RIYADH - Saudi security forces have arrested 25 suspects in connection with the May 12 Riyadh suicide bombings that left 35 people dead, the Saudi interior minister said in remarks published Saturday. "So far, we have arrested up to 25 people. A number of other suspects are being hunted. We have made progress in the investigations ... but we still need more time to complete it," Prince Nayef bin Abdul Aziz told Okaz daily.
| So this isn't 25 new suspects, but a total of 25 nabbed to date... |
It has not yet been established that all those detained are linked to the terror bombings in Riyadh, the minister added. The Saudi security authorities were still hunting for several other suspects, including 10 members of a cell of 19 uncovered by the kingdom just a few days before the bombings, Prince Nayef said.
| Mostly the ones that didn't blow up... |
Those sought include Turki Mishal Dandani and Ali al-Ghamdi, number one and two on the list of the 19 members of the terror cell, and who are believed to be the masterminds of the Riyadh attacks. Newspapers here had reported that Ghamdi had already been caught. The minister previously announced that six of the suspected nine members who died in the attacks were identified and included four members of the cell of 19. Three more dead bodies were being investigated. Another of the cell members, Yussuf al-Ayeeri, was killed in a shootout with Saudi police on May 31. Two Saudi security men were killed and three others wounded in the clash. A second gunman was arrested. Prince Nayef said he believed Osama bin Laden's Al-Qaeda terror network was behind the Riyadh blasts and that other organizations may have also assisted it.
| I'd say that's a pretty safe assumption, just having gone over the list of names of those toe-tagged or in custody... |
The minister said available indications suggest that Al-Qaeda leaders were still alive and issuing orders. Iran, which reported the arrest of several Al-Qaeda suspects, has not extradited anyone to Saudi Arabia following the attacks, Prince Nayef said, hoping Iran would cooperate with the kingdom. |