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Saudi Army (1979 Mecca Siege Crisis)

The Grand Mosque seizure occurred during November and December 1979 when armed civilians calling for the overthrow of the House of Saud took over Masjid al-Haram in Mecca, Saudi Arabia. The insurgents declared that the Mahdi (the "redeemer of Islam") had arrived in the form of one of their leaders, Mohammed Abdullah al-Qahtani, and called on Muslims to obey him. For nearly two weeks Saudi Special Forces, advised by three GIGN French commandos, fought battles to reclaim the compound.

The seizure of Islam's holiest site, the taking of hostages from among the worshippers and the deaths of hundreds of militants, security forces and hostages caught in the crossfire in the ensuing battles for control of the site, shocked the Islamic world. The siege ended two weeks after the takeover began and the mosque was cleared. Al-Qahtani was killed in the recapture of the mosque but Juhayman and 67 of his fellow rebels who survived the assault were captured and later beheaded.
Following the attack, the Saudi King Khaled implemented a stricter enforcement of Shariah (Islamic law), he gave the ulama and religious conservatives more power over the next decade, and religious police became more assertive.