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| Arabia |
| 1 ton bomb seized in Saudi Arabia |
| 2003-11-28 |
| Saudi Arabia’s security forces have found a pick-up truck packed with more than a tonne of explosives after raiding a militant cell primed to launch a "terrorist operation" in Riyadh, officials say. State television showed footage of the truck, seized after a clash on Tuesday in which two wanted militants were killed, filled with the explosives, rocket-propelled grenades and gas cylinders to magnify the force of any explosion. Officials say Tuesday’s raid by security forces thwarted an imminent attack during the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Fitr, less than three weeks after suspected al Qaeda bombers killed at least 18 people in a residential compound in the Saudi capital. An Interior Ministry source said on Thursday the truck had 1,267 kg (2,790 lbs) of ammonium nitrate-based explosives in the back when it was seized. A further 1,377 kg of explosives was found nearby, along with more than a thousand rounds of ammunition. Television footage showed a pick-up truck, painted dark brown and marked with military insignia. Authorities also showed what they said were forged emblems of state security agencies, and military uniforms. Witnesses have said the attackers who struck on November 9 at the Muhaya compound on Riyadh’s eastern desert outskirts got through a Saudi National Guard checkpoint because their vehicle had military markings. The two men killed on Tuesday were Abdul-Mohsen Abdul-Aziz al-Shebanat and Musaid Mohammed Daidan al-Subaie, the Interior Ministry said. Shebanat was shot and killed as he fired at security forces from the boot of a car while Subaie blew himself up with a hand grenade, it said. Shebanat’s corpse and Subaie’s mangled remains were also shown on television. Security forces were still hunting down an unspecified number of militants who escaped. Newspapers hailed Tuesday’s clash as the fourth success by security forces this year in thwarting planned attacks. Authorities have announced huge arms seizures in recent months across the kingdom, including the holy city of Mecca, where Interior Minister Prince Nayef bin Abdulaziz said militants were planning attacks against Muslim pilgrims. But much of the country remains on guard. In the capital, extra concrete blocks were put round the Faisaliah tower — one of two landmark skyscrapers — over the three-day Eid holiday. Some hotels tightened security and expatriate compounds kept up high defences against attack. |
| Posted by:Dan Darling |
| #6 Mike The problem is not the ratio of princes to lampposts but the resistance of the lampposts. I fear the Saudis were cheated by the firm building the lamp posts or by the people who insert them into the soil. In addition many Saudi princes are quite fat. |
| Posted by: JFM 2003-11-28 4:52:56 PM |
| #5 Beheading takes less time, and requires less rope. Even easier is a bullet just above the eyes, to let contaminating air into the vacuum between the ears. |
| Posted by: Old Patriot 2003-11-28 3:49:37 PM |
| #4 More importantly, what is the ratio of Saudi princes to the number of lamp-posts in Riyadh? To put it another way, can we hang 'em all in one swell foop, or to we have to work in shifts? |
| Posted by: Mike 2003-11-28 12:06:37 PM |
| #3 The specific Princely headcount I don't know, though your estimate sounds about right since I was hearing "under 7,000" back in '92 from Aramcons. I had guessed about 40,000 total "Royals" a few months back, but a source (which I can't recall now) put it at 25,000+ - so I was totally off the mark if they're right. The problem is, of course, that ALL such numbers are not reliable because the Royals don't want them known. Unless you read a deathbed confession from Nayef or his step brother the Clown Prince, it's a guess pure 'n simple. As for how many can they afford? Zero. The avg income of Saudis has dropped from $28K a generation ago to less than $16K today - that's why getting a slot at Aramco is such a plum - and reserved for the connected, not the qualified. The pop under 25 is around 60%. Them be bad numbers, bro. They are screwed, blued, and tattoed. Sorry, man, I'm just guessing except for the demographics at the end - and that's a truly bad scenario. |
| Posted by: .com 2003-11-28 10:30:59 AM |
| #2 .com do you have any idea on the rate of growth of the prince population? My understanding that it's about 8,000 currently and consume 30-50% of the national income. How many princes can the Saudis afford to raise? |
| Posted by: Shipman 2003-11-28 9:20:20 AM |
| #1 "less than three weeks after suspected al Qaeda bombers killed at least 18 people in a residential compound " Only in the Magic F**king Kingdom would you not know the number of people killed -- weeks afterward. Those teesny-weensy semi-vaporized bits belonging to the jihadi Izzoids, of Saudi manufacture of course - do not need to be analyzed to update the count. They weren't real people... [rant] No, they were Saudi-mfg'd jihadi Izzoids. Your REAL export to the World. Your ONLY export. The oil's always been there - you didn't make that. No, but you made THEM, you f**ktards... Genuine Saudi craftsmanship - being exported world-wide. Wahhabi-funded insanity. Schools. Right. On the OTHER hand, for the first time in the history of The Magic F**king Kingdom... It may not be understood by most, but for Saudi TV to show ANYTHING other than a procession of sycophants kissing Royal thobes, robotic Qu'uran recitation, or the Saudi 500 circle jerk in Mecca -- is so earth-shattering as to be dumbfounding to Yousef Saudi (that's Joe Saudi to infidels). They've never shown anything else - for decades - now they're talking about bloody bombed out compounds where Muslims (!!!) died, shootouts in their capitol, and footage of captured one-ton truck bombs. Consider how Al Jizz just loves gory gruesome stills and footage. From zero to total gore - overnight. Prolly was a major rush for Yousef. I'll bet the first broadcast required some kind of serious lead-in to prepare the "audience." Perhaps it's akin to some country bumpkin seeing his first skin flick. Only it's a snuffer. Now on every day and every night. Good. I left Saudi two weeks before the Riyadh bombing - which was the wake-up call. That be some most excellent Good Timing! But... BUT... I would almost be willing to go back just to hear the casual conversation, to see the sneers wiped from faces that used to smile when the bombs only killed infidels, that smirked and said "because of your support for Israel, my friend, you must understand that you deserved for this to happen", that worried about nothing as the creme de la creme of connected Saudi families, careers assured, doing no work, they spent all day planning vacations - in the States, of course, and planning to build gigantic mansions paid for with Gov't grants and worried only about filling them up with wives and as many children as they could push throught the pipe... and now, to see them wonder about tomorrow - for the very first time in their entire lives. Yes, it would be interesting... and grimly satisfying. That which thou hast sewn, is now reaped, you smirky gutless ignorant assholes. Saudi Arabia - meet David Bowie and Bob Zimmerman (Dylan) - it's just those Changes, little brothers, The Times They Are A-Changin' - get used to it. [/rant] |
| Posted by: .com 2003-11-28 6:10:24 AM |