The death sentence against Othman’s murderers

As the Saudi specialized criminal court issued its initial ruling sentencing the murderers of Colonel Nasser al-Othman to death, a dangerous era of targeting “the near enemy” in Saudi society comes to an end.

The origin of this devilish seed began with fundamentalism in the 1970s during the Afghan jihad against the Soviets. There were religious edicts removing guardianship rights from parents, and saying the latter’s permission was not necessary for jihad. Parents became outcasts to their children, who viewed them as obstacles in their path to fighting.

In 1982, Abd al-Salam Faraj, who declared war on “the near enemy,” laid the foundation and lectured about this vision in his book “The Neglected Obligation.”

Saudi incidents

This phenomenon began to spread in Saudi Arabia when Hammoud bin Joueir al-Farraj was killed after security forces raided Al-Salli neighborhood in Riyadh. He was killed at the start of Jan. 2004 when security forces conducted a raid to arrest his son Khaled. When the father cooperated with the security forces, Al-Qaeda members opened fire on him and he was killed along with security forces’ members.

In April 2007, Al-Qaeda targeted Othman in cold blood in his farm. The man who incited against him and informed the organization of his location was his nephew! Othman was found decapitated. This has also become a strategy of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS).

This article was first published in Okaz on July 28, 2016.

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Turki Aldakhil is the General Manager of Al Arabiya News Channel. He began his career as a print journalist, covering politics and culture for the Saudi newspapers Okaz, Al-Riyadh and Al-Watan. He then moved to pan-Arab daily Al-Hayat and pan-Arab news magazine Al-Majalla. Turki later became a radio correspondent for the French-owned pan-Arab Radio Monte Carlo and MBC FM. He proceeded to Elaph, an online news magazine and Alarabiya.net, the news channel’s online platform. Over a ten-year period, Dakhil’s weekly Al Arabiya talk show “Edaat” (Spotlights) provided an opportunity for proponents of Arab and Islamic social reform to make their case to a mass audience. Turki also owns Al Mesbar Studies and Research Centre and Madarek Publishing House in Dubai. He has received several awards and honors, including the America Abroad Media annual award for his role in supporting civil society, human rights and advancing women’s roles in Gulf societies. He tweets @TurkiAldakhil.