A Saudi rebel prince has vision for reform

Finding his place
The years after the king's death in 1953 were unsettled. Power was inherited by his eldest son, Saud ibn Abdul Aziz, a spendthrift more adept at showering largesse on the tribes than administering the country. His brothers soon contested his rule, and Talal navigated the rivalries for influence. Early on, the present Saudi king, Abdullah, was an ally, and in time as a minister, Talal began pushing for reform -- a constitution, elections, a parliament and free press. Together, he and his allies became known as the "Free Princes," a name taken from the Free Officers that overthrew Egypt's monarchy in 1952 and were eventually led by Gamal Abdel-Nasser.

He admits now to moving too fast.

"We were too young," he said. "We wanted 100 percent, but if we took 50, even 60 percent, we would have been blessed."

King Saud rejected the idea of a constitution, and Talal bitterly criticized the decision in statements to Egyptian and Lebanese newspapers. When Talal went for vacation in Beirut in 1961, the king moved against him, declaring him persona non grata.

He recalled the confrontation at the Saudi Embassy in Beirut as the ambassador asked him and his brothers to turn over their travel documents: "I said, 'Why?' He said, 'I don't have reasons, it's the order of King Saud.' I said, 'If the passport is the property of Saud, go ahead. If the passport is the property of the kingdom, then I have every right to keep it.' And I gave him the passport."

Against his better judgment, Talal and four brothers sought help in 1962 from Nasser, who had electrified a generation with promises of Arab unity, the liberation of Palestine and denunciations of regimes he deemed regressive, Saudi Arabia among them. Unlike most of the Saudi royal family, Talal was enamored with the Egyptian president -- he feels the same today, he said -- but he feared being exploited.

"I said to Nasser, we came here just for the passports because we want to go to Lebanon. I didn't want to stay with him. I knew his policy. I knew his way of thinking," Talal said. "He told me, 'I'll give you 500 passports.' "

The passports didn't come for two months. In the meantime, Talal spoke on the Voice of the Arabs, a Cairo-based radio station that often carried Nasser's stentorian voice. The speeches -- denouncing Saudi Arabia's rulers and calling for democratic reform -- solidified his reputation as the Red Prince. It would be another two years before he returned to Saudi Arabia.

Mistrust of U.S.
For years, Talal remained silent, amassing a fortune and running a philanthropy. But in past years, he has begun pressing the issue of reform again, often from Fakhariya Palace. To him, the family can bring about change by redefining its role.

"In the 21st century, the king should be the guardian of the law, but the laws and legislation should come from the people, and the people should elect the members of the parliament," Talal said, sitting next to a rendering of the family tree.

He retains his suspicion of U.S. intentions. He traveled last week to Egypt, speaking at the American University of Cairo. He was relaxed, in a crisp, dark suit and maroon tie. At one point, he urged women in the audience to ask questions. As he did 45 years ago, he tried to distance his country's needs for reform from U.S. policy in the region.

"Does America want direct and transparent elections that allow the people to make their own decisions in choosing who will be in power?" Talal said, in reference to the success of Islamic activists in recent elections in Egypt and the Palestinian territories. "Or are we tailoring elections to the United States that serve American interests?"

In the mercurial politics of the House of Saud, Talal's role is debated. He is a member of the family council, a body of 18 influential members drawn from Abdul Aziz's sons and grandsons and other branches of the family. Some say he has the ear of Abdullah, and his son, Prince Turki, says he talks to the king weekly. That gives the country's small coterie of liberals hope.

"It's going in his direction. He was just 40 years too early," said Beshr Bekheet, an economist and candidate in last year's municipal elections.

Others discount any special influence, and in private, some princes are especially venomous about Talal's past. As a liberal in a country where the monarchy claims authority through religious legitimization, Talal remains a maverick.

"Even a cleric -- an outspoken but a minor one -- would command more attention from the government than he would," said Adel al-Toraifi, a Saudi writer and newspaper columnist.

Talal, a little hard of hearing, doesn't claim influence. To describe the king these days, he quoted a description of a U.S. president before and after he took power. "He was simple before he was president. But as president, he's become a peacock."

At the end of his story, Talal posed for a picture. He decided to don his traditional white headdress, reluctantly. Tradition still doesn't sit well.

"I hate to wear this," he said.

Special correspondent Lindsay Wise in Cairo contributed to this report.

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