A Blog by the Editor of The Middle East Journal

Putting Middle Eastern Events in Cultural and Historical Context

Tuesday, December 21, 2010

New Paramilitary Force for Saudi Intelligence

According to this story in Arab News, Saudi intelligence chief Prince Muqrin has announced the formation of a new force, apparently intended for counterterrorism, under the intelligence service. From the pictujre it looks like a paramilitary force, which is probably why the article notes that it will fully cooperate with the Interior Ministry. Without more information, it's hard to know why this isn't a redundant force to begin with: doesn't Saudi General Intelligence already cooperate with Interior, which has the police power?

Offhand I'm guessing this is the usual bureaucratic redundancy familiar to most security services in most countries: of course the Interior Ministry already has such forces, but Intelligence did not. Now Prince Muqrin has one, too.

No comments: