"Interview on the tragic events of November 8th, 2003 in Saudi Arabia."

CNN Saturday Night Interview With Mustapha Tlili
Aired November 8, 2003 - 22:38 ET

CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR: An apparent suicide bombing in Saudi Arabia's capital city of Riyadh. The Saudi government blames al Qaeda terrorists. The casualty reports conflict at least two and perhaps as many as 28 people were killed. Nearly 100 are wounded. Continuing with our top story, we want to know how the Arab world might be reacting to tonight's attack in Riyadh, considering that Arabs may have been the target.

I'm joined by Mustapha Tlili. He is -- Mr. Tlili is a senior fellow at the World Policy Institute and a former U.N. diplomat. Mr. Tlili, thank you very much for being here tonight.

MUSTAPHA TLILI, WORLD POLICY INSTITUTE: Surely, thank you, Carol, for inviting me.

LIN: Were -- absolutely. Were you surprised that this particular attack was against Arabs?

TLILI: I must say yes. I am surprised. And I would imagine that every Arab and Muslim, in fact, will be surprised, because -- for two reasons. First, it is Ramadan. Ramadan is a holy month. It is meant to be a month of reflection, of peace, of abstinence from violence as a matter of fact.

And it is a month supposed to be of -- and meant to be a month of hodna, cease-fire. No violence at all. And therefore, any Muslim throughout the world who would watch TV and see what is happening, can only feel revulsion.

CNN interview with Mustapha Tlili LIN: So if the Saudi government is correct, and this is al Qaeda attacking this compound, why would al Qaeda attack Arab expatriates, Lebanese and Palestinians?

TLILI: I would imagine that their strategy is to create chaos, to create instability, chaos, to create fear, and to make the Saudi government simply nervous to -- this has been the objective over the last few years, but it is now clear.

And I think they may have seized the opportunity that the Saudi leadership is also put under pressure from other quarters, including I must say, and probably regrettably, from this country. I think we may have been for quite a while harsh on the Saudi regime.

And so, today we find it in fact caught between two sets of pressures. On the one hand, all the criticism that is being leveled at it from the administration, from the media here. And on the other hand, from al Qaeda and those who are trying to destabilize it. So it is not an easy situation.

LIN: Well, let me ask you this, because there's something that doesn't make sense there to me. If al Qaeda is trying to put pressure on the Saudi royal family, but they're the ones -- al Qaeda are the ones identified as responsible for this bombing, I mean it seems like a pretty transparent effort and the Arab world would see that al Qaeda was attacking fellow Arabs. What are you hearing on the Arab street? What are you seeing in the Arab newspapers, if you had a chance to even get online?

TLILI: I think at this point, I would imagine that the editorials, because it is too early to -- what we have seen so far, if you wish, is simply reporting, but the editorials would be the thing to watch and would be most interesting. And I would imagine that the revulsion will be the main reaction. Because no one would imagine that in this holy month, an organization, whatever their objectives are, would attack Muslims and would create such a havoc.

LIN: So are you saying it could backfire on al Qaeda?

TLILI: I think so. This might be, in fact, the beginning of the end, as far as their image in the Muslim world. Imagine and remember that up to a month ago, polls seem to say that throughout the Muslim world, almost 65, 80 percent of those polled would say that Osama bin Laden would be the leader, should be the leader of the Muslim world.

I guess that after what happened tonight, there might be reconsideration of such feeling. So I think...

Cnn interview with Dr. Mustapha Tlili LIN: You'd be looking at those editorial pages right along with you tomorrow then. That should be a pretty good indication.

TLILI: I would imagine so, yes.

LIN: And wouldn't that be interesting? Yes.

TLILI: Yes.

LIN: Yes, thank you very much...

TLILI: Sure.

LIN: Mustapha Tlili, I wish we had more time to talk about this. Thank you. We will be following up, of course, as the story develops.

TLILI: Thank you.

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