“In 1979 Saudi Arabia experienced its first open rebellion by Wahhabis [hardline Islamists]. On 20 November [1979] several hundred zealots, headed by the radical imam Guhiman al-Utaibi, seized the Grand Mosque in Mecca, accusing the Al Saud of decadence and corruption. It was eleven days before they could be dislodged. The Al Saud were obliged to ask for the assistance of French riot police, showing a dependence, which has persisted, on Western security forces to prevent domestic unrest. Subsequently, sixty-three of those who took part were publicly beheaded as an example to other would-be dissidents.”
– Abdel Bari Atwan, The Secret History of Al Qaeda, Page 158