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| Arabia |
| Details on Saudi Arrests |
| 2003-07-22 |
| From Arab News: The Kingdom has arrested a group of militants planning terrorist attacks against Saudi targets and seized large amounts of arms and explosives, it was announced yesterday. âA terrorist cell of 16 people was uncovered and arrested. Security forces were able to foil a terrorist plot planned against vital Saudi installations and targets,â an Interior Ministry official said. The arrests took place in Riyadh, in Al-Qasim north of Riyadh, and in the east of the country, where security forces searched hide-outs in farms, rest stops, and residential homes, the ministry official added. No mosques? A Western diplomatic source in Riyadh told Arab News last night that the arrests took place over the past three days, and that the Saudi security forces were able to pinpoint the terrorists and their location with the help of sophisticated satellite surveillance equipment, introduced since the May 12 bombing attacks in Riyadh. Humm, now I wonder who could be providing that? The source added that information received from Al-Qaeda suspects now in custody almost certainly facilitated the latest crackdown. WHACK! "Ouch, OK, Iâll talk!" Saudi Television, which broadcast the ministry officialâs statement, showed footage of automatic rifles, weapons, binoculars, mobile phones, surveillance cameras, bullet-proof vests, passports for several nationalities, forged identity cards, cars, motorcycles, audio tapes, computers as well as cash collection boxes. Saudi television also said the chemicals and weapons were found in Riyadh, in the Eastern Province and in Al-Qasim. âA number of bags filled with more than 20 tons of chemical substances to make explosives were found hidden underground,â the ministry official was quoted as saying. The ministry official did not give details about the latest planned targets but said security forces were still tracking down other suspects. Thatâs nice, weâre still waiting for trials and executions. This is the largest bust by Saudi security forces since they uncovered a 19-member terrorist cell in Riyadh on May 7 and seized large quantities of weapons and explosives. Saudi police have launched a nationwide crackdown on suspected militants following the May 12 suicide bombings of Western residential compounds in Riyadh that left 35 people dead, including several bombers. The Interior Ministry earlier announced that more than 128 suspected militants had been rounded up in the campaign which covered Makkah and Madinah. The crackdown also netted 538 kilograms (1,183 pounds) of plastic explosive, 131 grenades, 216 automatic rifles, 11 guns and a large quantity of ammunition. A number of militants, including leading suspected terrorist Turki Al-Dandani, were killed in clashes with police. Dandani was second in a list of 19 militants wanted by Saudi Arabia in connection with the Riyadh blasts blamed on the Al-Qaeda terror network. The mastermind, Ali Abdul Rahman Saeed Al-Faqaasi Al-Ghamdi, surrendered to Saudi authorities last month. Ten people on the list published by Riyadh remain at large. Saudi leaders have vowed to clamp down on suspected terrorists, their ideologists and supporters in a bid to rid the Kingdom of terrorism. Weâre watching. |
| Posted by:Steve |
| #7 Paul: Man-portable and self-guided! Seriously, the women are one of the Islamists biggest weaknesses. Birth rate always goes down with education. We need to educate them and get them out of the scarves as badly as the wahhabis need to keep them illiterate, barefoot, pregnant, and in the kitchen. |
| Posted by: 11A5S 2003-7-22 4:15:05 PM |
| #6 11A5S >>> I agree, time is their best weapon. OK, so are those baby production machines, manportable, 1 each. |
| Posted by: Paul 2003-7-22 2:34:19 PM |
| #5 Or if you buy into the theory that the Saudi royals are just as committed to destroying the West as al Qaeda, then the conservatives are taking out a few of the radicals in an adjustment of tactics. I think that al Qaeda has outlived its usefulness to the House of Saud. The royals are having more success through demographics and prosletization. Their future tactical model will be infiltration, reproduction, intifada, and prosletization (by preaching at first, later by means of the sword and the jizya). |
| Posted by: 11A5S 2003-7-22 2:06:39 PM |
| #4 OR it's all just bullshit. The Saudis are not above rounding up their own enemies, those who've made it onto the Royal Shitlist, and tell us they're Al Qaeda. I wonder just how much access the Fibbies or CIA have actually had to these people... Not playing conspiracy games, just considering the nature of the Saudi beast, whose most identifiable traits are deceit, duplicity, and complicity - and whose most identifiable effect on the world besides selling oil is to use much of the proceeds to foster and spread intolerance and virulent hate, worldwide. |
| Posted by: PD 2003-7-22 1:45:33 PM |
| #3 I agree; the satellite story is cover. One of the princes has probably turned. |
| Posted by: Robert Crawford 2003-7-22 12:28:01 PM |
| #2 "the Saudi security forces were able to pinpoint the terrorists and their location with the help of sophisticated satellite surveillance equipment" Could also just be a story to cover a double agent, or a captured terrorist who's talking.... gawd I love intelligence mind games.... |
| Posted by: Carl in NH 2003-7-22 11:44:34 AM |
| #1 Humm, now I wonder who could be providing that? Couldn't be a Saudi spy satellite: their religion forbids graven images, you know. I think that will help narrow down the possibilities! |
| Posted by: Anonymous 2003-7-22 11:22:59 AM |