General Intelligence Department (Saudi Arabia)

| Main Article
| Discussion
| Related Articles  [?]
| Bibliography  [?]
| External Links  [?]
| Citable Version  [?]

|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|

This editable Main Article is under development and subject to a disclaimer.

[edit intro]

Saudi Arabia's national intelligence service, the General Intelligence Department (GID), grew to substantial size in the 1970s, under the directorship of Prince Turki al-Faisal.

It was described as organizationally modeled after the CIA, with directorates including operations and intelligence, as well as signals intelligence.[1] The general impression is that it does not have a direct action capability of its own, but recruits foreign individuals or groups; Turki was said to have told a CIA colleague "We don't do operations. We don't know how. All we know how to do is write checks."[2]

## References[edit]

1. ↑ Steve Coll (2004), Ghost Wars: the Secret History of the CIA, Afghanistan and bin Laden, from the Soviet Invasion to September 10, 2001, Penguin,pp. 79-82
2. ↑ Quote attributed to Frank Anderson, a retired CIA officer and partner of journalist Nat Kern, quoted by Coll, p. 72