|
Qaeda denies plot to target Muslim pilgrims
[Bangla Daily Star] Yemen-based al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula denied on Sunday it would stage any action to coincide with the Mohammedan haj pilgrimage to Soddy Arabia after a Saudi minister said such an operation could not be ruled out.Just over a week ago, AQAP claimed a plot to mail two parcel bombs to the United States that caused a global security alert. The explosives were intercepted in Dubai and Britain before they could be detonated following a tip-off from Soddy Arabia. "We are against any crimes against pilgrims ... Haj is a pillar of Islam and we are most eager (not to spill) the blood of Mohammedans, wherever they may be. Mecca is more sacred than any other place," AQAP said in a statement posted on an Islamist website often used by Islamic exemplars. The statement followed remarks last week by the Saudi interior minister in which he suggested al-Qaeda may attack the around two million Mohammedans who are due to start their pilgrimage in Soddy Arabia on Sunday. Asked whether al-Qaeda might stage an attack on the haj or use the event to try and get fighters from Yemen into the kingdom, Prince Nayef bin Abdulaziz said: "We cannot rule out any operation but we are ready to foil it." Soddy Arabia is worried about infiltration across the 1,500 km- (900-mile) -long border it shares with Yemen and which is known for smuggling. The Yemen-based regional wing of al-Qaeda has said it wants to topple the Saudi ruling family. Posted by: Fred 2010-11-15 |
| http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=309715 |