Declassified Documents
Research for The Siege of Mecca involved requesting the declassification of hundreds of secret State Department, Central Intelligence Agency and British Foreign Office documents that contain previously unknown details about the bloody events of 1979 and their consequences.
The State Department was particularly forthcoming in releasing these documents. A selection of previously classified diplomatic cables below sheds unexpected new light on the Middle East’s political dynamic.
- Date Cable # Title
- Nov 20 1979 7981 Report of the cut in telephone links and initial details of the fighting in Mecca as reported by American Embassy Jidda
- Nov 21 1979 1854 American Consulate Dhahran update on the mood of Saudi Shiites
- Nov 21 1979 7993 American Embassy Jidda relays conflicting reports by American pilots in Mecca and the American military liaison office in Riyadh on the Mecca uprising
- Nov 21 1979 8039 American Embassy Jidda update on the occupation of the Great Mosque in Mecca
- Nov 21 1979 8041 Ambassador West reports on being briefed by Oil Minister Ahmed Zaki Yamani
- Nov 22 1979 8072 Ambassador West on his meeting with Zaki Yamani to solicit a Saudi statement denying US involvement in the desecration of Mecca
- Nov 22 1979 8073 US military liason mission information on the fighting in Mecca reported by American Embassy Jidda
- Nov 22 1979 8079 American Embassy report on debriefing US pilots in Mecca
- Nov 22 1979 07330 American Embassy Amman report on Jordanian leaders' efforts to contact Saudi officials
- Nov 23 1979 23937 Egypt's Mubarak outlines his theory of the Mecca uprising and describes how he ordered Egyptian newspapers to downplay the crisis
- Nov 23 1979 7670 Syrian accusations of US complicity in the Mecca attack reported by American Embassy Damascus
- Nov 24 1979 8094 American Embassy Jidda update on the fighting in Mecca
- Nov 24 1979 8095 The government's assault of the Mecca shrine described by American Embassy Jidda
- Nov 25 1979 8119 American Embassy update on the siege and the report of US pilots in Mecca
- Nov 26 1979 1872 American Consulate Dhahran report on rising tensions among Saudi Shiites
- Nov 27 1979 24119 Egypt's Mubarak asks the US to tell al Saud he opposes the Mecca takeover
- Nov 27 1979 8180 American Embassy Jidda reports details of the siege and mentions a Saudi tear gas request
- Nov 28 1979 8371 Morocco's offers of aid in the Mecca uprising described by American Embassy Rabat
- Nov 28 1979 8218 Prince Bandar outlines the interrogation of Juhayman's aides and al Saud s reaction to the Mecca crisis
- Nov 28 1979 8219 American Embassy Jidda update on the fighting in Mecca's underground
- Nov 29 1979 307611 Evacuation of Americans from Saudi Arabia is suggested by Secretary of State Vance
- Nov 29 1979 5422 US Embassy in Kuwait reports on Juhayman's ideology
- Dec 1 1979 8277 The fighting in the mosque and a possible capture of Mohammed Abdullah discussed by American Embassy Jidda
- Dec 2 1979 1916 Restoration of calm in the Shiite heartland of the Eastern Province as reported by American Consulate Dhahran
- Dec 2 1979 7527 US Embassy Amman report on details of King Hussein's briefing about his meeting with King Khalid
- Dec 4 1979 8366 Saudi official informs that Juhayman had escaped
- Dec 6 1979 8428 Prince Abdullah discusses the Mecca events with Ambassador West
- Dec 6 1979 8429 The final push into the Qaboo is described by American Embassy Jidda
- Dec 8 1979 8450 The fate of missing Americans in Mecca as discussed by American Embassy Jidda
- Dec 9 1979 8479 American Embassy Jidda update on the King's visit to Mecca and Saudi reaction to the end of the siege of the Grand Mosque
- Dec 9 1979 1956 Anti-American letter send by Shiite radicals described by American Consulate Dhahran