U.S.
House of Representatives
STATEMENT OF PATRICIA M. ROUSH
BEFORE THE COMMITTEE ON GOVERNMENT REFORM
107th Congress, 2nd Session Washington, D.C
June 12, 2002
Good morning, Chairman
Burton and Members of the Committee. I am pleased to participate
in this panel and present you with my testimony regarding
my sixteen and one half year struggle to free my two daughters,
Alia and Aisha Gheshayan, from the kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
I have previously testified before the House International Relations
Committee in 1987- Sub Committee for the Near East concerning
violations of human rights of American citizens by the Saudi
Arabian government. The Honorable Tom Lantos was Chair and
his very powerful words addressing Assistant Secretary of
State Marion Creekmore continue to remain with me. "Is
this the image that you want to portray of the United States?
That of the impotent giant that cannot get back two little
innocent children from Saudi Arabia?" Secretary Creekmore's
response was, "I don't think the withholding of visas
to the United States for Saudis is the proper way to resolve
this." Several men that testified before that committee
have received huge payoffs from the Saudi government —some
as high as $25,000,000. I didn't want any blood money, just
my little girls. But I never got them back and unlike the
men at the hearing who were paid off by the Saudis, my family
and I were forced to pay the price —in sacrifice, tears
and degradation at the hands of the Saudis and the U.S. Department
of State.
By way of background, for the last sixteen years I have tirelessly
pioneered the issue of American children kidnapped and taken
abroad. My relentless efforts over the years led to the creation
of the Office of Children's Issues at the State Department
intended to advocate on behalf of the littlest American citizens
snatched to foreign countries, and to enactment of the International
Parental Kidnapping Act in 1993. The Hague Treaty on the Civil
Aspects of International Child Abduction was signed in 1987
by the United States because of the high profile of my case
in the Congress and the press. The Office of Children's Issues,
unfortunately, has never been what it was intended to be,
which is a place of authority that U.S. citizens can turn
to for assistance in having their children returned from foreign
countries. Instead, it is merely another file collecting agency
of the federal government
However, this forum is not about child abduction. The kidnapping
of American children and taking them inside the borders of
foreign nations, outside of the jurisdiction of U.S. courts
is a tragedy and heinous crime but the retention, detention,
exploitation, abuse, and lose of American lives in foreign
countries due to the lack of intervention of the U.S. government
is a crime against humanity and God.
Working to free my daughters has become a 'Mission Impossible'
assignment that I have accepted as part of my daily life.
I have been successful in convincing Members of Congress to
object to Senatorial Confirmation of certain U.S. ambassadors
to Saudi Arabia and alter Arms Packages to Saudi Arabia because
of my daughters' kidnappings. I have had hand delivered letters
to three U.S. Presidents in the Oval Office, lobbied four
State Departments, and appeared on countless television and
radio programs. A tremendous amount of print media has covered
my story. I have traveled and spoken to countless people in
all walks of life all over the world to try to get my daughters
released from Saudi Arabia and am authoring a book about my
story which will be available early next year.
Before my two daughters were kidnapped my seven year old would
sing with such delight, "Tomorrow, tomorrow, I love you
tomorrow. It's only a day awayÖ " This was her favor
song from the movie, 'Annie', about a little girl who was
lost and found. But the happy ending from the Hollywood movie
never materialized for my little girls and as the Arabic folk
expression states, "Twenty years will soon be tomorrow"
became their reality.
The girls are now women — ages twenty-three and nineteen.
They were kidnapped and taken to the kingdom of Saudi Arabia
by their Saudi National father in 1986. They were three and
seven at the time. This is the father they hardly knew and
feared who had a documented history of a severe mental illness
with a paranoid and violent ideation.
His status was well known to the U.S./Saudi officials, but
for the last sixteen plus years two American citizens, my
daughters, have spent their childhood ó and now their
early adulthood — captive in Saudi Arabia without so
much as a protest from the U.S. government. They languish
in a medieval, madness filled with superstition and religious
fanaticism. The country is ruled by a single family of corrupt,
degenerative, greedy princes with an insatiable appetite for
more and more and more. 'The Prize' is of course, the oil,
and the stakes are high. High enough for the government of
the United States to sacrifice any ideals and scruples they
might have to keep this totalitarian regime operating.
My daughters have become victims of the endless gamesmanship
between U.S. diplomats and the Saudi family princes. Ties
between the U.S. and Saudi Arabia are long and deep rooted,
cemented by long-standing military and economic interests.
The U.S. is the leading supplier of defense equipment and
services to the kingdom. Billions of dollars of U.S. merchandise
are exported to Saudi Arabia each year. And in turn Saudi
exports to the U.S. last year totaled more than fourteen billion
dollars. Vast amounts of seemingly unlimited money and deals
have made the U.S./Saudi 'special relationship' an unflappable
phenomenon. An unsinkable ship that everyone from entrepreneurs
to U.S. Presidents has wanted to jump on. Despite the facts
of September 11, 2001, the U.S. government still soft pedals
the Saudi regime, makes excuses for them and does "business
as usual".
"The United States closes its mouth, its eyes, its ears.
It's a shame on the Administration that they are not helping
this lady. When it comes to the Saudi-American relationship,
the White House should be called the 'White Tent.'" (Former
Saudi diplomat Mohammed Al-Khilewi who defected from the Saudi
Mission to the United States in 1994.)
Saudi Arabia has violated my human rights and the human rights
and Constitutional rights afforded to my daughters as American
citizens. The U.S. State Department is an accessory and active
conspirator in the denial of these rights. The U.S. government
receives benefits from the Saudi Arabia government in various
forms which induce it to violate these rights.
Everyone is entitled to freedom from fear. The U.S. State
Department and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia have both intentionally
used their great power to create fear to intimate and threaten
me and my daughters as I shall explain in this testimony.
My daughters are victims of forced religious conversion as
outlined in the International Religious Freedom Act, which
has a special section that was written expressively because
of my daughters' situation in Saudi Arabia. A member of the
State Department finally admitted this victimization during
a recent briefing concerning my case. My Christian daughters
were forced to convert to Islam and as you know, religious
choice is not an option in the kingdom of Saudi Arabia. They
could be put to death if they even spoke the name of Jesus.
This is also an act of ethnocide. My daughters have had their
culture taken away and been denied their heritage. Do they
know that their mother's family has been on U.S. soil since
1711 and fought in all the wars to keep America free? Do they
even know what freedom is?
My daughters have been stolen and kept in captivity for sixteen
years ó incommunicado with the entire world. They have
no knowledge of the rest of the world except by way of Saudi
Arabian censored television and the males that are their masters.
They are denied the rule of law ó denial of due process.
Saudi Arabia is a totalitarian state where my daughters are
locked up, wrapped up and shut up. This is a cover picture
from National Geographic Magazine showing that well known
photograph of a young, green eyed Afghan girl on the cover
twenty years agoÖnow wearing the dreaded burqa. The caption
says, 'Found'.
And this is a picture of what my daughters are wearing ó
basic black from head to toe ó they have no choice.
The Saudi religious police can arrest, imprison or kill them
for not wearing this garb. This little insert picture of my
girls in the white dresses with puff sleeves is seventeen
years old. It is the last picture I have of them. Underneath
the picture it also says, 'Found'. Yes, we found them. But
they were never lost. We always knew just where they were
but couldn't save them from their destiny which is no different
from the destiny of this poor Afghan woman. They also are
condemned to a life behind a veil without any rights - a life
of silence, submission and servitude. They are treated as
Saudi women not American women living in Saudi Arabia. The
Saudi government doesn't even recognize their American citizenship.
They are the property of their father and husband. They can
be put to death by these men if the men so choose to dispose
of them. It is called 'honor killing' and the price of honor
for a Saudi woman is quite steep. President Bush has created
a special White House liason for Afghan women's rights but
there is no one in the entire U.S. government working for
my daughters' rights as American women locked up in Saudi
Arabia. No, I am told that there is nothing the U.S. government
can do for them because under Saudi law there father and now
there husband have total power and control over them and even
Allah, himself cannot help them!!!!
My family and I are also victims of extortion. We have been
forced to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars in attempts
to rescue my daughters from Saudi Arabia. This is not to mention
the countless other ways my income has been depleted over
the years such as lost time from work, airline tickets, huge
phone bills, attorneys' fees, detectives' fees, years and
years of sacrifice of money and time and the life saving of
my sick, elderly mother who spent her last dollar to get her
beloved granddaughters out of that desert. She never lived
to see that day and died in poverty because of this. While
Saudi princes, their retainers and their American counter
parts lavished themselves in money and riches, my mother and
I have lived from hand to mouth all these years. I sacrificed
my life to get my daughters back. She sacrificed her life
savings and her home in her old age. She begged the Saudis
for a crumb and they took delight in emotionally torturing
a sick, old grandmother. They forced me to spend money to
recover what is manifestly mine, my flesh and blood - my bone
of my bone and blood of my blood.
Contrary to the statements appearing in the Saudi owned press,
Asharq Al Awsat, listed on the official website of the Saudi
Embassy (saudiembassy.net) which recently published a very
biased, slanderous article about me concocted by the Saudi
government and Gheshayan, these are American women not, "Saudi
daughters". This paper is available in forty two Arab
countries. They have now made my plight an issue between the
West and the Arab world. Gheshayan and I are on the front
page with the headline caption:
THE AMERICAN CONGRESS HOLDS SPECIAL HEARING REGARDING SAUDI
WHOSE WIFE CLAIMS HE HAS KIDNAPPED HIS TWO DAUGHTERS
GHESHAYAN FAMILY CLAIMS THAT ALIA AND AISHA WOULD LIKE TO
LIVE WITH THEIR FATHER IN RIYADH AND THEY REFUSE TO LIVE WITH
THEIR MOTHER
Do they have a choice? Are they free to leave of their own
volition? What are the consequences for them if they even
mentioned my name or America?
Where was the Gheshayan family and Mr. Gheshayan when I was
left to support and care for my infant and toddler baby girls
ó these so called 'Saudi daughters'? Where was the
Gheshayan family, Mr. Gheshayan and the Saudi princes when
I worked, went to nursing school, got up in the middle of
the night, changed diapers, and cared for my babies? I was
all alone, abandoned to fend for all of us with full responsibility
to come up with our next meal and a roof over our heads.
The article ends with the statement: "Khalid Gheshayan
and his family do not understand why American Embassy employees
call them every three months and don't understand that those
two daughters are Saudi daughters and that the Embassy should
not approach them as Americans living in their country. They
should not be stated as missing for several years because
they are Saudis not Americans.
The American Embassy doesn't call them every three months
to be sure ó every six years is more like it. However,
the Saud government continues to use infantile ploys to place
this ordeal and my daughters in the middle of an international
chess match. The State Department, in its refusal to back
me up and make this a State-to-State issue with the Saudis,
has forced me, a private citizen, a mother, to stand up to
the Saudi government all alone. I started out by asking my
government to help me get my internationally kidnapped children
back and now I am fighting the whole Arab world and the United
States government to save my adult daughters from a life sentence
in Saudi Arabia.
The playing field is far from even and they have the great
advantage ó physical possession of my daughters and
my unborn grandchild. I found out by reading this Saudi owned
newspaper that I will be a grandmother. I have no knowledge
of the well being or status of my daughters ó none.
And the little bit of information I have gotten over the years
has been second hand. National Review Magazine posed the question
to Crown Prince Abdullah in April when he was in Crawford
with the President. The caption over their little Pound Puppy
photo read,"Hey Abdullah. How are the girls?" I
wish I knew how they are.
Last June I found out that my daughter, Alia, was married
by a telephone call from American Citizens Services, Mr. Bill
McCollough. He said, "Ms. Roush, Ambassador Bill Burns
(Assistant Secretary Near Eastern Bureau) is unable to meet
with you and by the way, I have some news that you are not
going to like very much - your oldest daughter was married
a few days ago." I cried out in agony. This was one of
my worst nightmares. The State Department waited so long and
wouldn't help us ó wouldn't hear our pleas and Alia
grew up. She went from one male master controller to another.
The State Department and American Embassy tell me they have
no information about my daughters but they managed to know
about this. They manage to know what they want to know when
they want to know it but I never know anything. And haven't
for sixteen years. Its like I have been erased from their
lives. And now it is extending to the next generation. I won't
be able to be with Alia during the birth of her baby. I won't
hold that baby in my arms and the baby won't know that I am
Alia's mother, her grandmother. They not only destroyed my
mother's twilight years but took away my motherhood, my children's
mother, my grandmotherhood and my grandchildren's relationship
to their grandmother. The Saudi government and the State Department
have wiped us all out.
A daughter's wedding day is supposed to be one of the most
wonderful days for her mother to share with her. Every mother
dreams of seeing her little girl grow up and wear that beautiful,
white dress ó all aglow with the man she loves. It
begins the journey of hope for a happy, blessed, adult, new
life for her daughter and the husband. It's a spiritual rite
of passage that contains the seeds of the next generation.
My daughter couldn't even call me on her wedding day and tell
me about it. That family even denied us that. I didn't know
who my beloved Alia married. Who is this man? How old is he?
Is he a member of the fanatic religious police? Did her father
sell her to someone who will beat her and rape her night after
night forcing her to become nothing but a brood mare?
I got no answers for quite awhile and several months passed
by before I found out that her father had sold her to his
favorite cousin's son. He kept her in his family so his influence
would be a continued presence for her until her death. I know
nothing more than this. I am not allowed to have any information
about my daughters unless I read about it the Saudi press.
Last Fall I asked the Senate Foreign Relations Committee to
get a clear promise from incoming U.S. Ambassador to Saudi
Arabia, Robert Jordan, a Bush appointee, that he would work
for the release and repatriation of my daughters and allow
me to immediately fly to Riyadh to meet with Alia and her
new husband along with my Aisha.
I received no response from him but Karen Sasahara at the
Saudi Desk yelled at me, "We cannot get you into Saudi
Arabia to see your children. You are so negative!" She
was referring to the offer Gheshayan made to me at the meeting
he had last August with the consul of the U.S. Embassy. He
offered me a one hour visit with Aisha. He said I could come
to Riyadh and have lunch with him and Aisha at the Marriot
Hotel for one hour ó no pictures, of course, and then
leave. I could not meet Alia because her husband was now in
charge of her. When I told Sasahara that this was not acceptable,
she accused me of being negative and uncooperative.
After sixteen years Gheshayan allowed me a five minute telephone
call with nineteen year old Aisha last September. She told
me, "Hello, Mom. I love you. I love you. Come to Riyadh."
When a member of the press questioned an officer at American
Citizens Services about this impassioned plea from my daughter
he was told, "That's a lie. Her daughter doesn't speak
enough English for her to tell her mother those things."
They also informed the press that the American embassy sees
my daughters regularly and makes sure they are well cared
for.
Behind closed doors members of the State Department confessed
that they haven't seen my daughters in years. They have no
idea where they are or how they are. As for Aisha's English,
her father was watching CNN when the call was made. Maybe
she hears enough English from the television. Maybe she remembers
that one night we had together when I kept telling her, "I
love you. I love you."
She committed the expression to memory and probably told herself
if I ever get another chance to speak to my mother, I will
tell her this. Actually at the end of that 120 minute meeting
in Riyadh in 1995 as I was packing up their gifts that I brought
them, Aisha ran up to me and threw her arms around me and
said, "I love you. I love you." She wouldn't let
me go. She was waiting to tell me that again; however, her
father never gave her another chance to speak to me again
and I never got to Riyadh. Aisha and I are still waiting.
The Saudis may have her body but not her heart and soul. I
hope to God he has not sold her into some Saudi's bed. I was
told by an anonymous source in the American Embassy that Gheshayan
was very happy he found a rich man for Alia and is now actively
looking for another rich one for Aisha. Gheshayan has five
other children with his Saudi wife and is tired of dealing
with the American embassy over Alia and Aisha.
Now I'd like to briefly describe the experience of what has
happened, the role of the U.S. State Department, the U.S.
Embassy in Riyadh, the Saud princes and their agents. I shall
attempt to explain the course of events that has happened
over the last sixteen years concerning my case and how the
'special relationship' between Saudi Arabia and the U.S. government
has been the cause that still prevents my American born daughters,
ages twenty-three and nineteen, from being returned to me.
LIFE WITH THE CHILDREN
In 1975 while I was a young college student living in San
Francisco I met a Saudi Arabian national, Khalid Gheshayan,
who was sent to the U.S. by the Saudi Ministry of the Interior
and sponsored by the Saudi Educational Mission in Houston,
Texas. He was given an 'A1' visa which is a diplomatic visa
by U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service. At that time
all the Saudi students were given a diplomatic visa in contrast
to all other foreign students that were and are issued 'F1',
student visas. This was the beginning of the preferential
treatment he would be receiving from the U.S. government.
Gheshayan came from a prominent Saudi family from the Najd
region of the Arabian desert. His grandfather allegedly rode
on camels with Ibn Saud and his father worked for Prince Faisal
bin Abdul Azziz who became King Faisal. After the King was
killed by a deranged relative, Gheshayan's father came to
the U.S. for heart surgery at the Cleveland Clinic the same
year that Gheshayan and I met ó 1975. Many Saudis come
to that facility and they have built a special wing in that
hospital for their sole use.
In 1978 Gheshayan's family returned again to the U.S. for
one year ó staying in San Francisco. I met them and
knew all of them well. Gheshayan and I were married in 1978.
I had graduated from the university receiving a degree in
anthropology. He was in and out of school with a lack of scholarship,
severe drinking problem and difficulty focusing with personality
changes.
His parents weren't too concerned about any of this. Money
came in to him from the Saudi Mission in Houston even if he
didn't attend school. His father and other relatives also
gave him money. I thought that if only I could help him stop
drinking, he would turn his life around. I became a co-dependent
and tried to change him. That was a mistake in judgment I
would regret deeply for the rest of my life.
I pleaded with him to stop drinking and took him to an alcoholic
inpatient treatment center at a local hospital. It was a twenty-eight
day program and he left after a week. He was in and out of
facilities for psychiatric and alcoholic problems. Let me
read to you a few excerpts from one of the over one hundred
pages of medical records from his file:
This is the first Mary's Help Hospital admission for this
30-year-old Arabic student with a history of alcoholism over
the past five years since he came to the U.S. as a student.
He has multiple family problems associated with his drinkingÖPatient
was treated with detoxification followed by rehabilitationÖHe
is not an active participant in the program with active denial
and he started to have hallucinations and feelings of persecution
and was evaluated by Dr. David Glass, who felt that patient
was presenting with a probable paranoid schizophrenia and
felt that he would attempt to reach his prior psychiatrist
regarding appropriate medications. Prior to the initiations
of any neuroleptic medication, the patient felt there was
no benefit to the hospitalization and felt he should leave.
Discharge Diagnosis: Acute and chronic alcoholism
Alcoholic hepatitis
Paranoid schizophrenia
Clinical Impression: Patient with a psychotic disorder, most
likely paranoid schizophrenia state. He is coherent, but there
is some feeling of paranoia and suspiciousness
Patient has been unable to straighten out his life in any
organized way in the time that he has spend in this country.
He has apparently been on student status, but has not managed
to obtain a degree or even pursue a course. He apparently
spends most of his time watching television.
After the girls were kidnapped I quickly sent these records
to the State Department in Washington, the U.S. Embassy in
Riyadh and the Saudi authorities in Riyadh. They were all
well aware of the dangerous nature of this man and his control
over the girls.
I took care of Alia. I worked and tried to help Gheshayan
straighten out his life. He continued to drink and was abusive
to me. He got into petty fights and a DUI. I couldn't take
it any longer and asked him leave the house. He was deported
by INS three weeks after Alia was born. He had gotten into
a car accident, was drunk and assaulted the other driver.
His visa was expired and the San Francisco police turned him
over to Immigration. He went back to Saudi Arabia, then returned
to British Columbia, Canada where he got into more trouble
and then entered the U.S. again when Alia was seven months
old. Alia and I were peaceful when he was gone. He came back
into our lives and quickly destroyed all that.
One night I was holding Alia and he came home drunk and pushed
me with the baby in my arms against the wall, pulled the telephone
cord out of the wall and stammered out the door to the local
bar. I had had enough and made him move out of the house.
He went back to Saudi Arabia and I filed for divorce in 1981.
Alia was two years old. I was struggling to make ends meet.
He threatened that if I divorced him, he would cause trouble
for me. Finally he came back to San Francisco with his father
and they begged me to take him back. He said he wasn't drinking
any more and was in business with his father who was in the
process of going into the importation business. They came
in with their Brooks Brothers suits and I weakened. I took
him back. I will regret that for the rest of my life.
I gave birth to Aisha in July 1982. He cut back on his drinking
and there were no more problems with fighting and the police
but he was never there for us. He left us when Aisha was four
months old. Now I had two little girls to take care. I loved
the children so much. We were everything to each other. I
was glad he was out of our lives and continued to work for
my goal of financial stability for the support of my daughters.
I enrolled in a three year nursing diploma program at St.
Luke's Hospital School of Nursing in San Francisco. My degree
in anthropology wouldn't bring in enough money to support
us and I had to do something to care for the girls.
I went to school, worked, studied and took care of my daughters.
Gheshayan was gone ó living in the kingdom in his father's
villa with servants. I was quite frankly glad he was not around.
There was always an aura of evil whenever he was present.
I couldn't put my finger on it for a long time ó but
it was evil. I was yet to discover just how much evil he could
conjure up.
He finally got a job — Saudi style. Some relative made
a call for a desk job with many tea breaks. Actually, the
whole job was a tea break. But he told me he was working and
not drinking and I was glad for him. He started to send me
a little money each month and told me he had really changed.
I didn't divorce him because I didn't have the money for an
attorney but was happy that I could just continue with school
and take care of the girls. It wasn't an easy life. I would
wake the girls at five in the morning so I could take them
to the baby sitter and get to the hospital for clinicals by
seven. They were just little children. We would all sleep
in the same bed at nightÖcuddling each other. The girls
and me. I had one more year of school when Gheshayan offered
us trip to the kingdom during the summer break. I had never
been there. He made all kinds of promises. The girls and I
went in June 1984. He was civil and his family was friendly
with me. He took us around the Riyadh area and then to London
before we came back to the United States so I could finish
school. We were gone for six weeks.
Upon my arrival in San Francisco I suddenly I got very sick
just before school started in September 1984. It was Hepatitis.
I had gotten it in the kingdom. I was weak and could hardly
walk. I had the kids, the school and a job. Gheshayan did
not support us. I was extremely ill and finally had to drop
out of school just before the semester ended. I was only six
months away from graduation. I didn't know what to do. I needed
time and money to recuperate and I needed help with the girls.
They were only five and two at that time.
Gheshayan called and asked me to go back to Saudi Arabia.
I had nothing, couldn't care for the girls and couldn't work.
The bills were coming in. Since he had been so decent on the
summer trip, I thought he had genuinely changed. That was
the duel personality with the soft, sweet aspect that could
turn into a seven headed dragon in an instant. The girls and
I put our things in storage and went to Saudi Arabia in January
1985. We lived out in the desert ó on a piece of land
his father owned. I was isolated. The girls and I clung to
each other. Alia couldn't go to the American school because
her father was a Saudi ó against the law. She was supposed
to be in Kindergarten. She missed a few months in the travel
move and I was concerned for her. I had no choice but put
her in an Egyptian school. One day she came home and told
me a boy had threatened her with a piece of jagged glass.
There was no discipline and order at the school and I became
afraid for her. I recuperated and got stronger. We were so
outside of everything ó so removed from the American
or expat community. We didn't even have a phone. I had to
wear the black abaya and put the shayla over my face. I was
forbidden to drive. Taxis were not safe ó women are
raped and killed if they dare enter these traps. We were miserable.
I wanted to come home. The children wanted to come home.
One night I was talking to Gheshayan about coming home and
he suddenly jumped up, ran after me and chased me into the
bedroom. He closed the door and threw me on the floor and
began to kick me in the chest with his feet. I was screaming
for him to stop and Alia was screaming on the other side of
the door, "Mommy. Mommy."
After what seemed an eternity he finally stopped and I couldn't
breathe. I had a pain in my chest and couldn't raise my arms
up without severe pain. I asked him to take me to the hospital.
I thought my lungs were punctured. He told me, "I can
kill you and throw you out into the desert and no one would
even know."
He was right. I was in the middle of the Arabian desert with
a madman and he could do anything he wanted to me. There was
no one to help me. Alia clung to me and was crying, "Mommy,
Mommy, are you all right? What did you do to my Mommy?"
He told me he would take me to the hospital and, "If
you tell anyone what happened, I'll kill you."
I had a cardiac contusion, fractured breastbone and several
broken ribs. I told one of the German doctors working at the
hospital that I had been beaten by my husband and the doctor
pretended that he didn't hear me. He couldn't do anything
to help me. He was a foreigner and under Saudi law had no
power. He probably saw Saudi women coming into that emergency
department all the times with broken bones. In fact, I met
an American doctor at the King Fahad hospital who told me
he treated many Saudi women after being beaten by their husbands
ó very common. Her husband has the right to beat her.
It's the law. Gheshayan had a right to beat me or kill me.
As he told me, "You are an American and I am a Saudi.
Who are they going to believe?"
I went home with the children and him. I secretly called the
American Embassy from a pay phone and they told me, "If
he doesn't sign your exit visa, you will never leave and your
children certainly wouldn't be able to leave with you, even
if by some chance you get out." I was afraid for all
of us. The girls and I huddled together. One night we were
in the car with him in downtown Riyadh. The girls were in
the back seat and I was in the passenger seat covered in black.
Alia made a sigh and Gheshayan suddenly turned around and
slapped her right across the face. She was six years old.
She screamed, "Mommy, help." I opened the car door,
got out and pulled both girls out of the back seat. We started
to walk down the dark, dirt streets ó no sidewalks.
I had no money, no passports, no friends, and was in imminent
danger of being killed at any time. He pulled up along side
of us in the car and said, "Get in. Where do you think
you are going?" We got in the back seat and then he turned
around and said to Alia, "And she stays here."
Alia screamed again and said, "Oh no. No." I held
her and Aisha in my arms. We were terrified.
So for the next several months I did what he said and submitted
to him. I convinced him to come back to the States and get
the scholarship back. He liked that idea but he wouldn't give
me the money to leave. I convinced him to take me to the American
embassy and they gave me a repatriation loan to get out. They
told me he must sign my exit visa and the exit visa for the
girls or we wouldn't be able to get through airport security.
They couldn't help us. The girls and I left Riyadh in May
1985.
We went to Chicago instead of San Francisco because I needed
help from my family. We were so glad to get out of Saudi Arabia
but were without any money or resources. I stayed with relatives,
filed for divorce and went back to nursing school. After I
got on my feet again, I got an apartment and sent for our
things from San Francisco. I was one semester from graduating
from nursing school and we would be financially all right
in just a few short months. I was planning on buying a house
after graduation. We were free and started to be happy in
our new lives together. We were in my old childhood neighborhood
with my family. Alia was attending the same school my mother
and I attended. We felt safe at last.
My divorce was final, I was awarded sole custody of my daughters
and Gheshayan was out of our lives forever. So we thought.
Just as everything was looking so good, he showed up, hired
a private detective to find us, paid an attorney to overturn
my divorce and custody degree. He followed me in a rented
car, stalked me night and day, tried to get Alia out of her
school and called me constantly. I went to the police and
tried to get a restraining order and they told me he hadn't
broken any laws and there was nothing they could do.
He convinced me he was in Chicago to stay and only wanted
to see the girls. He said, "Pat, I only want to see my
children. If I was going to take them, I would have never
allowed you to leave Saudi Arabia with them. I just want live
here and go back to school. I would never do that to you."
After two months of this, I believed him and allowed him to
see the girls on a weekend visit. He took them. It was Super
Bowl Sunday - January 26, 1986 the Chicago Bears were at New
Orleans. I knew how much he hated living in Saudi Arabia and
I believed him. I don't know why.
I called the State Department ó Office of Overseas
Citizens Emergency and they told me, "You will never
see your children again. They are gone. There is nothing we
can do."
I called Gheshayan in Arabia and he told me, "Come here
and do exactly what I want or you will never see them again.
The United States cannot help you now. The embassy cannot
help you. Go ahead and get Reagan. Alia and Aisha are never
allowed to leave Saudi Arabia again."
If I had gone back to Saudi Arabia, he would have killed me
but first he would have broken every bone in my body and mutilated
me. Or he would have locked me up in a room all alone with
only enough to keep me barely alive before he finally beat
me to death.
One of the punishments in Saudi Arabia for women who disobeys
is 'the woman's room'.
They lock up a woman in a dark, isolated room and give her
only enough food for a slim existence. She is kept there until
she goes mad. This was the beginning of my two decade nightmare.
LIFE WITHOUT MY CHILDREN
Two months after the kidnapping I contacted U.S. Senator Alan
Dixon's office in Chicago and began working with his assistant,
Sarah Pang. We worked on this tirelessly. Sarah and I never
stopped. We talked on the phone four times per day. I didn't
work for one year after he took my girls. I was on the phone
begging people to help me. I spent money on detectives and
phone calls and airline tickets. My mother helped with the
finances. I couldn't breathe, couldn't sleep, couldn't eat.
I called Riyadh ó the embassy ó they told me
there was nothing they could do. They couldn't get involved.
I called Gheshayan and as soon as the family heard my voice
on the phone, they hung up. I would hear the sounds of my
daughters' voices in the background and his mother would hang
up the phone. Gheshayan told me, "Alia only stays alone
in the room and cries for you. We took her to the doctor and
he said that she is not allowed to talk to you."
This was the man diagnosed by the American doctors with paranoid
schizophrenia who was now in control of my little girls lives.
He was the custodial parent. He ruled them ó this woman
hater was the master of two young females. Their fate was
in his hands. I don't know how I survived that or the next
sixteen years. Or what is worse how they survived.
Sarah Pang and I were very effective as a team and we got
full briefings to Vice President George Bush just four months
after the kidnapping. I wrote to every Member of Congress
asking for their support and letters came pouring into the
Saudi Embassy for the return of the girls. Prince Bandar had
only been Saudi Ambassador to the U.S. a short time then and
he was quite concerned about this matter.
Senator Dixon brought up my name on the floor of the Senate
every chance he got. He asked that arms packages to the Saudis
be delayed until the girls were returned. He spoke with Prince
Bandar and Bandar told him he would recommend that the girls
be brought home.
There was movement in Riyadh by the Saudi Foreign Ministry
and they made inquiries to the U.S. Embassy. I would like
to read a letter dated June 3, 1986 from Edward S. Walker,
Jr, Charge d'Affaires:
Dear Ms. Roush:
Ambassador Cutler is away from Saudi Arabia at present. I
wanted to take this opportunity to let you know the current
situation regarding the children.
We have been in touch with Senator Dixon's office and, as
you may have learned from the Senator's staff, the Saudi Ministry
of Foreign Affairs (MFA) answered our initial diplomatic note
concerning you and your children with a request for more information.
We supplied the information concerning your ex-husband's whereabouts
in a follow up diplomatic note on May 19th, and repeated our
interest in seeing the children. We will continue to press
for your rights and to raise the issue for the children's
custody.
Everyone concerned with your case is heartened by the conversation
Senator Dixon had with the Saudi Ambassador in Washington.
We hope the Prince's recommendation to the Saudi authorities
will lead to the outcome you desire. We all wanted to hear
something before May 28 because the MFA, as practically every
other Saudi ministry, has shut down until June 14 when the
post-Ramadan Eid holiday is over. We hope that the Saudi authorities
will take some action on Prince Bandar's recommendation immediately
after the holiday.
We are all very much aware of your acute distress in the present
circumstances. I sincerely hope that when we next contact
you it will be to inform you of some positive developments
in the case.
Sincerely,
Edward S. Walker, Jr.
Charge d'Affaires, a.i.
The Embassy in Riyadh was very excited about what was happening.
This was never done before. Bandar recommended that the girls
be released and it looked like they were coming home.
The response from the Governor or Riyadh, Prince Salmon, was
that I had to go to Saudi Arabia to the Islamic court. I found
this out on the day I took the State Nursing Board Examinations.
I had miraculously graduated amongst all this trauma. How
could I go to Saudi Arabia and fight for my daughters in an
Islamic court?
There was no place at the State Department for me to call
for counsel except the Saudi Desk. The man heading the Desk
at that time was David Ostroff. He kept referring to the Saudis
as 'their clients'. I said what about me and my daughters?
What are we? He said, "We must look at this from the
Saudis' point of view." He advised me that the Islamic
courts were very fair and that it was a good idea for me to
go there. He sent me a list of Saudi attorneys that could
represent me in such a court.
I told him I didn't have a chance in an Islamic court as an
American, Christian woman. I called one of the attorneys on
the list, Saleh Hejeilan, for advise. I didn't know his background.
He told me he was in the 'court' of Prince Salman and that
he would do this 'for humanitarian reasons'. He didn't want
any money but just wanted to help. I later called the consul
general of the Embassy who informed me Hejeilan likes to get
involved with things concerning the embassy and is very well
connected. His brother is the Minister of Health. Hejeilan
later 'defended' the two British nurses who were accused of
murdering an Australian nurse in the kingdom. He is the dealmaker
ó par excellence. He would become my nemesis along
with Bandar and Salman.
Hejeilan knew about all the action in Washington concerning
my case. He knew about the Congressional interest and the
arms packages, etc. He and Salman were looking for a way to
solve this and satisfy the Gheshayan family. Finally, they
thought of a way. He proposed that the girls be allowed to
attend boarding school in London since they were English speakers.
That way they would be out of Saudi jurisdiction and we could
easily get the children from England. This was an easy and
doable solution to this quite simple problem. Everyone would
be happy. Maybe not Gheshayan.
He wanted to represent the Embassy and proposed a meeting
to be held in Prince Salman's office. He requested that U.S.
Ambassador Walter Cutler be present at this meeting to finalize
the arrangements for the sending of the girls to London. The
others set to attend were Prince Salman, Gheshayan and of
course, Hejeilan. It would be a simple agreement. Everything
was in place. I was in constant communication with Edward
Walker. We spoke several times per week. We were all very
excited about getting the girls back.
Then in October 1986 I called Walker to make sure everything
was in place and he told me, "Pat, we telexed Washington
twice this week and they will not allow the Ambassador to
go into that meeting." I said, "What do you mean?
Why not?" He repeated that he didn't know why. I told
him to tell Ambassador Cutler not to tell the Saudis (Hejeilan)
and that I would talk to Senator Dixon as soon as possible
and get back to him. Please don't tell Hejeilan. He promised
he would tell Cutler.
It was a Saturday and I called Sarah Pang at home. We tried
to find Dixon on the golf course. About an hour later, Walker
called me back. Cutler had told Hejeilan. That was it! It
was finished! A few days later Hejeilan called me and told
me, "Your State Department won't help you. You own government
doesn't want you. You will see your children if and when WE
decide."
He proceeded to bring a video crew into Gheshayan's villa
and invite the Consul General Richard LaRoche of the American
Embassy who was accompanied by the Syrian foreign service
national that worked for the Embassy, Mazen Shaban. Mr. LaRoche
called me after the taping and said that Hejeilan tried to
get the girls to say negative things about their mother and
the United States. The girls began to cry and wouldn't cooperate
and then Gheshayan took them into the back room and scared
them. When they came back, they did as they were told. The
girls looked drugged and Aisha who was four was taught to
say that Gheshayan's mother was her mother. Alia said, "My
Mommy doesn't love me or my sister. I am not going anywhere
without my Daddy." Of course, Gheshayan was sitting right
beside her. I was sent a copy of this tape and it has caused
me a great deal of pain for many years. It is not unlike the
tapes made by Terry Anderson or other hostages except these
were little girls.
I have included for the record copies of several unclassified
cables obtained from my FOIA. These include the cables that
were sent to the Embassy in Riyadh from the State Department
in October 1986 ordering them not to go into that meeting
as well as inquiries from the Embassy to the State Department
as to their position in this matter. I would like to read
a few excerpts:
October 1986
From American Embassy-Riyadh
To Sec State-Washington
Embassy appreciates prompt response to Riyadh Reftel. We will
of course adhere to the guidance provided. We would like,
however, to seek clarification of a few points.
First of all, there is no judicial proceeding underway of
anticipated in the case of Patricia Roush and her former husband
Al-Gheshayan. We understand that the lawyer, Salah Al-Hejeilan,
while not representing Mrs. Roush, has agreed to take up the
case on humanitarian grounds to explore the possibility of
an out of court settlement in Mrs. Roush's favor. It is the
view of legal experts here that if the case were taken to
court under Sharia law it would be most unlikely that a resolution
could be reached to the mother's satisfaction. Accordingly,
we have been trying to work through direct contact with key
Saudi officials and the good offices of Mr. Al-Hejeilan to
seek an out of court-accommodation whereby the children would
be reunited with their mother. It was in this capacity that
Saleh Al-Hejeilan had planned to represent our interests.
This brings us to the second point for clarification. It had
been our impression and, indeed, we had been operating on
the assumption that it was our duty to protect the welfare
of U.S. citizens. As the Department is aware, Mrs. Roush's
former husband allegedly abducted the two children from the
United States and a felony warrant was issued for his arrest.
He is not a U.S. citizen and according to official documents
provided to us by Mrs. Roush he has a long history of alcoholism,
psychiatric problems, criminal activity and failure at U.S.
educational institutions. Under the circumstances we felt
that the interests of Mrs. Roush and her children were our
primary concern, and that it was our responsibility to do
whatever we could, regardless of the odds against us, to help
her regain custody of her two children.
According to the guidance in State Reftel, we gather that
we are enjoined from taking the posture we had adopted in
favor of reunification of the children with their mother and
must remain neutral between parents regardless of their citizenship
and previous records. If our understanding is correct, then
we must immediately inform Mrs. Roush and Saleh Al-Hejeilan
that we must remain impartial under instructions from the
Department.
We would appreciate any further guidance CA, H, and L/M might
have in these matters.
Cutler
October 1986
From: American Embassy Riyadh
To: Sec State Wash DC
The attorney who is willing to assist Mrs. Roush, Salah Al-Hejeilan,
will shortly open negotiations with Al-Gheshayan to reach
an agreement providing for the shared custody of the Al-Gheshayan
children. He considers it essential to the success of these
negotiation that he represent the embassy rather than Mrs.
Roush. To demonstrate this, he has requested appointment by
simply exchange of letters as 'honorary legal advisor' to
the embassy.
Al-Hejeilan has asked for an appointment of indefinite duration,
terminable upon notice by either party, and not limited to
the Al-Gheshayan case. Al-Hejejilan would provide legal advice
gratis. The embassy, in return, would agree not to make unreasonable
demands for service, and would permit Al-Hejejilan to describe
himself as legal advisor to the embassy for purposes of professional
listing. Al-Hejeilan has already entered into an agreement
on similar terms with the British ambassador.
Al-Hejeilan is a noted local attorney whose services could
benefit the embassy greatly in the future. We had previously
sought to put a Saudi attorney on retainer to assist in maters
like the Roush case but could not budget the fees. This therefore,
is an ideal arrangement from our perspective.
The embassy requests the Department's concurrence in the appointment
of Salah Al-Hejeilan as 'honorary legal advisor' to the embassy.
In view of the critical posture of the Al-Gheshayan case.
The Department's quickest response would be appreciated.
Cutler
But the State Department in Washington was not interested
in the psychiatric records of Gheshayan, the dangerous position
the girls were placed in, the interest of Congress, the work
of Edward S. Walker, Jr., DCM of the Embassy and the others
at the Embassy that were trying to get the girls out as quickly
as possible before it was too late. Nor were they interested
in the urgency of getting the girls away from a paranoid schizophrenic
before he harmed these girls. The embassy stated, "we
had been operating on the assumption that it was our duty
to protect the welfare of U.S. citizens" and realized
the situation on the ground in the country with the endangered
children. The Department was interested solely in the 'legality'
of the matter and responded with the following cable to the
Embassy:
Oct86
Fm Secstate WashDC
To Am embassy Riyadh Immediate
1. Department is of the view that it is improper to uses an
attorney on behalf of the USG in Judicial proceedings in which
the USG is not a party to the suit. If Salah Al-Hejeilan should
represent Mrs. Patricia Roush in legal proceedings to determine
the custody of her two children, Alia and Aisha Al Gheshayan,
Dept would have no objection to him pointing out that the
Embassy has a strong interest in resolving the case. But Embassy
must be aware that Salah Al-Hejeilan cannot represent himself
as the Embassy's attorney in this private legal matter.
2. Conoff may wish to refer to 7 fam 143 which sets forth,
in general terms, the role of Conoffs in child custody cases.
Of particular significance is the last sentence which states,
"At all times, consular officers must attempt to maintain
impartiality, regardless of the perceived relative merits
of the case, and should avoid attempting to influence either
parent in a child lcustody case."
3. With respect to Al-Hejeilan's appointment as the embassy
legal advisor, there is no such formal title as "embassy
legal advisor" and we advise against entering into an
agreement where U.S. would permit an attorney to use such
a title. (FYI: The title is often used informally by attorneys
whom we hire to provide legal advice to embassies and Dept
does not police such informal use.) Embassy should be aware
that foreign attorneys can be hired and compensated for legal
guidance for specific cases and not put on retainer. 'Where
there is recurring need for legal counsel, foreign attorneys
are paid on hourly basis. If embassy is interested in hiring
an attorney, we strongly urge you to consult with Dept (L/M)
for parameters on the legal appointment'
Schultz
This stance by the Department was firm despite several other
cables from the embassy asking for the ability to go ahead
with the proposal made by Hejeilan. Again, the State Department
said, "No."
Oct86
Fm SecState
To AmEmbassy-Riyadh Immediate
ÖUnder no circumstance would the Department advocate
the taking of sides in a child custody dispute, regardless
of the nationality of the parents, nor would we be in favor
of conoffs judging the merits of any child custody dispute
(see 7 Fam 181). Should embassy desire us to reiterate above
to Ms. Roush, we would be happy to do so.
Embassy has remarked in Reftel (A) that the attorney, Salah
AlHejeilan, had requested appointment as legal advisor to
the embassy to : "explore the possibility of an out-of-court
settlement in Mrs. Roush's favor." Dept wishes to reiterate
that Al-Hejeilan may not represent the embassy in any fashion.
Whether formally or informally, in the child custody cases
of Alia and Aisha Al-Gheshayan. To Reiterate point set forth
in Reftel(B), we would have no objection to Mr. AlHejeilan
informing appropriate parties that the embassy has a strong
interest in resolving the case. . . Indeed in all child custody
cases, a consular officer's primary interest is in the protection
and the welfare of the children, while recognizing the implicit
legal limitations.
FYI: Embassy may be assured that this cable represents the
views of CA,L/M and H.
Whitehead
"Indeed in all child custody cases, a consular officer's
primary interest is in the protection and the welfare of the
children, while recognizing the implicit legal limitations."
The State Department in Washington sent the Embassy direct
quotes from the policy book to stop the Embassy from saving
two little girls from a life of misery. Some bureaucrat from
consular affairs or the legal department in Washington sent
this order to the people of the embassy who were trying to
negotiate for the lives of my children. They tied their hands
and caused the Saudis to realize that the U.S. government
did not care enough about these kids to send their ambassador
into a meeting to make the agreement for the girls to leave.
Some nameless, faceless government servant destroyed the lives
of my little daughters. I don't even know the name of this
person. Do they know what they did? Do they care? How many
more lives have they destroyed through this policy. This legality.
When will the State Department stop making draconian policy
decisions and realize that they are dealing with human lives?
The embassy realized who Hejeilan was and the significant
role he could play in this matter. They had wanted a legal
advisor and were told there were no funds. Now Hejeilan appeared
in my case and wanted to represent the embassy without payment.
The British Embassy had this arrangement with him. Just as
Consul General Richard LaRoche had told me, Hejeilan was connected
and connected to the man who could get the girls out ó
Prince Salman, one of the Sudari Seven — powerful sons
of Ibn Saud. He wanted to deal and the State Department said
— no, it is not legal. But the contraction is they are
saying in the cables "their primary interest is in the
protection and the welfare of the children" knowing full
well that in ordering the embassy to pull back they have just
signed these girls' death certificates — a living death
— a life sentence in Saudi Arabia.
The paradoxical irony is that in February 1995 I was told
by Gretchen Welch, Consul General, U.S. Embassy-Riyadh, "Saleh
Al-Hejeilan, is the attorney for the embassy and handles all
of our legal matters in the kingdom." But in 1986 when
the lives of my innocent daughters were at stake, the embassy
was ordered to stay away from Hejeilan. He could not be the
attorney for the embassy as he suggested and negotiate an
out of court deal for my daughters to leave Saudi Arabia.
THE NEXT FIFTEEN YEARS
That was the first year without my daughters. After that betrayal
and the tape sent by Hejeilan the tauntings by Hejeilan continued.
He took great glee in putting me on a string and dangling
the carrot of my daughters in front of me. He did this to
my elderly mother through telephone calls. He even allowed
me to speak to my daughters once shortly after January 1987.
The girls were told to tell me they hated me. Aisha was four
and Alia was eight. I could hear Gheshayan in the background
telling them to say evil things to me. These were not the
words of my daughters but of a twisted, sick mind. Hejeilan
orchestrated this phone conversation and taped it and even
bragged about it. This would begin a long history of Hejeilan
working for Prince Salman to emotionally and psychologically
torture me. One time he told me, "You are being punished
for going to the press and the politicians for help."
He owns property not far from Washington in Great Falls, VA
and comes here each year around August-September. He goes
to Walter Reed Hospital each year for a full physical examination.
I thought that facility was reserved for U.S. military and
their families. But of course, it wouldn't be the first time
the Saudis were able to bend the rules nor the first or last
time the U.S. government would bend the rules for them.
In 1987 I worked very hard with Senator Dixon and Sarah Pang
to try to reverse the decisions made by the State Department
and Saudi government in 1986. It was over as far and they
were all concerned. But that didn't stop me from trying. I
was nearly out of my mind by this time but kept pushing forward.
Senator Dixon and I had our first press conference in Washington
on the first anniversary of the kidnapping. He met with several
members of the Saudi Embassy including Rehab Mahsoud who is
number two there now. The Saudi Embassy's long time attorney,
Fred Dutton, was also there as was Undersecretary of State
Ed Derwinski, an old friend of Dixon's from Illinois politics.
Dixon asked them to please cooperate and return the girls
on a humanitarian basis between friends. He brought up Gheshayan's
background. The Saudis and Dutton told the senator that even
if Gheshayan was found to be unfit as a father (very unlikely
in Saudi society) the girls would never, never to allowed
to come back to their mother. They would be given to another
male member of their family. They belonged to that family.
Case closed. Dixon was furious. He told them he would bring
this matter up every chance that he could in the U.S. Senate
and whenever there was a forum or deal concerning the Saudis,
he would shine a light on this matter. The Saudis stormed
out and Alan Dixon was at war with them. He brought the case
up all the time and tried hard for two years - arms packages,
press conferences, floor of the U.S. Senate. He co-sponsored
the signing of the Hague Treaty in 1987 because of my situation.
I told Sarah we needed to make this crime a federal felony
offense and extradite these criminals back to the U.S. to
stand trial. We needed to send a strong message to foreign
countries that the United States would not stand by and allow
its children to be taken away by foreign nationals. She spoke
to Dixon and he started working on what would become the International
Parental Kidnapping Act. I also told Sarah that we needed
a special office at the State Department that we could turn
to for help. In October 1987 Senator Dixon and I and a few
other parents met at the State Department. They were forced
to open the Office of Children's Issues. A new U.S. Ambassador
to Saudi Arabia was confirmed, Hume Horan, an Arab scholar
and foreign service diplomat who spoke fluent Arabic. Dixon
asked to meet with him before he flew to Riyadh. He was most
agreeable to try to help within the constraints placed upon
him by the Department. He even called me on Christmas Day
1987 and said he was watching the movie, "Miracle on
34th Street" and thought about me and my girls. Just
wanted to wish me a 'Merry Christmas'.
The Sauds continued to rebuff any efforts and I was beyond
grief. Congresswoman Lynn Martin of Rockford, Illinois took
up my cause and hand delivered several letters from me to
George Bush over the years. He didn't want to get involved.
Senator Dixon's office began a 'Dear Colleague' letter to
King Fahad asking for the girls to be released. It was signed
by fifty four U.S. Senators and delivered to the King's palace
in March 1988. This was the same time that the U.S. found
out that the Saudis had clandestinely purchased silkworm missiles
from China a few years before. Human Horan was sent in to
confront them on this matter and they shortly after that asked
him to leave, non persona gratis.
I would like to read a short excerpt from The Washington Post:
Marriage of Convenience by David Ottaway and Robert Kaiser
that explains this event:
A Secret Deal
Secrecy is a regular feature of Saudi-American interactions.
It was an important part of the worst moment in the relationship
between the 1973 oil embargo and Sept. 11. Once again, Bandar
was the central actor. Though the Saudis were easily America's
biggest customer for armaments, they resented the process
they had to go through to acquire the most advanced U.S. systems.
Twice they survived showdown votes in Congress when friends
of Israel opposed the sale of advanced aircraft to them. And
on other occasions administrations had to evade congressional
opposition to sell weapons to Riyadh. The United States refused
to sell some kinds of advanced weapons to the Saudis, including
missiles. So the Saudis bought from other countries, too,
including Britain, France and -- in one deal that caught the
United States by surprise -- China. In secret talks that began
in China in 1985, Bandar negotiated a billion-dollar purchase
of Chinese CSS2-class missiles with a range of about 1,500
miles, or enough to reach Turkey and Israel from Saudi territory.
The United States -- and Israel -- failed to discover what
was going on for two years. When intelligence agencies in
both countries realized what had happened, they were livid.
The State Department instructed Hume Horan, the recently arrived
U.S. ambassador in Riyadh, to see King Fahd in March 1988
to deliver a stern message expressing "surprise and disapproval
of this action," as Horan recalled in an interview. Horan
had served as the No. 2 man in the embassy from 1972 to 1977.
He had wide-ranging contacts in Saudi society. He was known
in the foreign service as America's best Arabic linguist and
as a scholarly student of the Arab world. He was the son of
an Iranian aristocrat who had been Iran's foreign minister
and an American mother, a fact known to the Saudis, who have
never liked the Iranians.
Horan said he knew the king would be offended by the verbal
spanking he had been ordered to deliver, so he called Washington
to confirm that officials there understood the import of their
instructions. Yes, he was told -- deliver the message. He
did so. When he returned to the embassy, he found a new telegram
from Washington revoking his previous instructions —
which he had just carried out. "My goose was cooked,"
he recalled.
Bandar had persuaded senior officials of the Reagan administration
not to deliver an official protest to Fahd. Bandar reassured
the Americans that the missiles would be deployed in a way
that made clear they were no threat to Israel. They had a
conventional warhead and were intended to deter Iraq and Iran,
Saudi's traditionally hostile neighbor, and would be used
only in retaliation, the Saudis said.
The administration sent Philip Habib, a retired undersecretary
of state then serving as a special Mideast peace envoy, to
Riyadh to try to mend fences with Fahd. Habib brought Horan
to his meeting with the king, a diplomatic mission that has
never previously been described.
Fahd was clearly furious with the ambassador, Horan recounted,
and asked Habib, in front of him, to have Horan replaced.
When Habib raised the issue of the missiles, the king said
angrily that he had told Horan "to keep his nose out
of it." He complained to Habib about Horan's Iranian
ancestry.
The Reagan administration decided to quickly replace Horan
by bringing back his predecessor, Cutler, also a foreign service
professional, but not an Arabic speaker and scholar like Horan.
The decision was so quick that even before Horan could leave
the country, the State Department asked him to seek Saudi
approval for Cutler's reappointment as ambassador. This was
a mission that humiliated Horan, as he makes clear nearly
14 years later. "They made us kowtow," he said.
Successfully forcing the Americans to replace their ambassador
gave the Saudis a palpable psychological edge in their dealings
with the United States. "The American ambassador's influence
ended in Riyadh," Horan said. Henceforth, Bandar dominated
the relationship in Washington.
"Let's face it," said Edward S. Walker Jr., former
assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern affairs, "we
got a lot of money out of Saudi Arabia."
Thus began a new era in the 'special relationship' whereby
the Saudis dictated what type of ambassador they wanted and
no ambassador since Hume Horan has been an Arabic speaker.
Now the Saudis insist that all ambassadors are political appointees
from the administration. They don't want to deal with these
mere foreign service types. They want a direct line to the
president. And Bandar is unleashed in Washington. It is purported
that he is allotted something like $70,000,000 per year for
lobbying.
So Hume Horan was out and the Saudis wanted Walter Cutler
back for a second time. But why? I asked Senator Dixon to
place an objection on the confirmation of Cutler. He did so.
In the meantine, my old friend, Hejeilan, showed up once again
in my life. He knew about the objection of Cutler by Dixon
so he asked me to meet him in New York at his suite at the
Waldorf Astoria. He then told me, "You know, Mrs. Roush,
Prince Salman likes Walter Cutler very much and if Mr. Cutler
is back in Riyadh, things could go very well for you. I would
sponsor you into the kingdom and arrange to accompany you
to all the important princes. Things would look very favorable
for you concerning your daughters. But Walter Cutler must
be in Riyadh."
After that meeting I flew to Washington to meet with Walter
Cutler and Assistant Secretary of State Joan Clark. Several
other members of the State Department were also in attendance.
I told them about Hejeilan's new offer and asked Cutler if
the objection were removed from his confirmation, and I was
allowed into Saudi Arabia, would he go with me to the Saudi
princes and ask them for the release of my daughters. He immediately
turned to Joan Clark and asked, "Is this legal?"
She assured him that it would be legal and I told him I wanted
his assurances on this. He said yes, he would do it, if allowed
back as ambassador.
Cutler then went to Dixon's office and asked Dixon to release
the objection. He said, "I can't do anything for Pat
Roush unless I am in the country." Dixon shook his hand
and Cutler arrived in Riyadh in August 1988. He then never,
never returned any of my calls, nor the calls of Senator Dixon.
And Hejeilan then totally backed out of any promises he made
to me. He told the embassy he wouldn't sponsor me into the
kingdom and that was it.
Cutler got what he wanted. The State Department got what they
wanted and the Saudis got what they wanted and I was betrayed
and duped again by this very special relationship.
The Washington Post states:
Americans who have worked with the Saudis in official capacities
often remain connected to them when they leave public office,
from former president George H.W. Bush, who has given speeches
for cash in Saudi Arabia since leaving office, to many previous
ambassadors and military officers stationed in the kingdom.
In some cases, these connections have been lucrative. Walter
Cutler, who served two tours as the U.S. ambassador in Saudi
Arabia, now runs Meridian International Center in Washington,
an organization that promotes international understanding
through education and exchanges. Saudi donors have been "very
supportive" of the center, Cutler said. Walker, the former
assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern affairs, is
president of the Middle East Institute in Washington, which
promotes understanding with the Arab world. Its board chairman
is former senator Wyche Fowler, ambassador to Riyadh in the
second Clinton administration. Saudi contributions covered
$200,000 of the institute's $1.5 million budget last year,
Walker said.
Bandar has told associates that he makes a point of staying
close to officials who have worked with Saudi Arabia after
they leave government service. "If the reputation then
builds that the Saudis take care of friends when they leave
office," Bandar once observed, according to a knowledgeable
source, "you'd be surprised how much better friends you
have who are just coming into office."
A perfect example of this would be Wyche Fowler, Jr. who succeeded
Raymond Mabus as U.S. Ambassador to Saudi Arabia in 1996.
I will discuss this matter in a short time.
But first let's go back to October 1988. After this last experience
I was totally exhausted and spiritually, mentally, emotionally
and physically drained. I could hardly go on. I asked the
State Department for at least a visit with my daughters. I
have not seen them for almost three years.
They sent a letter to the Saudi embassy and the Saudi response
was, "Öit was not in the best interest of the children
to see their mother." By this time Gheshayan had remarried,
had another child with his Saudi wife, and forced my Christian
daughters to convert to Islam.
As sited from another unclassified cable, "Alia has become
a very good moslem. She loves to study the Koran and pray.
He is taking her to Mekkah to perform Umra." Gheshayan
hadn't changed though. I had asked an associate who was on
a business trip to Saudi Arabia to try to arrange to see my
daughters through the embassy. This of course, was denied
but he did meet with Gheshayan and an embassy consular officer.
During this meeting Gheshayn became agitated and said, "Öthe
meddling into his private life had to stop. He said if it
didn't, he would send someone to kill Ms. Roush." This
is taken as a direct quote from an unclassified cable ó
October 86. (Copies are submitted for the record)
After that threat and the refusal of the Saudi Embassy to
issue me a visa to visit my daughters, I became very distraught.
I had nowhere to turn. I moved back to California. I hired
teams to covertly take the children out of Saudi Arabia but
they failed and lost all my money and the life savings of
my mother.
Then the invasion of Kuwait happened. I called the Embassy
and they said my daughters were not in the least bit of jeopardy.
Riyadh was safe. I was hearing the weather report in Riyadh
every night on the news and seeing big holes where scud missiles
were landing where my children lived, people were putting
gas masks on and we sent the biggest deployment of troops
since WWII and the embassy told me my daughters were safe.
They did nothing to even help me get into Saudi Arabia to
see them. We were defending the Saudis from Iraq, Americans
were being killed and yet the State Department told me I could
not see my American children.
I lived in absolute hell for the next few years. I had no
contact with my daughters and no one saw them. I never had
a photograph or a telephone call. Finally in September 1994
I called the State Department and told them I absolutely had
to see my daughters. This was not human. It had been ten years.
There was a newly appointed U.S. Ambassador ó Raymond
Mabus ó former governor of Mississippi and political
appointee of the Clinton administration. He became very interested
in my case and went back to Salman to ask that I be granted
a visit with my daughters. They called Gheshayan into Salman's
office and according to the consular office at the embassy,
he was extremely agitated and excited. He would not sign the
non objection letter allowing me to enter the kingdom until
Salman leaned on him quite hard. I was given a two month visa
signed by Bandar and was told that I would be able to see
my daughters every day for as long as I wished. When in fact
I was able to see my daughters for a total of 120 minutes
and I was in Saudi Arabia for twenty one days.
Of course, Hejeilan came back into the picture. He organized
the whole thing like a Cecil B. DeMille production. I was
escorted to the Intercontinental Hotel by four members of
the American Embassy. Someone from Hejeilan's office was present.
Gheshayan and his brother brought the girls. They both searched
the room for cameras and took my four cameras away. I was
told that if I ever took a picture of them, I would never
be able to see them again. After a long protest by me to see
the girls without Gheshayan and his brother in the room with
us, they left in the room and stood guard right outside the
small room off the lobby of the hotel. Mazen Shaban, the Syrian
FSN from the American embassy who was present for the Hejeilan
taping years before translated for Aisha.
The girls were dressed in black from head to toe. Where were
my little girls? I didn't recognize them. They were thirteen
and sixteen. The last time I saw them was ten years before
when they were three and seven. The Consul General brought
them into the room and I just threw my arms around them and
kissed them and kept telling them I loved them. At first they
just stood there with tears running down their faces like
little toy soldiers taught not to show emotion. Little did
I know that even though I was told I would see them everyday,
the girls were told that this would be the one and only time
they would see me. These girls were kidnapped from their mother,
forced to stay in this desert with a man and family they feared,
and then after ten years are told that they will be allowed
to see the mother that they were torn away from, but only
for two hours.
Then they will never see their mother again.
This is not even human. Even Saudi princes have mothers. Even
the State Department legal officers have mothers. I sat on
the sofa with Alia on my left and Aisha on my right. Mazen
sat on a chair to the left. He translated everything I said
into Arabic. I told them I had been trying to get them out
from the beginning. Alia said, "My father told us that
you left us here."
I told her, "But you know that is not true. You remember
what happened, Alia. He took you from me and he almost killed
me. You remember." She nodded her head, yes.
"But how can we leave? I don't have a passport and my
father will never let us leave?"
"Alia, I am working with the American ambassador and
I will get you out. Don't worry. You will get out of here.
I will never stop until you are free."
She was not convinced that I could do that but she wanted
to leave. "They never let me do anything. They watch
me all the time,"she said. "No one comes to the
house unless they are family."
Then suddenly Gheshayan's brother unexpectedly walked into
the room. Alia's dark eyes flashed and her muscles tensed
as she stared at her uncle. He sat down and tried to make
conversation with me. The girls gazed downward and made no
eye contact with him. A posture of submission took over them.
When he left, I placed a small silver bracelet with garnets
(Navajo jewelry that was one of my favorite pieces) on Aisha's
wrist. "Wear this and remember me."
The girls had told their father they wanted me to bring them
levi jeans from the United States and I brought them levi
501s and of course, a photo album with our pictures together
for them to keep. I hoped that their father would not take
it away from them. I gave Alia a copy of her favorite childhood
song, 'Tomorrow, Tomorrow, I love You Tomorrow. It's only
A Day Away.'
Then Gheshayan's brother came back in and said it was late
and they had to leave. I told the girls I would see them tomorrow.
Aisha threw her arms around my waist and wouldn't let me go
ó "I love you. I love you. Bukra, inshallah."
(I will see you tomorrow, God willing.) Alia, was trying to
be brave with no tears but at the last minute, she broke down
and said, "Mamma. Mamma. Don't leave us here. Mamma take
us with you. They said we will never see you again. No, Mamma."
I said it wasn't true and I had an order from the emir that
I could see them everyday. Don't worry. I would see them tomorrow.
I would have the American embassy call their father for the
time and place. Don't worry, Alia.
They then placed the black veils over their faces and walked
out into the lobby of the hotel. I stood at the doorway and
blew them kisses. My last image of them is Aisha standing
in that lobby with that black abaya around her little body
and the black shayla over her face waving to me while I blew
her a kiss. Alia was trying to be brave, as usual, and she
wouldn't look back but couldn't help it and at the end, she
suddenly turned around to catch one last look at her mother.
She waved at me under the veil. I never saw them again.
I didn't sleep that night and went to the American Embassy
early the next morning. Gheshayan called while I was there
He yelled at the officer and said I could not see them again
because I talked about the United States with the girls. It
was impossible for me to see them again.
Ray Mabus was not in Riyadh. He was traveling about the kingdom
on official business. I was stuck in the Sheraton for twenty-one
days. I went to the Governor's Office accompanied by Mazen
Shaban and Myles Webber, consular officer. This is Prince
Salman, Hejeilan's boss. He refused to see me. Instead the
Deputy Governor Bolead who knew this whole affair very well,
met with us. Mazen clued me in, "Pat, ask for everything
you want now. Don't delay. Now is your chance."
With Mazen and Myles on each side of me I sat in this huge
majlis, sipping Arabic coffee with the scent of incense everywhere.
I asked this servant of Salman for the release of my daughters.
I asked that they be allowed to leave Saudi Arabia with me.
He said, "No. It is not possible."
We then left and went outside the enormous wooden doors of
the palace into the concrete parking lot known by the Americans
and expats as 'headchoppers square. This is where the public
executions take place every Friday. You can see the bullet
holes and places on the ground where the blood has been cleaned
up. I went back to the Sheraton.
Ray Mabus had a meeting arranged with Gheshayan at Prince
Salman's office. He brought the deputy chief of the mission
and the chief political officer with him. Gheshayan kept them
waiting for over one hour. He walked in and immediately insulted
Mabus. Mabus asked that the girls be allowed to leave with
me. He said he would give Gheshayan his word as U.S. ambassador
that the girls could return back to Saudi Arabia. He would
arrange for all international warrants for Gheshayan to be
dropped. He would issue visas for him and his family to enter
the United States anytime and come up with a document where
this could all be settled quite amicably. Gheshayan called
Mabus a liar and insulted him further. He walked out of the
meeting.
Ray Mabus called me after the meeting. He said, "Gheshayan
blames you for everything, Pat. He said it is all your fault.
Pat, this guy is the meanest man in the world. I offered him
a good deal and he called me a liar. I gave him my word."
I told Mabus I was leaving. I couldn't take it anymore. I
was there almost one month. Ray Mabus told me, "Don't
worry, Pat. I will do everything I can to get your little
girls out of Saudi Arabia. I will go to all the major Saudi
princes until I get the answer we want. Just remember that
this embassy cares about you and your girls. Go home and rest
easy now. I will get your daughters back for you."
He kept his word. He did everything he said he would do. He
went to many of the most powerful Saudi princes including:
Minister of Foreign Affairs: Prince Saud bin Faisal; Minister
of the Interior: Prince Naif bin Abdullah Azziz; Governor
of Riyadh: Prince Salman bin Abdullah Azziz; Saudi Ambassador
to the United States: Prince Bandar bin Sultan and Crown Prince
Abdullah.
He brought the matter up at every meeting with these princes.
They were not opposed to the idea of the return of my daughters
when it was presented with authority. Mabus told me he had
met with Foreign Minister Prince Saud bin Faisal and Faisal
requested a diplomatic note on this matter. Mabus had that
note delivered to the prince's office by 5 p.m. that same
night. He did this with authority and got results.
Prince Saud sent Mabus a diplomatic note in response. It stated
that the daughters of Patricia Roush could go to the United
States to visit their mother in the summer of 1996. This was
the first time we had something in writing from the Saudis.
I was thrilled with this news.
Mabus called me one day and said, "Pat, I have some good
news for you. I went to see Saud al Faisal yesterday and I
asked him for an update about your case. And he said that
Prince Naif is bringing her husband in. He said we are going
to convince him of this. He said you have made a good proposal,
a genuine proposal and we're trying to implement it. We think
this is the way to go. He said I brought it up with Prince
Naif and he is calling Gheshayan in to take this proposal.
It should this week and we will let you know."
In another call Ray Mabus told me: "I had a long talk
with Bandar about your case. He said this is a very reasonable
thing. Why won't this guy do it? And then I told him that
Barbara Walters is about to do this thing. And he said, 'I
know that too. I was at a party with Barbara Walters and she
said they were going to do it.' He said this is a very reasonable
thing."
Unfortunately, shortly after that conversation Barbara Walters
had with Bandar concerning the airing of my interview with
her, 20/20 dropped the piece altogether. Bandar's arms are
long.
Concerning Prince Naif who is the Minister of the Interior
and in control of the Saudi secret police, Ray Mabus got his
absolute support as he relayed to me in another telephone
conversation:
"I have seen the Minister of the Interior and he is aware
of this. I just sent a cable down. He said, 'I'm very hopeful
that we are going to be able work something out. It seems
we have a very reasonable solution.' The Ministry of the Interior
and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs are really working together
on this. Saud al Faisal seems to be very serious and the Minister
of the Interior knew all about it. I went back. I had two
meetings there. And I had custody matters for him and he's
blown me off on every one of them but not this one. He said
we are not going to do that. 'This one," he said, 'this
one we are going to try to work this one out.'I told him,
I said this one is personal. I want you to do this one for
me. This is it."
I asked Mabus to hold the visas to the United States of the
entire Gheshayan family. He did this and it was a very effective
weapon to use to pressure them to release my daughters. The
family was livid. Gheshayan was on everyone's blacklist. This
is an important family with access to the crown prince and
they come to the United States often for a variety of reasons
from Disneyland to military missions to health care. They
were all angry at Gheshayan for causing them this trouble
with the American Embassy.
While this was going on it was discovered that Gheshayan's
mother and brother (the same one that accompanied his to the
hotel that night I saw my daughters) had squeezed through
this visa hold and entered the United States. Mabus called
me and told me was sorry that this oversight had happened
and that he gave strict orders that the next time someone
in the visa section allows a mistake like this to happen and
someone else with the name Gheshayan gets into the United
States, they will be fired.
At first the embassy was questioning Mabus' authority to do
this. They had never been able to fight back before and they
weren't used to it. Mabus told me, "I told them to do
it because the ambassador said so. That's why."
And they loved it. For the first time these consular employees
had leverage and it felt good. I was totally heartened by
all this. I couldn't believe it was happening. It appeared
that my daughters would be released imminently Mabus was heartened
and the embassy was heartened. Mabus told me that he had the
full blessing of the State Department to do this. They certainly
did not stop him. But he was a political appointee and used
his independence to get results. He was a hero. I believe
the Saudis respected him, also. He was certainly not a "yes"
man and the Saudis can appreciate that.
The situation was heating up and two important players in
the Gheshayan family were asking for visas. One was a lieutenant
colonel in the Saudi Air Force who wanted to lead a training
mission into the United States and the other was a retired
general in the Saudi National Guard which is controlled by
the crown prince. The general had cancer and wanted to go
to Houston for treatment. Mabus said no to both of them.
The general went to the crown prince for assistance. Mabus
was called in. The general, crown prince and Ray Mabus were
all sitting there. Mabus told me:
"The crown prince said here he is. He needs a visa .
He has cancer and if he doesn't get to go, he will die. And
I said well, I'll be happy to give him a visa but let me tell
you why I held it up. And I went through this thing. And the
crown prince is an interesting guy because the thing that
matters to him most is honor and justice. I looked at him
and I said, I met this guy, Khalid Gheshayan and he was rude
to me. And now he will not see our people and he will not
let the mother see these daughters even for the summer. And
I said so I am stopping the whole family from traveling. And
the crown prince said you did exactly right. If this guy is
rude to women, you did exactly right. He called Abdul Mohsen
Al-Tuajery, who is his top aid over and talked to him. He
appointed him to help get this done. I need your help your
royal highness to get Khalid Gheshayan to sign these papers
allowing the girls to go to their mother. And he said I will
help you do this."
It was a quid pro quo. Mabus saved the life of one of the
crown prince's generals in exchange for the freedom of my
daughters. It was finished — a done deal. But it wasn't
done yet. Mabus told me he was going to resign as ambassador
for personal reasons. I was in agony. I knew what would happen.
Mabus reassured me and said, "Pat, don't worry. I have
made believers out of these guys at the embassy. I will fully
brief the incoming ambassador who is also a political appointee.
Nothing is going to happen. We are at the finish line. I wish
I could be here when they come home, but I have to go back
to Mississippi. I miss my girls."
Two weeks later the Khobar Towers were blown up. Mabus was
gone and Ted Katouf was the Charge. Richard Hermann was Consul
General. They hardly spoke to me and the mood had changed.
I called Dick Herman and asked why they didn't go back to
the point man from the crown prince's office — the one
the crown prince assigned to help Mabus with the final arrangements
for the release of my daughters. He denied that he knew about
this man. He said he didn't know his name and I reminded him
of the name. No answer. No action.
I called Mazen, he said, 'Pat, you can't believe what has
happened here. T |
