 Saudi Arabia has detained five people suspected of spreading Islamic militant ideology in the kingdom, which is battling an 18-month wave of Al Qaeda violence, the Interior Ministry said on Saturday. It said three men were arrested shortly before Friday's midday prayers in Zulfi, north-west of Riyadh. Two others were detained later on Friday in separate raids in the capital. None was believed to be involved directly in violence. "They are suspected mostly of supporting the extremist thought. They were trying to spread it among the youth," Interior Ministry security spokesman Brigadier-General Mansour Turki said.
| That could be a good sign. Or it could be that they're rivals to the Learned Elders of Islam... |
Around 170 people, including foreigners, Saudi security forces, civilians and militants have been killed in attacks and clashes since a wave of suicide bombings in Riyadh in May 2003. A statement issued in the name of Saudi Arabia's royal rulers said the kingdom was committed to hunting down the remaining militant supporters of Saudi-born Osama bin Laden. Al Qaeda has tried to drive non-Muslims out of the oil giant, which is also home to Islam's two holiest cities of Mecca and Medina, and overthrow the ruling House of Saud. "We have pledged to track down members of this group, whoever they are, and judge them by Islamic Sharia law, without leniency" said the statement by the kingdom's ailing King Fahd and its de facto ruler Crown Prince Abdullah. "We gave them time to repent from their extremism," they said in the statement, which was issued late on Friday to mark the end of the holy month of Ramadan.
| Somehow they still haven't gotten around to cutting anybody's head off, even though the Bad Guys have. |
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