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| Arabia |
| Saudi fugitives ’are al-Qaeda’ |
| 2003-05-08 |
| The Saudi Interior Minister, Prince Nayef, has said that 19 Islamic militants being sought by the authorities are suspected members of Osama Bin Laden's al-Qaeda network. I'm shocked, shocked that they admitted this. The group - all but two of them Saudis - had been planning to carry out attacks in the kingdom. Following a shoot-out with some of the men on Tuesday, the security services found a big arms cache in the house they had been using in the capital, Riyadh. Prince Nayef said the men - 17 Saudis, an Iraqi and a Yemeni - were known members of an al-Qaeda cell. He told a Saudi newspaper they were all young men who had received military training in Afghanistan. The Saudi media have shown pictures of the men and are making much of the huge cache of weapons and explosives found in their hide-out. In the past, officials referred to such people merely as "misguided youth" - and a spate of attacks on Westerners in the kingdom was officially blamed on expatriates involved in the illegal production of alcohol. The fabled "alk runners". Now there is more openness. The authorities say they have arrested hundreds of al-Qaeda suspects since the 11 September 2001 attacks against the United States, and acknowledge that Bin Laden has sympathisers in the country. They have not said what targets the 19 men were planning to attack. But last week, the US State Department said it had intelligence reports warning of attacks against Americans in the Saudi kingdom. |
| Posted by:Steve |
| #4 Right, Steve. Saudi is by far the strangest piece of real estate on the earth (that I've lived in) The Magic Kingdom. I never met any expat involved in selling alcohol willing a Saudi neck massage. They'd just stop making it if a party got too out of hand or if they got dressed down by their boss. Bomb a car? Knew it was bogus. I wonder if Atom Ant (aka, whatzisname, Adel Al-Jubeir, right?) will be on "Meet the Press" TV soon. |
| Posted by: Michael 2003-05-08 13:40:46 |
| #3 a slight glow was noticed from the protein paste on the floor of his collapsed cave. |
| Posted by: Frank G 2003-05-08 08:29:13 |
| #2 Anybody know if OBL has issued a statement regarding U.S. forces pulling out of Saudi.That was one of his stated goals. |
| Posted by: raptor 2003-05-08 08:26:09 |
| #1 This update explains a lot: Suspected terrorists who had been planning attacks in Saudi Arabia targeted the royal family as well as American and British interests, and received orders directly from Osama bin Laden, a senior security official said Thursday. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the prime targets were the defense minister, Prince Sultan, and his brother, the interior minister, Prince Nayef. Planning a hit on royals will get you a lot of attention in Saudiland. |
| Posted by: Steve 2003-05-08 08:26:08 |