In the second part of an article dedicated to the memoirs of Former Saudi minister, Ambassador Abdulaziz Khoja, Asharq Al-Awsat has chosen excerpts of his book, in which he shed light on an important stage of his diplomatic career, when he assumed the position of Saudi Arabia’s ambassador to Beirut - a period that saw the assassination of Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri in 2005.
The book, published by Jadawel publishing, translation, and distribution house in Beirut, unveils secrets of Ambassador Khoja’s diplomatic work and his description of some of the most prominent political leaders whom he met throughout his journey.
The Saudi Embassy in Beirut
Khoja reveals episodes of the many meetings he had held at the time with Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah in the southern suburbs of Beirut.
Before touching on the assassination and its repercussions, Khoja depicts the rise of Rafik Hariri in the aftermath of the Lebanese war, and says that the latter "had a special and intimate relationship with the leaders of Saudi Arabia.”
“On the other hand, he did not have a good relationship with Syria during the era of Bashar al-Assad, despite his efforts to bridge the rift and to reform Syria’s relations with France and America under Hafez al-Assad. At the time, Rafik Hariri was considered Syria’s foreign minister,” the book recounts, as unofficially translated into English by Asharq Al-Awsat.
He notes that the Syrian regime was trying to impose its full hegemony over Lebanon. “The [regime’s] representative, Ghazi Kanaan, and after him Rustom Ghazaleh, resembled the High Commissioner in colonial times, giving orders, threatening and executing…”
Lebanon was going through a very transformative period in the 1990s, Khoja says, adding that the influence of Hezbollah was increasing, as Nasrallah began to “startlingly gain attention in his fiery Arabism speeches, which had an attractive effect on the listeners.”
“People were mesmerized by him, especially after the success of the resistance in ousting the Israelis from southern Lebanon in 2000, except for the Shebaa Farms,” according to the book.
The Saudi ambassador points to Hezbollah’s “obvious alliance” with Syria, “the main passage for money and arms coming from its ally and first sponsor, Iran.”
He also says that Nasrallah clearly embraced the doctrine of Wilayat al-Faqih: He was completely subservient to the rule in Tehran, and thus deviated from the doctrine of the rest of the Lebanese Shiites, and from Mr. Muhammad Hussein Fadlallah, one of the most prominent Shiite scholars.
Nasrallah also disagreed with his friend and foe - head of Amal Movement Nabih Berri, who had preceded him in the leadership of the Shiites.
According to the book, Amal and Hezbollah clashed in bloody military conflicts over political and sectarian interests, but they agreed on the alliance with Syria.
Khoja quoted in his book Nasrallah as saying about Berri: “I cannot do without him, but I cannot forget that during the Civil War he sent me a truck packed with the bodies of my men.”
The Saudi ambassador also talks about Rafik Hariri’s effort to revive Lebanon after the devastating war, pointing out that the dispute between the Sunni leader and Hezbollah began “at the behest of the Syrian leadership, which sought to support a parliamentary bloc led by (Hezbollah) that opposed Hariri’s Arab and international relations and obstructed reconstruction plans.”
Khoja stresses that he sought to establish good ties with all the Lebanese parties during his work as an ambassador, from 2004 until 2009.
“My relationship was warm with Nasrallah, and I felt at the beginning that he was a charismatic person with an attractive personality, who enjoyed a broad knowledge of the course of things, and a sense of humor. My meetings with him were frequent, and they continued for long periods,” he recounts.
“But after the assassination of Prime Minister Hariri, the July war and the events of May [2008] in particular, we discovered that the party was not an ally of Iran in Lebanon, but rather Iran itself, and perhaps the worst thing about Iran, because it was entrusted with controlling Lebanon and controlling its will and its people,” he underlines.
The former ambassador speaks of three assassination attempts targeting him in Lebanon, “which was the end of the direct relationship with Nasrallah.”
Khoja describes Berri as “an intelligent and skilled diplomat,” highlighting a theory that the Saudi-Syrian rapprochement was the only gateway to stability in the region.
He refers to the events that accompanied the renewal of Emile Lahoud’s presidential term with direct Syrian pressure, something that Rafik Hariri was categorically against until his last meeting with Bashar al-Assad.
About this meeting, Khoja says: “It did not last more than 15 minutes…” during which Assad informed Hariri “very clearly about his desire to extend Lahoud’s term.”
“If you refuse, I will burn Lebanon,” the Syrian president said, adding that this has prompted Rafik Hariri to declare his approval of the extension in the Lebanese parliament, but Walid Jumblatt stuck to his refusal.
The ambassador says that Lahoud sought to “oppress” Hariri after the latter left the government in 2004 (when Omar Karami took over).
“The atmosphere was disturbing, so we advised him not to stay in the country, but he did not imagine that Syria would kill him, nor that Hassan Nasrallah would participate in that,” Khoja recounts.
He continues: “We received information from multiple sources – from the US, France, Britain, and Saudi Arabia, regarding the existence of plans for the assassination of Rafik Hariri. But he did not listen to our advice. Instead, he said his famous quote: ‘the nation is not a hotel,’ and he remained within Parliament’s opposition.
“Our kings used to fully trust him. Prince Khalid bin Saud, the assistant foreign minister, visited us, and we went together to visit Hariri... We found him worried, sad, and frustrated.
"After we left, the prince asked me if I noticed that, and I said yes... A week later, on February 14, Valentine's Day, Rafik Hariri was assassinated at the entrance of Saint George, near the Phoenicia Hotel, by a massive car bomb, in which a ton of explosives was used…,” Khoja remembers.
The Saudi ambassador also talks about the repercussions of the 2006 war between Hezbollah and Israel, and the efforts made by Saudi Arabia to reconstruct what was destroyed by the Israeli bombing.
He points to the Kingdom’s position on the behavior of Hezbollah that led to the outbreak of war (the kidnapping of soldiers on the borders), which raised the party’s displeasure.
He refers to the “difference” between Hafez al-Assad and his son Bashar, saying that the first stayed in the Arab camp, and benefited from his relationship with Iran, while the son “got involved with Iran, lost Syria’s Arab allies, and angered the West.”
As for his meetings with Michel Aoun, before the latter became president, Khoja recounts: “He was either tense or absent-minded during the meetings… as he thought that I was an obstacle to his presidency and he did not understand that I represent a semi-Arab and international consensus.”
On Saad Hariri, the Saudi ambassador says: “My best friend... he is pure and loyal.”
The Saudi Ministry of Culture and Information
On February 14, 2009, the late King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz appointed Khoja as Minister of Culture and Information, and he was concluding his mission at the embassy in Beirut.
In this chapter, he talks about his efforts to improve the performance of the Saudi media, assist the sector’s professionals and address challenges that social media represented.
On King Salman, Khoja says: “He is a firm and wise manager, who believes that the shortest path between two points is the straight line, and achievement is his most important administrative standard. He does not like dodgy politics, nor dishonest or weak characters.”
“He always surrounded me with care, advice, and guidance at all stages of my career,” he underlines.
Khoja also notes that Prince Mohammad bin Salman is a “very practical man, who has the faculties of leadership, and has taken many of the qualities of his great father.”
