For more than 10 years, Princess
Anud has been deprived of the right to see her daughters. Since 2001,
their father, the King of Saudi Arabia, has been in fact keeping them
under home arrest. In an interview that she gave exclusively to the
Voice of Russia, Princess Anud accused the world's media of a
"conspiracy of silence" against her situation that can hardly be called a
normal one for the 21st century.
The former wife of the incumbent King of Saudi Arabia Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, Anud Al Faiz,
comes from a noble Jordanian family. After divorcing the King, she
still preserves the title of Princess of Saudi Arabia. But in 2003, when
she was already divorced, Ms. Al Faiz was made to leave Saudi Arabia.
At present, she lives in London.
Her
Highness says that after the divorce, her life turned into a nightmare.
Her daughters' destiny is worrying her so much that she cannot think
about anything else. Several times during her interview, Her Highness
couldn't help crying.
Your
daughters are under home arrest for 12 years already. The world's media
sources do not give any comments concerning this situation. The Voice
of Russia does not ask you any concrete question, letting you to say
whatever you want.
True,
my daughters are under home arrest for already 12 years. This is the
will of their father, the King of Saudi Arabia, and his brothers. Within
all this time, all that still gives me the strength to live is hope
that once my daughters will be free and happy again. At present, they
cannot even marry. For as long as 12 years, I have been waiting for
their father to express an even slightest human feeling towards them,
but this doesn't happen. I have sent letters to the UN and to various
international human rights organizations but have not got any answer
yet.
Do you have any information about the conditions your daughters are living in?
Within
the last several years, their health considerably worsened. Two of them
are in a very poor condition, they often get ill. They are living in a
large castle in the city of Jeddah, but in full isolation from the rest
of the world, like in a prison. They don't even have anyone to serve
them. You know that in Saudi Arabia, a woman just cannot make a single
step if she is alone.
(In Saudi Arabia, a woman cannot even walk out of the house if she is not accompanied by a man.)
They
are left totally alone, without any help. There are even no air
conditioners in the castle. I cannot assess it any other way than as a
psychological war against my daughters. I am sorry that I cannot tell
you any more details, because every time I speak about the way my
daughters are being treat, I begin to cry.
Do you have any opportunity to communicate with your daughters in any way?
Yes,
I can speak with them over the phone – their father still allows me to
do this to show the world how democratic he is. He prefers to depict the
situation as if he has nothing against my coming to Saudi Arabia and
living with my daughters, but, allegedly, I do not want this myself –
although, in reality, this is vice versa. It is King Abdulla and his
brothers who do not want me to communicate with my daughters. They have
led a psychological war against me and threated me with all kinds of
threats until I left Saudi Arabia. It has turned out that they have
prohibited to all embassies in the world to prolong my passport. The
King's family has even managed to prohibit Jordan (Ms. al-Faiz is a citizen of Jordan) to prolong my Jordanian passport so that I cannot go back to my country.
Do
you believe that the world's media sources are distorting or hiding the
truth about the four princesses who are under home arrest?
Not
as much distorting the truth as just ignoring this story. When my
former husband started this "war" against my daughters, I came to London
and hired British and American lawyers to help me. But agents of the
Saudi King have bribed them, and the lawyers in fact braked my case and
didn't let it enter the international level. I tried to find other
lawyers – but found myself in total isolation. Nobody wanted to defend
the interests of my daughters.
The
world community and, first of all, the UN, says that within the last
several years, the situation with women's rights in Saudi Arabia
considerably improved. How can you comment on that in connection with
your situation?
Unfortunately,
the power of money sometimes makes the world community make wrong
conclusions. In Saudi Arabia, women still occupy the lowest places in
the society. Last year, Saudi Arabia signed a treaty with the UN on
protection of women's rights. However, in reality, the Saudi authorities
are totally ignoring this treaty.
Would you like to say something to listeners of the Voice of Russia or to the world?
Let
me address the entire world. My four daughters are under home arrest,
and I cannot call this any other way than a humanitarian catastrophe. In
fact, my daughters are slowly dying. I realize that this is a very
strong accusation against my ex-husband and his brothers, but I am
saying this with full responsibility. My daughters' health is already
totally ruined. (starts to cry) This
situation cannot be ignored any more. Within all these 12 years, my
life has been nothing but never-ending suffering. Imagine what you would
have felt if your children were in trouble, you were crying for help
but nobody heard you.
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