No Grand Mosque Seizure in 1979?

[Simon]

I was reading an article at the weekend about Saudi Arabia simultaneously liberalising and cracking down in recent times, and one section that caught my eye was about the storming of the Grand Mosque.

Yet the country wasn't trapped in amber. Over the decades things did change. In the early 1970s some Saudis — particularly those living in more cosmopolitan cities such as Jeddah — could go to the cinema or listen to music in cafés. Women could wear tunics and long dresses rather than cloaks, and some even left their hair uncovered.

Then, on the night of November 20, 1979, Islamist militants stormed the Grand Mosque in Mecca, declaring their leader as the saviour of the Muslim world and attempting to overthrow the al-Saud family, whom they accused of bringing western impurities into the country.

It took two weeks and the lives of hundreds of hostages before the Saudis, backed by French special forces, regained control of the holiest site in Islam. The attack was an unimaginable wound on the kingdom — akin to terrorists storming the Vatican. In response the king, desperate to retain control over the country, launched a series of decrees that cemented an ultra-conservative version of Islam as the norm. Women everywhere covered themselves from head to toe in black. The cinemas closed. Billions of pounds were poured into promoting religious fundamentalism at home and abroad.

Which got me wondering. Suppose for a moment that the authorities got wind of al-Otaybi and friends planned actions and and were able to nip things in the bud. Raids are carried out, arrests made, quicks trials, and beheadings. What does Khalid do then – carry on as before, become slightly more conservative, take a major turn to fundamentalism as in our timeline?