Our close friends in Saudi Arabia are a bunch of hypocritical bigots who love a good party like the rest of us. Oh, they also don’t allow women to work or vote, support terrorist organisations and hate democracy. Just the kind of friend the West loves:
United States diplomats have described a world of “sex, drugs and alcohol” in which the official religious individuals of Saudi Arabian loyalties engage in, according diplomatic cables recently published by Wikileaks on Wednesday.
According to the leaked dispatches, officials from the Jeddah consulate detailed an underground Halloween party in which alcohol and prostitutes were readily available. The party, attended by over 150 Saudi men and women mostly in their twenties and thirties, was organized by a member of the Saudi royalty, a wealthy prince from the Al Thunayan family.
The party was held in a heavily secured villa and some of the funding was contributed by a US energy drink. The diplomat recommended the prince’s identity remain secret.
The dispatch was signed off by Martin Quinn, the consul in Jeddah.
“Alcohol, though strictly prohibited by Saudi law and custom, was plentiful at the party’s well-stocked bar,” explained the cable. “The hired Filipino bartenders served a cocktail punch using sadiqi, a locally-made “moonshine”. It was also learned through word-of-mouth that a number of the guests were in fact ‘working girls’, not uncommon for such parties.”
American party attendees added that, “Though not witnessed directly at this event, cocaine and hashish use is common in these social circles.”
Secret, underground parties protected by Saudi royalty and accessible only to the wealthy, were described as “thriving and throbbing” in the dispatch.
“The scene resembled a nightclub anywhere outside the Kingdom: plentiful alcohol, young couples dancing, a DJ at the turntables, and everyone in costume,” the dispatch continued.
“Over the past few years, the increased conservatism of Saudi Arabia’s external society has pushed the nightlife and party scene in Jeddah even further underground,” a prominent Saudi was quoted in the dispatch as saying.