Cast of Characters
Positions as held in 1979:
SAUDI ARABIA
- Prince Abdullah: Commander of the Saudi National Guard.
- Prince Bandar bin Sultan: Son of Prince Sultan, future Saudi ambassador in Washington.
- Abdelaziz Bin Baz: Chairman of Saudi Arabia’s Department of Scientific Research and Guidance, a ministerial-level clerical body in charge of interpreting Islamic law.
- Salem Bin Laden: Head of the Bin Laden construction company that expanded the Grand Mosque in Mecca; Osama Bin Laden’s brother.
- Brigadier-General Faleh al Dhaheri:Commander of the Saudi Army’s King Abdelaziz Armored Brigade.
- Mohammed Elias: A senior Egyptian preacher who participated in the Mecca uprising.
- Crown Prince Fahd: Saudi Arabia’s day-to-day ruler.
- Faisal Mohammed Faisal: One of the most senior Saudi leaders of the Mecca uprising.
- Colonel Nasser al Homaid: Commander of the Saudi Army’s Sixth Paratroop Battalion.
- Nasser Ibn Rashed: Most senior cleric in charge of the Holy Mosques in Mecca and Medina.
- Mohammed Ibn Subeil: Imam of the Grand Mosque in Mecca and Ibn Rashed’s deputy.
- King Khaled: King of Saudi Arabia.
- Prince Nayef: Minister of the interior of Saudi Arabia.
- Major Mohammed Zuweid al Nefai: Operations officer of the Saudi Interior Ministry Special Security Force.
- Mohammed Abdullah al Qahtani: Juhayman al Uteybi’s brother-in-law and the alleged Mahdi.
- Lieutenant Abdulaziz Qudheibi: Platoon commander of the Sixth Paratroop Battalion.
- Hassan al Saffar: Religious leader of Saudi Shiites in the Eastern Province.
- Prince Sultan: Minister of defense and aviation of Saudi Arabia.
- Prince Turki al Faisal: Chief of Saudi Arabia’s General Intelligence Directorate.
- Juhayman bin Seif al Uteybi: retired corporal in the Saudi National Guard and chief leader of the Mecca uprising.
- Ahmed Zaki Yamani: Saudi Arabia’s minister of oil.
- Mohammed Abduh Yamani: Saudi Arabia’s minister of information.
UNITED STATES
- Zbigniew Brzezinski: President Carter’s national security adviser.
- President Jimmy Carter: President of the United States of America.
- Herbert Hagerty: Chief political officer at the U.S. embassy in Pakistan.
- Mark Hambley: Political officer at the U.S. embassy in Saudi Arabia.
- Ralph Lindstrom: U.S. consul general in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia.
- Jack McCavitt: Central Intelligence Agency station chief in Tripoli, Libya.
- Cyrus Vance: U.S. secretary of state.
- Ambassador John C. West: U.S. ambassador to Saudi Arabia.
FRANCE
- Captain Paul Barril: Deputy commander of the French commando unit Groupe d’Intervention de la Gendarmerie Nationale (GIGN). Head of the GIGN mission dispatched to Saudi Arabia during the Mecca uprising.
- President Valéry Giscard d’Estaing: President of the French Republic.
- Count Alexandre de Marenches: Head of French intelligence agency Service de Documentation Exté́rieure et de Contre-Espionage (SDECE).
- Christian Lambert: Member of the GIGN mission dispatched to Saudi Arabia.
- Captain Christian Prouteau: Commander of the GIGN.
- Ignace Wodecki: Member of the GIGN mission dispatched to Saudi Arabia.
OTHER COUNTRIES
- Mehmet Ali Agca: Turkish militant who tried to assassinate Pope John Paul II.
- Leonid Brezhnev: Leader of the Soviet Union.
- Colonel Moammar Ghadhafi: Revolutionary leader of Libya.
- Babrak Karmal: Soviet-installed leader of Afghanistan.
- Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini:Leader of the 1979 Islamic revolution in Iran.
- General Mohammed Zia ul Haq: President of Pakistan.