So now it's come to this. The Saudi ambassador is playing the role of a mafioso, a tough guy, someone who makes you an offer you can't refuse - and if you do, he'll break your legs or maybe put you in permanent exile.
The Saudi ambassador has been making the social rounds in Pakistan. First, he visited Nawaz Sharif at Raiwind to explain to him that he needs to behave himself and stop creating "hurdles" for Musharraf (by refusing to play along with the farce of an election?). Next, the ambassador pays a visit to Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry. You know, the man that everyone and their mother have been trying to visit but keep getting denied. Most recently, a group of retired judges had attempted to visit the CJ, and then it was the CODEPINK activists. But inexlicably, the CJ didn't want to see them. I guess now we know why - he was waiting for someone to come along and offer him a haj trip. Duh.
The Saudi embassy is insisting that there is nothing nefarious behind the offer. It's just a nice offer to make to a man who is only the biggest thorn in the side of Musharraf right now. Why anyone would think it's at all suspicious that the Saudis would want to get the CJ out of the country is just bizarre. There's nothing unusual at all about the offer. The Saudis even scolded the local media here and warned them not to
mislead and misguide the public mind and generate unfavorable responses regarding the intent and purpose of a brotherly sovereign state, its leadership and its people.
Now, I don't mean to go on a rant here, but I must confess that it REALLY bugs me that Pakistanis will talk ad nauseam about US imperialism but never talk about Saudi imperialism. The manner in which the Saudis have interfered in Pakistani affairs over the last 30 years is disgusting - they have played a very big part in ruining the country. And now their latest role in Pakistan's current debacle takes their heavy-handedness to a new level altogether.
Hey Saudis, leave us the fuck alone. And take the Americans with you.
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