1969 Saudi Arabian coup d'état plot

1969 Saudi Arabian coup d'état plot
	Part of the Cold War
Date	June–July 1969
Location	Saudi Arabia
Result	Coup failed
Belligerents
Committee for the Liberation of Saudi Arabia Royal Saudi Air Force;	Government of Saudi Arabia Supported by;; United States; United Kingdom
Commanders and leaders
Col. Daoud Roumi †; Col. Said al-Omari †; Yusuf Tawwil	Faisal of Saudi Arabia
Strength
	200-300 Officers and civilians

The 1969 Saudi Arabian coup d'état plot was a failed coup d'état planned by numerous high-ranking members of the Royal Saudi Air Force that resulted in King Faisal ordering the arrest of hundreds of military officers, including some generals.^[1]^[2] The arrests were possibly based on a tip from American intelligence,^[3] but it is unclear how serious the threat actually was. A previous coup attempt had also occurred against King Faisal in 1966 as well.^[4]

Background

The 1950s and 1960s saw numerous coups d'état in the region. Muammar al-Gaddafi's coup that overthrew the monarchy in oil-rich Libya in 1969 was especially ominous for Saudi Arabia due to the similarity between the two sparsely-populated desert countries.^[3] As a result, King Faisal undertook to build a sophisticated security apparatus and cracked down firmly on dissent. As in all affairs, King Faisal justified these policies in Islamic terms. Early in his reign, when faced by demands for a written constitution for the country, King Faisal responded that "our constitution is the Quran."^[5]

Plot

The plotters controlled some air force planes. Their plan was for these planes to bomb the Royal Palace in Riyadh, to kill the King and the other high ranking Princes who might succeed him. After the King and princes were dead, the plotters planned to announce the formation of the Republic of the Arabian Peninsula.^[2]

Many of the conspirators were of Hijazi origin; there was an independent Kingdom of Hejaz, until it was annexed by the Saudis in 1925. Yusuf Tawwil, a Hijazi merchant, an acquaintance of Prince Fahd, and one of the key conspirators, was believed to hold Hijazi separatist beliefs. Others involved in the plot were Najdis or Sunnis from the Eastern Province.^[6]

References

↑ Faisal ibn Abd al Aziz ibn Saud Biography. Encyclopedia of World Biography. Retrieved 16 March 2007.
1 2 Teitelbaum, Joshua, "A Family Affair: Civil-Military Relations in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia", p. 11.
1 2 Vassiliev, p. 371
↑ Judith Caesar,"Dissent in Saudi Arabia" The Christian Science Monitor, August 24, 1990.
↑ Official website of the Saudi Deputy Minister of Defense, , quoting from the official Saudi government journal Umm Al-Qura Issue 2193, 20 October 1967.
↑ Abir, Mordechai (1993). Saudi Arabia: Government, Society and the Gulf Crisis. Routledge. p. 58.

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[EncWB-1] Faisal ibn Abd al Aziz ibn Saud Biography. Encyclopedia of World Biography. Retrieved 16 March 2007.

[FamilyAffair-2] 1 2 Teitelbaum, Joshua, "A Family Affair: Civil-Military Relations in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia", p. 11.

[vas371-3] 1 2 Vassiliev, p. 371

[4] Judith Caesar,"Dissent in Saudi Arabia" The Christian Science Monitor, August 24, 1990.

[5] Official website of the Saudi Deputy Minister of Defense, , quoting from the official Saudi government journal Umm Al-Qura Issue 2193, 20 October 1967.

[6] Abir, Mordechai (1993). Saudi Arabia: Government, Society and the Gulf Crisis. Routledge. p. 58.

List of modern conflicts in the Middle East
1910s	World War I Middle Eastern theatre Arab Revolt Armenian Genocide Assyrian genocide Mount Lebanon starvation Unification of Saudi Arabia Simko Shikak revolt Egyptian revolution of 1919 Turkish War of Independence Greco-Turkish War Turkish–Armenian War Franco-Turkish War Revolts Mahmud Barzanji revolts
1920s	Franco-Syrian War Iraqi revolt against the British Sectarian conflict in Mandatory Palestine Adwan Rebellion Arab separatism in Khuzestan Great Syrian Revolt Sheikh Said rebellion 1921 Persian coup d'état
1930s	Ararat rebellion Ahmed Barzani revolt Simele massacre Saudi–Yemeni War (1934) Goharshad Mosque rebellion 1935–36 Iraqi Shia revolts 1935 Yazidi revolt Dersim rebellion
1940s	World War II Italian bombing of Palestine Anglo-Iraqi War Syria–Lebanon Campaign Anglo-Soviet invasion of Iran 1943 Barzani revolt Alwaziri coup Al-Wathbah uprising Kurdish separatism in Iran Iran crisis of 1946 Arab–Israeli conflict
1950s	1952 Egyptian coup d'état 1953 Iranian coup d'état Jebel Akhdar War Cypriot ethnic crisis Yemeni–Adenese clan violence 1958 Lebanon crisis 1958 Iraqi revolution 1959 Mosul uprising
1960s	Iraqi–Kurdish conflict First Iraqi–Kurdish War Dhofar Rebellion North Yemen Civil War Feb. 1963 Iraqi coup Mar. 1963 Syrian coup Nov. 1963 Iraqi coup Aden Emergency 1964 Hama riot Israeli–Palestinian conflict 1966 Syrian coup d'état
1970s	Black September in Jordan 1972 North Yemen–South Yemen war Turkish invasion of Cyprus Shatt al-Arab clashes Lebanese Civil War Political violence in Turkey Libyan–Egyptian War Islamist uprising in Syria NDF Rebellion Iranian Revolution Consolidation of the Iranian Revolution 1979 Qatif Uprising Grand Mosque seizure
1980s	Sadr uprising (1980) Iran–Iraq War 1980 Turkish coup d'état Kurdish separatism in Turkey Turkey-PKK conflict South Yemen Civil War 1986 Egyptian conscripts riot 1986 Damascus bombings Mecca massacre Abu Nidal's executions
1990s	Gulf War (1990–1991) 1991 uprisings in Iraq Terror campaign in Egypt (1990s) Yemeni Civil War (1994) Islamic insurgency in Saudi Arabia (2000–present) Operation Desert Fox al-Qaeda insurgency in Yemen 1999 Shia uprising in Iraq
2000s	Iraq War Balochi insurgency in Iran 2004 Qamishli riots Houthi insurgency in Yemen Iran–Israel proxy conflict 2006 Lebanon War Fatah–Hamas conflict Nahr al-Bared fighting 2008 conflict in Lebanon South Yemen insurgency 2009–10 Iranian election protests
2010s	Bahraini uprising of 2011 Egyptian Crisis Sinai insurgency Insurgency in Egypt (2013–present) Syrian Civil War Turkish involvement in Syria Syrian War spillover in Lebanon Iraqi insurgency (2011–13) Iraqi Civil War (2014–present) Yemeni Crisis Yemeni Civil War (2015–present)
This list includes post-Ottoman conflicts (after 1918) of at least 100 fatalities each Prolonged conflicts are listed in the decade when initiated; ongoing conflicts are marked italic and conflict with +100,000 killed with bold.