VZCZCXRO4516
PP RUEHDE
DE RUEHJI #0385/01 1431443
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 231443Z MAY 06
FM AMCONSUL JEDDAH
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 9192
INFO RUEHZM/GULF COOPERATION COUNCIL COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON PRIORITY 1399
RUEHFR/AMEMBASSY PARIS PRIORITY 1477
RUEHRH/AMEMBASSY RIYADH PRIORITY 6524
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEKJCS/DIA WASHDC PRIORITY
RHEHAAA/NSC WASHDC PRIORITY

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 JEDDAH 000385 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
RIYADH, PLEASE PASS TO DHAHRAN; DEPARTMENT FOR NEA/ARP; 
PARIS FOR ZEYA; LONDON FOR TSOU 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KISL PREL SA SCUL
SUBJECT: OBSERVATIONS ON THE NORTHERN ARABIAN CITY OF TABUK 
 
REF: A. JEDDAH 379 
     ¶B. JEDDAH 384 
 
¶1.  SUMMARY:  During a visit to Tabuk on May 16, the CG and 
Pol/Econ Chief were able to meet with the Governor and 
leading members of the Tabuk Chamber of Commerce and Industry 
(reftels).  The trip included a tour of the city of Tabuk 
which provided a chance to form some general impressions. 
Tabuk is a growing community.  It is the center of a major 
agricultural area, and is experiencing rapid industrial 
expansion.  The region also hosts a very substantial military 
presence.  A community with a very long history, very little 
of the historic parts of the settlement still exist.  Tabuk 
is a socially conservative area.  While in Tabuk, the 
Consulate group did not see a single woman.  END SUMMARY. 
 
 TABUK GOVERNATE 
 
¶2.  Tabuk is the capital and largest city in the 
northwestern-most province of Saudi Arabia.  The province has 
an area of 104,000 square kilometers.  It is bordered on the 
north by Jordan.  Its western border is the Red Sea.  The 
province has more than 700 km of coastline, extending from 
the Jordanian border in the Gulf of Aqaba, south to a point 
just north of the major industrial city of Yanbu.  Both 
Israel and Egypt are neighbors across the narrow Gulf of 
Aqaba.  To the south is the province of Medina, which 
contains not only the industrial center of Yanbu, but the 
religious city of Medina.  Its eastern borders are the 
provinces of Hail and Jouf. 
 
HISTORY OF TABUK 
 
¶3.  The region was important in ancient times.  Major 
civilizations have existed there since at least 1500 B.C.  It 
is commonly believed that Tabuk was the land of Madyan and 
Dadan mentioned in the Bible.  During the Roman era, Tabuk 
constituted much of the ancient Nabatean state, popularly 
identified with Petra in Jordan.  There are numerous 
archaeological sites in the region, including:  Al Bidaa, Al 
Khuraibah, Rawwafa, Al Muwailih, Al Muzim and Taima. 
Numerous ancient inscriptions and pictographs have been found 
on rock outcroppings throughout the area. 
 
¶4.  In modern history, before the founding of the Saudi 
state, Tabuk was an important outpost of the Ottoman Empire. 
The Red Sea and the narrow coastal plain were important 
routes for pilgrims and traders.  Ottoman forts and 
watchtowers are common along the trade routes and ports on 
the coast.  The Hejaz Railway, designed to cement Ottoman 
control over the Muslim Holy Cities passed through the middle 
of the province.  A major station and repair facility were 
built in Tabuk.  Destruction of this railway, disrupting 
Turkish control of western Arabia, was a major achievement of 
the Arab Revolt during the First World War. 
 
THE MILITARY IN TABUK 
 
¶5.  Tabuk houses the Northwest Area Command at King Abdul 
Aziz Military City.  It is the headquarters of the Royal 
Saudi Land Forces (RSLF) 7th Armored, 8th Infantry, 12th 
Armored, and 14th Infantry Brigades.  Tabuk also is home to 
the RSLF Airborne School and Brigade, the RSLF Armor 
Institute, and King Faisal Air Base with the 2nd Squadron, 
flying F-15 aircraft.  A substantial portion of the regional 
economy is directed towards providing support and services to 
the military. 
 
ECONOMY OF TABUK 
 
¶6.  A major source of agricultural produce since ancient 
times, Tabuk remains the breadbasket of Saudi Arabia, growing 
over 180,000 tons of wheat each year.  Other important crops 
include grapes, alfalfa, and fruit.  Recently, greenhouses 
have been constructed and the area grows and exports large 
numbers of cut flowers.  Additional economic information is 
provided in reftel B. 
 
SIGHTS AROUND TABUK 
 
¶7.  During the flight into Tabuk and the drive from the 
airport to the city center, it was possible to see the 
substantial agricultural development in the valley containing 
 
JEDDAH 00000385  002 OF 002 
 
 
the city.  Numerous large irrigated fields were visible. 
Most of the irrigation seen employed center-pivot irrigation 
systems.  Tabuk itself is a sprawling, new development 
consisting of cement brick structures, little different than 
those found in other modern Arabian cities.  The streets were 
lined with many small shops and businesses. 
 
¶8.  It was evident that rapid growth is continuing.  In 
several places, one or two new buildings were surrounded by 
large tracts of undeveloped land.  In one notable instance, 
about a quarter of a mile off one of the major traffic 
arteries, a large, new Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurant sat 
in the middle of a network of empty streets, at least 500 
yards from any other structure.  The long-serving governor 
(reftel A) has overseen substantial "official" development. 
Not only did he sponsor a convention center and recreation 
center, but an impressively large Municipal Palace where he 
met the CG and Pol/Econ Chief.  The CG commented that the 
streets were noticeably cleaner than those she had seen in 
the other cities she had visited in the Consular District. 
 
OLD TABUK 
 
¶9.  Although Tabuk has been settled for at least 3,000 years, 
little associated with the historic settlement exists.  It is 
true that Tabuk was never a very large community.  The 
British traveler H. St. John B. Philby during a visit in the 
early 1950s noted only the Ottoman fort and wells surrounded 
by a few streets of mud-brick hovels and the railway station. 
 The facades of the station buildings in the center of the 
city have been restored, but are fenced off and forsaken in 
unkempt grounds.  A few hundred yards away are the wells and 
castle complex observed by Philby.  The fort, or castle, 
remains unrestored and locked.  The surrounding streets have 
been replaced by non-descript modern buildings, with the 
exception of a few partially demolished walls of old 
buildings immediately adjacent to the castle grounds. 
 
¶10.  The historic wells, which justified Tabuk's existence 
throughout the millennia, were choked with sand and debris to 
within a few feet of the top of the stone-lined shaft.  One 
of the guides reverently showed the CG the spot where the 
Prophet Muhammed reputedly drank from the well.  Now, the 
revered spot was littered with cigarette butts, crushed 
soft-drink cans and the detritus one associates with places 
where bored young men congregate on week-end evenings.  In 
view of the fact that Saudi Arabia's Wahabi doctrine rigidly 
opposes venerating places associated even with the Prophet 
lest one fall into idolatry, one briefly wondered if the 
deplorable state of this historic spot was simply 
indifference to the past or perhaps an impudent way some 
Saudi youths employed to demonstrate their adherence to 
Wahabi principles.  The palm trees of the "oasis" were fenced 
off and also used as a dump for trash.  Indeed, it was noted 
that the monuments of old Tabuk were the dirtiest parts of 
the other-wise well kept city.  Even the famous mosque where 
the Prophet is said to have prayed after victory at the 
battle of Tabuk appeared rather forlorn. 
 
NO WOMEN IN SIGHT 
 
¶11.  Tabuk is described as a very conservative Muslim 
community.  This was apparent during the drive from the 
airport and meetings and tour of the city, when not a single 
women was seen on the streets, in the hotel, or employed in 
the government offices.  The few men passed on the streets 
during the afternoon tour glanced at the passing motorcade 
with looks of surprise and curiosity. 
 
Gfoeller