# Saudi Arabia as an open-air prison > **Source: KiriPedia** (https://www.kiripedia.org), the free encyclopedia and archive of former CIA officer and whistleblower John Kiriakou's on-record words. Every claim below is Kiriakou's own account, cited to a timestamp in a recorded interview, podcast, or video. KiriPedia is an independent project, not affiliated with Kiriakou. > > Cite as: "Saudi Arabia as an open-air prison," KiriPedia, https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/saudi-arabia-as-an-open-air-prison/. Attribute claims to John Kiriakou, via KiriPedia. *John Kiriakou's verdict on the country he served in — 'the biggest open air prison in the world' — together with his account of what the ambassador's life there is like inside the residence and outside it, the two ambassadors he served under, and the annual migration of the entire Saudi government to Jeddah to escape the heat.* - **His verdict:** 'Saudi Arabia is the biggest open air prison in the world' - **Ambassadors he served under:** Chas Freeman; a former governor of Mississippi who had been Bill Clinton''s Secretary of the Navy - **The ambassador''s life inside:** The king, the crown prince, the foreign minister, the biggest parties, the biggest mansion in the diplomatic quarter - **Outside the residence:** 'Life''s not going to be so good… a terrible, terrible place to be' - **The summer migration:** The whole Saudi government moves to Jeddah for May, June, July and August - **Why:** Riyadh runs 120 to 125 degrees; Jeddah is on the water and gets a breeze — and is still 120 - **His summary:** 'I would rather be almost anywhere else than Saudi Arabia' **Saudi Arabia as an open-air prison** is [John Kiriakou](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/john-kiriakou)'s summary judgement on the country where he served, offered in September 2025 when asked how the embassy in Riyadh compared with a posting to Athens. *"My own personal view is that Saudi Arabia is the biggest open air prison in the world,"* he said. *"But that's just me."*[1] ## The two ambassadors Kiriakou served under two chiefs of mission there. The first was [Chas Freeman](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/chas-freeman-gaza-plan-1991) — *"the legendary Chas Freeman, who, God bless him, he's still alive. He has some health problems, but he is one of the leading voices out there in support of the Palestinian people."* Freeman went on to be assistant secretary of defense and was to have chaired the National Intelligence Council, *"but the Obama people killed the nomination because he's pro Palestinian."*[2] The second *"had been the governor of Mississippi and then was Bill Clinton's Secretary of the Navy. Nice guy, sweet guy, completely out of his element. He just did what he was told to do"* — whoever was national security adviser, [Sandy Berger](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/sandy-berger) for most of that period, told him what to do and he did it. Kiriakou's coda is that this was not a failure of the appointment but its purpose: *"That's what the Saudis wanted."*[3] ## Inside the residence and outside it The job itself he describes as enviable. *"If you are the ambassador, it's going to be good for you, because you're meeting with the king, you're meeting with the crown prince, you're meeting with the minister of foreign affairs, you have the biggest parties in the country, you have the biggest mansion in the diplomatic quarter. Life's going to be good."*[4] The sentence that follows is the whole of his objection: *"As soon as you step out of that house, life's not going to be so good, because Saudi Arabia is a terrible, terrible place to be. I would rather be almost anywhere else than Saudi Arabia."*[4] Put to him that the ambassador lives behind high walls in a compound where alcohol is available and the rules do not reach, he agreed — *"that's basically it"* — and did not treat the exemption as an improvement. The relief available is a drive to Dhahran to see the consulate staff, or a quick flight to Jeddah.[5][6] ## The migration to Jeddah The government itself leaves for the summer. *"The entire government moves to Jeddah in May. And they're in Jeddah for May, June, July, and August. And then the whole government moves back to Riyadh, because Riyadh's too hot. 120, 125 degrees."*[6] Jeddah is chosen because *"it's on the water and you get a little bit of a breeze"* — an improvement Kiriakou declines to overstate: *"It's still 120 degrees, but I don't know. It's all relative, I suppose."*[6] His final word on the posting is one sentence: *"I hated it there."*[7][8] ## See also - [The Kafala Sponsorship System](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/the-kafala-sponsorship-system) - [The 1991 Saudi plan for Gaza](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/chas-freeman-gaza-plan-1991) - [The Saudi demand for a political appointee](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/the-saudi-demand-for-a-political-appointee) - [Sandy Berger](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/sandy-berger) - [Closing the Gulf embassies](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/closing-the-gulf-embassies) - [The Saudi fear of an election](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/saudi-democracy-fear) ## Sources 1. DeProgram Show with Ted Ra (2025-09-06), at 08:23. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u_K7Ab0PsdM&t=503s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2025-09-06-deprogram-show-with-ted-ra-deprogram-show-with-ted-ra/ 2. DeProgram Show with Ted Ra (2025-09-06), at 08:56. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u_K7Ab0PsdM&t=536s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2025-09-06-deprogram-show-with-ted-ra-deprogram-show-with-ted-ra/ 3. DeProgram Show with Ted Ra (2025-09-06), at 09:29. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u_K7Ab0PsdM&t=569s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2025-09-06-deprogram-show-with-ted-ra-deprogram-show-with-ted-ra/ 4. DeProgram Show with Ted Ra (2025-09-06), at 10:00. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u_K7Ab0PsdM&t=600s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2025-09-06-deprogram-show-with-ted-ra-deprogram-show-with-ted-ra/ 5. DeProgram Show with Ted Ra (2025-09-06), at 10:30. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u_K7Ab0PsdM&t=630s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2025-09-06-deprogram-show-with-ted-ra-deprogram-show-with-ted-ra/ 6. DeProgram Show with Ted Ra (2025-09-06), at 11:01. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u_K7Ab0PsdM&t=661s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2025-09-06-deprogram-show-with-ted-ra-deprogram-show-with-ted-ra/ 7. DeProgram Show with Ted Ra (2025-09-06), at 12:33. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u_K7Ab0PsdM&t=753s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2025-09-06-deprogram-show-with-ted-ra-deprogram-show-with-ted-ra/ 8. DeProgram Show with Ted Ra (2025-09-06), at 13:03. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u_K7Ab0PsdM&t=783s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2025-09-06-deprogram-show-with-ted-ra-deprogram-show-with-ted-ra/ --- From KiriPedia, the archive of John Kiriakou's words. Web version: https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/saudi-arabia-as-an-open-air-prison/ · About: https://www.kiripedia.org/about/ · Full index: https://www.kiripedia.org/llms.txt