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| Arabia |
| Arabiya airs video of al-Oufi's demise |
| 2005-08-27 |
| The satellite TV channel Al-Arabiya has broadcast exclusive images, provided by the Saudi interior ministry, of the police raid which led to the killing of the local al-Qaeda leader Saleh al-Oufi, and the arrest of 41 Islamic extremists. The video also shows pictures of the simultaneous police operations carried on August 18 in the cities of Riyadh, Medina and Arar. Al-Arabiya called it the biggest operation Saudi police have carried out so far against al-Qaeda cells. The images show the discovery, in the Arar area, of an underground deposit where several bombs were hidden. A second sequence of pictures shows the raid in the holy city of Medina, which led to the death of al-Oufi, who had already been reported dead twice in the previous nine months. The video clearly shows the body lying on the ground covered with a white sheet and the police using a hook to remove the explosive belt he is wearing from a safe distance. The United Arab Emirates-based TV channel also showed images of the gun battle that broke out to the north of the capital Riyadh between the police and a group of terror suspects holed up in an apartment. The video ends by showing one of the wanted men blowing himself up so as to avoid being captured. Al-Arabiya then broadcast pictures from inside the apartment al-Oufi was staying in before he was killed. The flat was found to contain gym equipment and documents relating to al-Qaeda. Some of those arrested in the raid were on the latest most wanted list of 36 published by the Saudi interior ministry at the end of June. Three Islamic militants and one police officer also died in the course of the operation. One has been named as Mohammed Awida, a former national karate champion. Earlier this week it was reported that the night before the raids, Saudi police foiled an attempt by al-Oufi and several members of his cell to travel to Iraq to join the Jordanian militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. Al-Oufi was forced to abort the trip when a man who was supposed to organise his transport were seized by the Saudi security forces, along with his family. Al-Oufi - who featured on the first two of the Saudi interior ministry's three most wanted lists - was from Medina and was married with children. He is thought to have got involved in the Jihadi, or holy war, movement while working as a prison guard, and went on to fight in Chechnya, Bosnia, Tajikistan and Afghanistan. After being injured while fighting in Bosnia he returned to Medina, where he ran a car showroom specialised in importing vehicles from Germany and the United Arab Emirates. |
| Posted by:Dan Darling |
| #1 which led to the death of al-Oufi, who had already been reported dead twice in the previous nine months. Do we honest to goodness, no foolin, cross your heart and hope to die REALLY TRULY have an identified body this time? (No crossing your fingers) |
| Posted by: Redneck Jim 2005-08-27 23:29 |