ISTANBUL -- At the Saudi Embassy in Tehran, diplomats talked about airing the grievances of disenchanted local youths using Facebook and Twitter. At the embassy in Khartoum, they reported anxiously on Iran's military aid to Sudan.
Meanwhile, the Saudi mission in Geneva got stuck dealing with a multimillion-dollar limo bill racked up by a Saudi princess and her entourage.
The incidents are mentioned in diplomatic documents published Friday by WikiLeaks, only the first batch of what the transparency group says will be a much larger release. But they've already provided an unusual level of insight into day-to-day Saudi diplomacy -- giving a snapshot of spending habits of senior royals and the political intrigue percolating across the Middle East.
WikiLeaks so far has published roughly 60,000 documents, of which The Associated Press only has been able to authenticate a handful. But the organization has a long track record of hosting large leaks of government material and insists the latest batch is genuine.
In a statement released late Saturday, the Saudi government acknowledged its diplomatic servers had been penetrated ahead of the mass disclosure.
Saudi officials earlier posted a Twitter message warning the country's citizens away from "leaked information that could be untrue and aims to harm the nation."
Many of the documents reviewed by The Associated Press appear aimed at tracking Iranian activity across the region or undermining Tehran's interests. An undated memo apparently sent from the Saudi Embassy in Tehran made note of what it called the "frustration of the Iranian citizen and his strong desire for regime change" and suggested ways to publicly expose Iran's social grievances through "the Internet, social media like Facebook and Twitter." It also suggests "hosting opposition figures overseas, coordinating with them and encouraging them to use galleries to show pictures of torture carried by the Iranian regime against people."
Saudis also kept a watchful eye on Iran's friends, real or perceived. One 2012 memo warned that Iran was getting "flirting American messages" suggesting that the U.S. had no objections to a peaceful Iranian nuclear program so long as it had guarantees, "possibly Russian ones."
Another memo, dated to 2012, accuses the United Arab Emirates of helping Russia and Iran circumvent international sanctions. A third memo marked "top secret" alleges that Iranian fighter jets bombed South Sudanese forces during a 2012 standoff over the oil-rich area of Heglig.
One memo carries the claim that Persian Gulf countries were prepared to pay $10 billion to secure the freedom of deposed Egyptian autocrat Hosni Mubarak. The memo, written on a letterhead bearing only a single palm tree and crossed blades above the words "top secret," quotes an unnamed Egyptian official as saying that the Muslim Brotherhood would agree to release Mubarak in exchange for the cash "since the Egyptian people will not benefit from his imprisonment."
Although the document is undated, the political situation it describes suggests it was drafted in 2012, when the Brotherhood appeared poised to take power. Senior Brotherhood official Mohammed Morsi served as Egypt's first freely elected president from June 2012 to July 2013 before being ousted by the military.
It's not clear if the idea of paying the Brotherhood to secure Mubarak's release ever coalesced into a firm offer. A handwritten note at the top left of the document says the ransom "is not a good idea."
"Even if it is paid the Muslim Brotherhood will not be able to do anything regarding releasing Mubarak," the note's unknown author writes. "It seems there are no alternatives for the president but to enter prison."
Still, the memo's existence adds credence to the claim made in 2012 by senior Brotherhood leader Khairat el-Shater that Saudi Arabia had offered billions of dollars in return for Mubarak's freedom -- something Saudi officials hotly denied at the time.
Among the documents was also an invoice for an unpaid limousine bill racked up by Princess Maha Al Ibrahim, whom Saudi media identify as the wife of senior Saudi royal Abdul-Rahman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud.
The invoice, from Geneva-based Golden Limousine Services and addressed to the Saudi mission there, says the princess skipped town after failing to paying a first installment of $1.4 million owed to the company and her hotel.
Louis Roulet, the administrator of the limousine service, confirmed the document's authenticity and said he remembers the incident well. The total bill was "far more" than $1.4 million, he said, adding that it was eventually paid in full.
Information for this article was contributed by Bassem Mroue, Hamza Hendawi, Aya Batrawy and Maamoun Youssef of The Associated Press.
A Section on 06/21/2015