This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 RIYADH 000001 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DHAHRAN SENDS 
PARIS FOR ZEYA, LONDON FOR TSOU 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/28/2015 
TAGS: PGOV PREL PHUM KDEM SA
SUBJECT: PARDONED SAUDI DISSIDENT OUTLINES GRADUALIST 
APPROACH TO REFORM 
 
REF: A. RIYADH 9142 
     ¶B. RIYADH 5110 
     ¶C. 2004 RIYADH 52 (NOTAL) 
 
Classified by Acting Consul General Ramin Asgard for reasons 
1.4 (b) and (d). 
 
------- 
Summary 
------- 
 
¶1.  (C) Ali Al-Dumaini, one of the three reformers pardoned 
by King Abdullah in August, described himself and his 
colleagues as "reformers, not revolutionaries."  Although in 
Al-Dumaini's view the Al Saud do not have a vision for 
reform, reformers are not seeking a new form of government 
but rather gradual reform under the Al Saud.  He described 
the newly formed municipal councils and Human Rights 
Association as "pretend reforms" aimed at pleasing the U.S. 
and other external constituencies, but said he was an 
optimist in the long run.  He and his reformist colleagues 
have backed off from putting direct, public pressure on the 
government, preferring to give King Abdullah breathing room 
to sort out his new role and to "allow them (the Al Saud) to 
convince themselves that they are leading the reform effort." 
 Al-Dumaini welcomed the U.S. focus on democratization in the 
region as featured in Secretary Rice's speech in Cairo in 
June but criticized the U.S. for not adhering fully to its 
values of democracy and human rights.  End summary. 
 
¶2.  (C) Al-Dumaini and his son Khalid met with the Acting CG 
and PolOff on December 27 at the consulate.  Al-Dumaini is 
one of three reformers jailed in March 2004 for their 
activity in the petition movement of 2003 and 2004, in which 
liberal reformers called for a constitutional monarchy and 
other changes (ref C).  King Abdullah pardoned the reformers 
in August 2005, shortly after he ascended the throne, partly 
in response to U.S. pressure (ref B).  Al-Dumaini, a new 
contact referred to the consulate by Tayseer Al-Khunaizi, his 
colleague in the reform movement and a long-standing contact, 
was seeking the consulate's assistance in obtaining an 
expedited visa appointment for his son, who has been accepted 
to Portland State University. 
 
---------------------------------------- 
Saudi Leadership Not Committed to Reform 
---------------------------------------- 
 
¶3.  (C) Al-Dumaini began a discussion of reform in Saudi 
Arabia by saying he and his colleagues were "reformers, not 
revolutionaries or radicals," content to work with the Al 
Saud with the goal of achieving reforms gradually.  He 
expressed discouragement with the senior Al Saud princes, 
saying "they do not have any vision for reform in the 
country."  The seemingly significant steps they have taken, 
he continued, were in response to external pressure, not out 
of true commitment.  Al-Dumaini described two of these steps, 
the formation of partially elected municipal councils and of 
a National Human Rights Association, as "pretend reforms." 
Municipal councils, he said, "don't do anything that a 
typical mayor does:  they're limited in scope to changing 
street lights and collecting garbage."  The SAG portrays the 
National Human Rights Association as a popular institution, 
Al-Dumaini noted, but "the government hand-picks all the 
members."  Despite his negative portrayal of current 
prospects for meaningful reform, Al-Dumaini declared himself 
an optimist:  "Maybe the next generation of princes, the 
younger ones, will have a vision for reform." 
 
---------------- 
The Waiting Game 
---------------- 
 
¶4.  (C) Al-Dumaini acknowledged that the reformist group had 
backed away from petition writing campaigns for the time 
being.  "We want to give King Abdullah time to sort out his 
role and his relationship with his brothers," he said.  He 
also indicated that public pressure was often 
counterproductive.  "Let them think that they are the ones 
calling for reform," he said.  "We cannot get too far out in 
front."  Reform-minded activists, he continued, are keeping 
in touch over the Internet, sometimes writing individual 
pieces in the media, and occasionally meeting in majlises and 
similar settings, but they are not making organized public 
appeals at the moment.  (Note:  Al-Dumaini said that before 
their arrest Mohammed bin Naif, Deputy Interior Minister, 
approached a group of reformers to offer them a regular 
channel for private dialogue with senior princes if the 
reformers ceased to make their demands public.  Al-Dumaini 
and his colleagues were arrested before the channel 
developed, and he did not indicate whether the government had 
opened any similar channels at the present time.  End note.) 
¶5.  (C) Al-Dumaini said that his vision for reform in Saudi 
Arabia did not involve elections in the near future.  "If we 
have elections now, the extremists will win," he claimed. 
Instead, his goal is to achieve greater freedom of expression 
before moving to more representative political institutions. 
"People need to be able to say what they want.  They need to 
be able to criticize the government without fear." 
 
-------------------------------- 
The U.S. Role:  Divided Feelings 
-------------------------------- 
 
¶6.  (C) Asked by PolOff about the role U.S. pressure played 
in his release, Al-Dumaini said he was disappointed by it. 
Secretary Powell, he said, spoke out about their case several 
 
SIPDIS 
weeks after they were imprisoned, but then there was 
"silence" from the U.S. until Secretary Rice's speech in 
Cairo this June.  He acknowledged that Secretary Rice's 
advocacy had played a role in the SAG decision to release 
them, but argued that the U.S. should have applied more 
consistent pressure.  "When you use the media to criticize 
them (i.e., the SAG), they have to respond," Al-Dumaini noted. 
 
¶7.  (C) Speaking more broadly of the U.S. role in promoting 
democracy and human rights, Al-Dumaini said that he 
appreciated Secretary Rice's acknowledgement in Cairo that 
the U.S. had focused too long on stability at the expense of 
democracy.  He argued that U.S. actions that he described as 
inconsistent with democracy and human rights were undermining 
U.S. efforts to promote democracy.  Citing Guantanamo, Abu 
Ghraib, and Palestine, Al-Dumaini said "you cannot have a 
moral message without being consistent."  "Afghanistan and 
Iraq will go away," he continued, but "you have to do address 
the situation in Palestine." 
 
------- 
Comment 
------- 
 
8 (C) Al-Dumaini's characterization of the reform movement's 
current strategy and goals and his opinion on U.S. efforts to 
promote democracy in the region mirror those of other 
reformers post has talked with (ref A).  The letter-writing 
campaigns of 2003 and early 2004 have abated, as reformists 
are giving King Abdullah a chance to reveal the direction he 
plans to take and backing away from direct, organized public 
pressure.  Al-Dumaini and his reform-minded colleagues are of 
two minds about the role the U.S. is playing in promoting 
democratization.  On the one hand, they appreciate the U.S. 
rhetorical focus on democracy and acknowledge that U.S. 
pressure has caused the region's governments to make 
concessions toward democratization and human rights.  On the 
other hand, they are wary of acute pressure, particularly 
force or the threat thereof, and they believe that certain 
U.S. actions and policies, which they characterize as 
contradictory to the values of democracy and human rights, 
are reducing the effectiveness of U.S. pressure.  End comment. 
 
-------- 
Bio Note 
-------- 
 
9 (C) Al-Dumaini was an engineer at Aramco until 1982, when 
he was arrested and imprisoned.  When he was released from 
jail, Aramco terminated his employment, and he went to work 
in the banking sector.  (He did not say why he was imprisoned 
in 1982 or when he was released.)  He describes himself as a 
writer now and says that, thanks to his recent activism and 
imprisonment, the SAG has confiscated his passport.  His tone 
throughout the conversation was reasoned and moderate, and he 
expressed no bitterness at the government for his recent 
imprisonment.  End bio note. 
 
(APPROVED:  ASGARD) 
OBERWETTER