Fahd bin Abdul Aziz
Sultan Bin Abdul Aziz
Naef Bin Abdul Aziz
Salman Bin Abdul Aziz
Ahmad Bin Abdul Aziz
| |
Lina al-Bassam is a young Saudi woman who was
studying in Washington under the watchful eye of her parents and
apparently the Saudi Arabian Embassy in Washington. Lina is a very young
and beautiful woman who managed to stay out of trouble because of the
guidance of her parents and the strict upbringing she had. Her father is a
well know and respected Saudi citizen who has given a lot to his country
in the form of naval expertise and was instrumental in building the Saudi
Navy in the early eighties under a $5 billion Foreign Military Sales (FMS)
contract to a consortium of three US companies : Hughes, Bendix, and
Havner (HBH).
During the early 1995, Bandar bin Sultan had a big party at his private
home in McLean, Virginia and Lina was invited after he learned of her
beauty. Even the guests at that party noticed Bandar's behavior around
Lina al-Bassam. He was completely taken by her beauty. Bandar is a married
man with eight children.
Princess Haifa, the daughter of King Faisal, and wife to Bandar bin
Sultan, is a very respectful and dignified woman. She noticed Bandar's
behavior but restrained herself because her rights as a woman in a Saudi
household is to accept her fate no matter what her husband does. Bandar
meanwhile was head over heels and under the spell of Lina's beauty. This
spell unfortunately did not last long until October of 1995, when Prince
Sultan visited the US to seal the Boeing purchase at $6 billion, he also
noticed Lina when she was introduced to him in a private gathering. That
introduction was instrumental in sealing the fate of Lina as another wife
to Sultan. A woman in Saudi Arabia does not say no to a marriage offer
especially when it comes from the all powerful Sultan. Mind you, Sultan
has married over a 100 woman. Another one, for him, is simply a bed
companion, for her, a lifetime commitment on her part. Bandar, while
disappointed, tried to take credit for this arranged marriage by telling
his father that he kept her for him. During this period, Lina's father
Omar al-Bassam was so proud to be related to Sultan that he completely
forgot that he was dealing with Sultan, a corrupt and undignified human
being.
Lina arrived Riyadh in the middle of November full of hope and naive
enough to believe that she could be THE woman for Sultan and that she will
be able to exert some feminine charm to get her way. She was placed in one
of his palaces. three of which he has never set his foot in). Lina waited
and waited for Sultan to come to his bridal bed. Her waiting ended three
months after her marriage to him when he suddenly showed up and wanted to
exercise his rights as a husband. During all that period, the poor Lina
thought that he was away on travel but while scanning the papers, she
noticed that he was indeed in Riyadh. So the first thing the poor Lina
uttered while she was trying to slip Sultan's slippers in his feet was
:"I see your highness that you have been in Riyadh for a while and
you have not visited me". Sultan in one swift gesture muttered
:"Since when a woman holds me accountable for my movements". He
left the palace angry and Lina was delivered her divorce papers the next
day and shipped back to Washington where once again she is under scrutiny
and control of Bandar.
Lina's story is one of thousands like her. Women in Saudi Arabia have no
rights whatsoever regardless of their education, social ladder, or
capacity to give to their country. In Saudi Arabia, Mme Curie does not
exist. Al-Saud do not believe that a woman has any role in society except
to deliver babies. |
|