# Saudi officer planning World Cup attacks **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [May 22, 2010, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saudi-officer-planning-world-cup-attacks/540359 "2010-05-22T13:25:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Marmite\_Lover](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e495f1/32.png) [@Marmite\_Lover](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marmite_Lover)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2010, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saudi-officer-planning-world-cup-attacks/540359/1 "2010-05-22T13:25:16Z")
“The report came as earlier last week, Saudi army officer Abdullah al-Qahtani was arrested in Iraq over charges of planning a terrorist attack during the upcoming FIFA World Cup in South Africa…” The Iraqi one is in Arabic. Can’t find anything in Western press so this one is South African in English. [http://www.citizen.co.za/index/article.aspx?pDesc=127021,1,22](http://www.citizen.co.za/index/article.aspx?pDesc=127021,1,22) **"Saudi King slams intelligence leak "** "The King of Saudi Arabia has strongly criticized the country’s intelligence officials for disclosing a secret document, which shows Riyadh has links with terrorist activities carried out by al-Qaeda in Iraq. " Can’t find link in Western press either for this one. [http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=127334§ionid=351020205](http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=127334§ionid=351020205) Why none of this is in Western media? ---
**Author:** ![ivan\_astikov](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/58f4c7/32.png) [@ivan\_astikov](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivan_astikov)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2010, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saudi-officer-planning-world-cup-attacks/540359/2 "2010-05-22T13:33:06Z")
Because they are paid shills in the main, and have been told not to upset the guys with all the oil. ( And who can actually tap it without destroying the environment…alright, it helps that they are in a desert.) ---
**Author:** ![Marmite\_Lover](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e495f1/32.png) [@Marmite\_Lover](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marmite_Lover)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2010, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saudi-officer-planning-world-cup-attacks/540359/3 "2010-05-22T13:52:50Z")
> [@ivan\_astikov](#): > > Because they are paid shills in the main, and have been told not to upset the guys with all the oil. ( And who can actually tap it without destroying the environment…alright, it helps that they are in a desert.) The comments from the other Muslims on the Press link really say it all about the Saudi’s :rolleyes: Wonder what the Arab League will think of this revelation/confirmation? ---
**Author:** ![Marmite\_Lover](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e495f1/32.png) [@Marmite\_Lover](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marmite_Lover)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2010, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saudi-officer-planning-world-cup-attacks/540359/4 "2010-05-22T14:16:04Z")
[http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=127230§ionid=3510302](http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=127230§ionid=3510302) Rigi’s link to CIA. ---
**Author:** ![Marmite\_Lover](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e495f1/32.png) [@Marmite\_Lover](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marmite_Lover)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2010, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saudi-officer-planning-world-cup-attacks/540359/5 "2010-05-22T14:18:17Z")
Do you think this will scare off football fans travelling to the WC? What teams and supporters do you think they were going to target? ---
**Author:** ![DanBlather](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f4b2a3/32.png) [@DanBlather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DanBlather)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2010, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saudi-officer-planning-world-cup-attacks/540359/6 "2010-05-22T15:51:56Z")
> [@Marmite\_Lover](#): > > Why none of this is in Western media? I don’t understand how Saudi Arabia gets such a pass. Not only can’t women vote, they can’t even fucking drive!! Some highlights from Wiki: > [@](#): > > Saudi Arabia is one of a number of countries where courts continue to impose corporal punishment, including amputations of hands and feet for robbery, and flogging for lesser crimes such as “sexual deviance” and drunkenness. The number of lashes is not clearly prescribed by law and is varied according to the discretion of judges, and ranges from dozens of lashes to several hundreds, usually applied over a period of weeks or months… > Saudi Arabia also engages in capital punishment, including public executions by beheading… > Freedom of religion does not exist.[22] Islam is the official religion, and all citizens must be Muslims. The Government prohibits the public practice of other religions… > The U.S. State Department’s 1997 Human Rights Report on Saudi Arabia states. "Islam is the official religion, and all citizens must be Muslims. The government prohibits the public practice of other religions… > Although not uncommon and hidden, all sexual activity outside of a traditional heterosexual marriage is illegal. Punishment for homosexuality, cross-dressing, or being involved with anything that hints at the existence of an organized gay community will range from imprisonment, deportation (for foreigners), lashes, and sometimes execution. The left is too busy hating Israel and blowing the Palestinians to bother with Saudi Arabia, and the right would like to have the same legal system as the Saudis, just replacing the Quran with The Bible. Why there aren’t mass protests and push for boycotts on college campuses like there was for South Africa is beyond me. ---
**Author:** ![DanBlather](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f4b2a3/32.png) [@DanBlather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DanBlather)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2010, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saudi-officer-planning-world-cup-attacks/540359/7 "2010-05-22T15:55:23Z")
> [@Marmite\_Lover](#): > > Do you think this will scare off football fans travelling to the WC? > > What teams and supporters do you think they were going to target? Maybe we would make more progress against terrorists by sending English football hooligans after them. ---
**Author:** ![Rune](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e68b1a/32.png) [@Rune](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rune)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2010, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saudi-officer-planning-world-cup-attacks/540359/8 "2010-05-22T16:59:08Z")
> [@Marmite\_Lover](#): > > Why none of this is in Western media? Regarding the terrorist plans for the World Cup, then this was covered extensively in Danish media. Danish fans and players were some of the intended targets. ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2010, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saudi-officer-planning-world-cup-attacks/540359/9 "2010-05-23T02:42:14Z")
> [@Marmite\_Lover](#): > > The Iraqi one is in Arabic. Can’t find anything in Western press so this one is South African in English. > . . . Why none of this is in Western media? > [@ivan\_astikov](#): > > Because they are paid shills in the main, and have been told not to upset the guys with all the oil. ( And who can actually tap it without destroying the environment…alright, it helps that they are in a desert.) Given that I can find 977 hits on the story with such unknown news outlets as ABC, The Times, AP, Reuters, etc., and including outlets such as the Kansas City Star, I would say that you do not appear to have looked too hard and Ivan is simply spouting his own biases without bothering to actually check on the facts. Why has it not gotten greater play in the Western media, (it obviously got more play than the OP reported)? My guess would be that the fact that it was a foiled plot, as opposed to an actual attack, (regardless whether it was successful), has bumped it down. There are reports of individuals being caught while plotting evil all the time. Nothing in the actual story would seem to make this story much different than any other similar story. Plotters who have been captured before taking any actions have included Yanks, Brits, (Middle Eastern) immigrants to Britain or the U.S., and people from lots of other countries. Why should this story have been played louder than any of the preceding stories?