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Soddy-trained terror wave sweeping Middle East
Police on Tuesday killed a militant wanted in the October bombing of an Egyptian tourist resort, only days after Kuwaiti authorities cracked down on militants purportedly influenced by al-Qaida. Tuesday's gunbattle in the Sinai desert and the Kuwait raids follow significant clashes in Bahrain and Oman with suspected militants, raising fears that terrorists inspired or trained by Saudi extremists are taking part in a regional spread of terror.

The gunbattle in the mountains of Sinai erupted as police were chasing militants believed involved in the Oct. 7 bombings at the resorts of Taba and Ras Shitan, which killed 34 people, the Interior Ministry said in a statement. The ministry identified the suspect killed Tuesday as Mohammed Abdel Rahman Badawi, saying he took part in the Sinai bombings and was found armed with an automatic rifle and a handgun.

Experts on Islamic militancy agree extremist ideologies are born and whelped in Saudi Arabia, the home of the puritanical Wahhabi doctrine that has inspired thousands of terrorist mujahedeen from Afghanistan to the Philippines. Many potential militants, particularly in the Middle East, are also thought to be paying heed to their al-Qaida-linked counterparts in Saudi Arabia fighting a violent campaign against security forces and foreign interests. But there is disagreement about whether Saudi militants, who are closely allied to Osama bin Laden's group, and non-Saudi terrorists belong to the same organizational core or simply follow the same principle -- waging holy war against infidels. Jamal Khashoggi, spokesman to the Saudi ambassador to Britain, Prince Turki, said ideology alone is enough to lump Kuwaiti and Saudi militants together. "Al-Qaida is not a Saudi brand name," he said.
It is, however, a wholly-owned subsidiary.

Posted by: Dan Darling 2005-02-03
http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=55502