They identified themselves as "al-Ikhwan" (Arabic: الإخوان), referring to the religious Arabian militia[5] that had played a significant role in establishing the Saudi state in the early 20th century.

After French operatives provided them with a special type of tear gas that dulls aggression and obstructs breathing, Saudi troops gassed the interior of the Grand Mosque and forced entry.

[12][13] The Ikhwan's siege of the Grand Mosque, which had occurred amidst the Islamic Revolution in nearby Iran, prompted further unrest across the Muslim world.

Large-scale anti-American riots broke out in many Muslim-majority countries after Iranian religious cleric Ruhollah Khomeini claimed in a radio broadcast that the Grand Mosque seizure had been orchestrated by the United States and Israel.

[14] Following the attack, Saudi king Khalid bin Abdulaziz enforced a stricter system of Islamic law throughout the country[15] and also gave the ulama more power over the next decade.

[17] Juhayman's grandfather, Sultan bin Bajad al-Otaybi, had ridden with Ibn Saud in the early decades of the century, and other Otaibah family members were among the foremost of the Ikhwan.

Al-Otaybi had turned against Ibn Baz "and began advocating a return to the original ways of Islam, among other things: a repudiation of the West; abolition of television and expulsion of non-Muslims.

[22] Members of the ulama (including Ibn Baz) cross-examined them for heresy but they were subsequently released as being traditionalists harkening back to the Ikhwan, like al-Otaybi's grandfather and, therefore, not a threat.

When the government asked for a fatwa allowing armed force in the Grand Mosque, the language of Ibn Baz and other senior ulama "was curiously restrained."

[25] Some National Guard troops sympathetic to the insurgents smuggled weapons, ammunition, gas masks and provisions into the mosque compound over a period of weeks before the new year.

At around 5:00 am he was interrupted by insurgents who produced weapons from under their robes, chained the gates shut and killed two policemen who were armed with only wooden clubs for disciplining unruly pilgrims.

The insurgents aired their demands from the mosque's loudspeakers throughout the streets of Mecca, calling for the cut-off of oil exports to the United States and the expulsion of all foreign civilian and military experts from the Arabian Peninsula.

[33] In Beirut, an opposition organization, the Arab Socialist Action Party – Arabian Peninsula, issued a statement on 25 November, alleging to clarify the demands of the insurgents.

[35] According to Lawrence Wright in the book The Looming Tower: Al-Qaeda and the Road to 9/11: A team of three French commandos from the Groupe d'Intervention de la Gendarmerie Nationale (GIGN) arrived in Mecca.

With casualties climbing, Saudi forces drilled holes into the courtyard and dropped grenades into the rooms below, indiscriminately killing many hostages but driving the remaining rebels into more open areas where they could be picked off by sharpshooters.

[36][37]However, this account is contradicted by at least two other accounts,[38][page needed] including that of then GIGN commanding officer Christian Prouteau:[3] the three GIGN commandos trained and equipped the Saudi forces and devised their attack plan (which consisted of drilling holes in the floor of the Mosque and firing gas canisters wired with explosives through the perforations), but did not take part in the action and did not set foot in the Mosque.

[9] Shortly after news of the takeover was released, the new Islamic revolutionary leader of Iran, Ayatollah Khomeini, told radio listeners, "It is not beyond guessing that this is the work of criminal American imperialism and international Zionism.

"[41][42] Anger fuelled by these rumours spread anti-American demonstrations throughout the Muslim world, noted occurring in the Philippines, Turkey, Bangladesh, eastern Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Pakistan.

[13] The king secured a fatwa (edict) from the Council of Senior Scholars[12] which found the defendants guilty of seven crimes: On 9 January 1980, 63 rebels were publicly beheaded in the squares of eight Saudi cities[12] (Buraidah, Dammam, Mecca, Medina, Riyadh, Abha, Ha'il and Tabuk).