Alamoudi reportedly told prosecutors that he met with Qaddafi twice in 2003 to discuss an assassination plan. One of the Libyan intelligence chiefs who reports directly to Qaddafi, Abdullah Senoussi, convened the first meeting in June 2003. Alamoudi, "who had been summoned from the United States," writes Tyler, was present at the meeting and given instructions to work with Col. Mohamed Ismael, a Libyan intelligence officer now in Saudi custody, to start a "destabilization" campaign by recruiting among the Islamist opposition forces in London.
| That merely added a second pair of hands to what was already many... |
So vital was Alamoudi to the plot that Qaddafi had all others leave the room so he could talk privately with him. "Why do you cooperate with us against the crown prince of Saudi Arabia?" Qaddafi asked him. "Because I disapprove of what the crown prince said to you," Alamoudi reportedly answered (to this observer's ear, pretty unconvincingly). Qaddafi instructed him, "I want the crown prince killed either through assassination or through a coup." Alamoudi and Ismael apparently traveled to London to locate and recruit Saudi Islamists, spending over $2 million in cash along the way.
| That makes no sense. Why pay somebody for something they're already doing? Unless they're already doing it, but need more money — that hardly seems to be the case in the Wonderful World of Islamism... |
Alamoudi then returned to Tripoli in early August and again met with Qaddafi. "How come I haven't seen anything? How come I have not seen heads flying?" Qaddafi demanded of him. Alamoudi assured him that plans were progressing. On August 13, Alamoudi received that $340,000 in London from Libyan intelligence.
| That'd be the $340,000 that got him jugged... |
Tyler notes that Col. Ismael corroborated many details of this plot and has added others of his own – such as the fact that four Saudi terrorists were to assault Abdullah's motorcade with shoulder-fired missiles or grenade launchers, apparently from a room at the Hilton Hotel in Mecca as the prince made his way to the Grand Mosque. Finally, Tyler reports "a person close to Mr. Alamoudi" saying that Alamoudi joined the conspiracy "because he badly needed money." This is confirmed by the criminal complaint, which notes that when interviewed on August 11, 2003, Alamoudi "stated that he is the President of the AMF [American Muslim Foundation] and that financing the organization's work is a constant struggle."
I'm not sure this makes any sense from Qaddafi's standpoint, either, unless the plan included additional, later actions. Just bumping off Abdullah would probably result in the princely balance of power shifting toward Prince Nayef, with more influence for the Islamists, more trouble for the secular Qaddafi. A better plan would have been merely to push support toward the Nayef faction and the clerics, weakening Abdullah but leaving him in place. Add in the Islamists to keep pressure on both, but not to the extent where they were actually effective, and Soddy Arabia becomes deadlocked — a political and diplomatic null value.
On the other hand, since this seems to be exactly what's playing out, Muammar might be smarter than we give him credit for, and Alamoudi a dupe. Anna Comnena would be impressed. |
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