sampson had taken a job as a business consultant in Saudi Arabia. But in November 2000, two cars bombs went off in the Saudi capital, Riyadh, killing a British engineer and injuring several other westerners.
Three weeks later, as Sampson was leaving his home in Riyadh for work, a grey sedan pulled up beside him. “Three Saudis in traditional dress came out of the sedan. One of them waved a warrant card and pistol in my face,” recalls Sampson. “The others pinned my arms behind my back, stripped me of my belongings, handcuffed me, began punching and beating me, and pushed me into the vehicle.”
Sampson was blindfolded and driven to a closely guarded building on the outskirts of Riyadh, which is the detention center of the Mabahith – the Saudi security police. There, he was tortured into confessing that he had carried out those bombings.
“It initially started with punchings and kickings, and that progressed from beating me on the soles of my feet to being hung upside down in a position known as the chicken — with your feet uppermost and your feet and backside exposed, readily available for beating,” says Sampson. “And between interrogation sessions, I was returned to the same cell and handcuffed to the door, so I couldn’t sit down and I couldn’t sleep.”
He said that after being beating on the soles of his feet and chained to the door, he stood in agony: “There’s no way you can, I could even kneel down in that position, and so I’d be standing on my feet which were swollen, so badly swollen that they were actually exuding plasma through the skin.”
I imagine world opinion is going to turn on the Saudis. We are going to start hearing protests from around the globe any minute now. Anyone…? Anyone…? Bueller…?