Special to WorldTribune.com

WASHINGTON — The imprisoned daughters of Saudi King Abdullah said they are being starved to death.

Two of Abdullah’s daughters, Sahar and Jawaher, appealed to the international community for their immediate release after more than a decade in captivity. They said senior Saudi princes, particularly their half-brothers, were denying them food and water to their compound in Riyad.

“You cannot hold captive your own daughter and call this a family
dispute,” Princess Sahar said, “denying them basic human rights, denying
them food and water, denying them the right to move around.”

In a video released on June 10, Saher and Jawaher said they and their
two sisters have been confined to their Riyad compound since 2000. The
daughters, who included Maha and Hala, said they have been deprived of food
and water since March 2014.

“We have no medication left,” Sahar said. “We are using home-made
remedies.”

The imprisonment was believed linked to Abdullah’s ex-wife Al Anoud Al
Fayez, who fled to Britain. In April 2014, Ms. Al Fayez said the conditions
of her daughters’ imprisonment worsened after they appealed to the king to
alleviate poverty in Saudi Arabia.

“I taught my daughters to be strong and speak the truth even to their
powerful father, who doesn’t enjoy being challenged and especially not by
women,” Ms. Al Fayez said. “When my daughters told their father his wealthy
kingdom is full of terrible poverty, he called them liars, even as hundreds
of men and women wait under the scorching Arabian sun to plead for the
king’s help in ameliorating their dire economic or medical situations.”

The daughters, who said they were left with an Internet connection,
cited Abdullah’s sons as responsible for their confinement. They
were identified as Saudi National Guard Minister Prince Mitab and Deputy
Foreign Minister Abdul Aziz.

The opposition Gulf Institute reported the confinement of four of
Abdullah’s daughters on the eve of President Barack Obama’s visit to Saudi
Arabia in March 2014. Obama was not known to have raised the issue during
his meeting with Abdullah.

“The world is also responsible and complicit with the Saudi king and his
sons in this criminal act,” Jawaher said. “They cannot leave us in this
house with these criminals.”

  Al Anoud Al Fayez, meds, Princess Jawaher, Princess Saher, Saudi King’s daughters have Internet connection but are short on food, water