VZCZCXRO4071
PP RUEHDE
DE RUEHJI #0356/01 1350548
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
P 150548Z MAY 06
FM AMCONSUL JEDDAH
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 9148
INFO RUEHZM/GULF COOPERATION COUNCIL COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON PRIORITY 1371
RUEHFR/AMEMBASSY PARIS PRIORITY 1449
RUEHRH/AMEMBASSY RIYADH PRIORITY 6485
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEKJCS/DIA WASHDC PRIORITY
RHEHAAA/NSC WASHDC PRIORITY

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 JEDDAH 000356 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
RIYADH, PLEASE PASS TO DHAHRAN; DEPARTMENT FOR NEA/ARP; 
PARIS FOR ZEYA; LONDON FOR TSOU 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/13/2016 
TAGS: KISL PREL PTER SA SOCI
SUBJECT: ARABIC LANGUAGE WEB-SITE AL SAHAT PRESENTS 
BIOGRAPHY OF SUSPECT IN SHOOTING AT U.S. CONSULATE GENERAL 
JEDDAH 
 
REF: JEDDAH 347 
 
¶1.  (C) SUMMARY.  Within hours of the May 12 drive-by 
shooting at ConGen Jeddah, the Arabic language web-site Al 
Sahat carried a brief biography of the suspect and described 
him as a psychopath.  By May 14, this web-page had been 
amended with additional information on the suspect, including 
a reference to a brother arrested for "deviant" activities. 
Only a name identified the person posting the information. 
There was no indication how he obtained information that was 
not carried by the media.  By Sunday morning more than five 
thousand people had accessed the web-site, but no comments 
were left.  The web-site did not carry any references to the 
attack itself.  Several of the CG's contacts discounted the 
assertion that the shooter was insane.  One contact hinted 
that a conservative faction within the Saudi government was 
feeding self-serving information to the public through the 
web-site.  END SUMMARY. 
 
WEB-SITE QUICKLY POSTS BIOGRAPHY OF ACCUSED SHOOTER 
 
¶2.  (U) Within twelve hours of the time when it is alleged a 
single person in a passing car fired one or more shots at 
ConGen Jeddah, the virulently anti-American and Islamic 
fundamentalist Arabic language web-site Al Sahat carried a 
posting identifying the individual.  The shooting occurred at 
about 5:30 P.M. on Friday May 12.  In a posting at 5:38 A.M. 
the following morning, May 13, a Mohammed Salah posted a 
web-page titled:  "Photo of the Person Accused of Firing at 
the U.S. Consulate in Jeddah."  The page contained a 
photograph of the suspect's identification card and a 
photograph, which also appeared in that morning's edition of 
the Saudi Gazette, showing an empty pistol holster laying 
amid other belongings in the street after the police had 
apprehended the suspect and searched his car. 
 
SUSPECT DESCRIBED AS PSYCHOPATH 
 
¶3.  (U) The posting described the suspect as a psychopath and 
offered a brief biography.  His full name was given as 
Mohammed Abdulrazik Fifi, aged 33 and born in Raghdan.  It 
further stated that he had received his early education in 
Raghdan and went to secondary school in al Baha.   He went to 
the College of Teachers in al Baha and graduated from the 
Arabic Language Department.  Fifi is then reported to have 
taught at Al Ba'athia School in al Baha until he suffered an 
emotional breakdown and was transferred to another school in 
the region.  Salah then relates that Fifi's condition 
worsened, and he was given a sabbatical almost a month ago. 
 
SECOND POSTING DESCRIBES CONNECTION TO DEVIANTS AND DECLINING 
MENTAL STATE 
 
¶4.  (U) By Sunday morning, May 14 the same Mohammed Salah had 
augmented his remarks with the following information:  "The 
accused," says Salah, "Mohammed Abdulrazik Al Ghamdy (rather 
than Fifi, as in the previous day's posting), is the younger 
brother of Saad Abdulrazik Al Ghamdy, one of the deviant 
group who was arrested in an internet cafe in Medina earlier." 
 
¶5.  (U) The statement continues:  "Meanwhile, the Headmaster 
of the school where Mohammed was teaching in al Baha stated 
that the accused has lately been tending to isolation.  He 
was absent from work several times for no given reason.  In 
the last two months, his case got worse so he notified his 
family.  Lately, he was given a two months sabbatical till he 
gets better.  He added that Mohammed was treated like the 
rest of the teachers and was doing his job well but he had 
very (sic) limited circle of friends." 
 
¶6.  (U) By 11:30 A.M. on May 14, this web-site had registered 
more than 5,400 visits, but no comments had been left by 
readers.  There were no speculations as to motive or 
objectives or references to the actual shooting at the 
Consulate. 
 
WEB SITE PROVIDED SENSITIVE INFORMATION AND DETAILS 
 
¶7.  (C) COMMENT:  There is no information identifying the 
writer, Mohammed Salah, other than his name on the 
web-posting.  He seems to have obtained photographs taken 
 
JEDDAH 00000356  002 OF 002 
 
 
either by authorities or the media, and in the case of the 
identification card, a photograph that should have been 
restricted to the possession of the police.  The personal 
information contained in this web-page is similar to reports 
carried in the English-language papers, with the exception of 
the reference to a family member involved in an unidentified 
"deviant group arrested in a (Medina) internet cafe."  It is 
impossible to determine if the writer had a connection with 
the family that allowed him to obtain this information, or if 
he had contacts among the authorities who furnished him with 
these facts.  END COMMENT. 
 
¶8.  (C)  Several of the CG's of high-level contacts have 
commented on this web-site, telling her they are very 
skeptical of the assertion that the perpetrator was insane or 
unbalanced.  One, a prominent consultant, observed that the 
people who commit acts such as this one are always described 
as insane.  He wondered who populated Saudi Arabia's mental 
facilities, since so many madmen seem to be loitering around 
Palestine Street in Jeddah.  Princess Lolowa, sister of the 
Saudi Foreign Minister, in a conversation with the CG on May 
14 stated that she frequently monitored al Sahat because 
conservative interests often employ it to criticize her 
efforts to promote women's rights in the Kingdom.  She 
dismissed the insanity claim and insinuated that conservative 
elements within the security services or elsewhere in the 
government have determined that this embarrassing incident 
should be blamed on the actions of a madman and were making 
common cause with the operators of the web-site to promote 
their rationale.  COMMENT:  This event hints at the intrigues 
that go on behind the scenes in Saudi Arabia, as various 
factions seek to disseminate their interpretation of events 
to the public.  END COMMENT. 
Gfoeller