SAUDI ARABIA'S THIRD MAN IN THE STATE VIEWS THE UNITED STATES AS THE ENEMY OF ISLAM

Saudi Arabia's powerful Interior Minister Prince Naif bin Abdulaziz, the rival of Crown Prince Abdullah, has gone on record agreeing with at least some of the radical pan-Islamist views of al Qaida.

"We must be aware that Islam is now a target of the superpowers "

The prince was alluding to American calls for democratic political and social reform in KSA and the wider Arab world. The al Qaida terrorists who carried out bombings and beheadings in KSA were merely " deviants " in the view of Prince Naif.

Naif and Abdullah are struggling for power in the wake of the physical decline of King Fahd. In all previous royal successions the Crown Prince has moved up to become the King of Saudi Arabia but one monarch, the erratic and unpopular King Saud was later deposed by the royal family and replaced by Crown Prince Faisal when a power-sharing arrangement failed to end struggles over KSA policy. Naif's obvious manuverings against Abdullah and his reaching out to Islamist extremists could indicate that the Crown Prince's succession is by no means assured.

ADDENDUM:

De Borchgrave on Islamism in the KSA.
  ¶ 8:46 PM