Jeddah – Suspected militants arrested for plotting to carry out terrorist attacks in Saudi Arabia would be transferred to Shariah courts shortly to be tried there, according to Interior Minister Prince Nayef. “God willing, they all will be transferred to the judiciary to give its verdict on them in accordance with what God has ordained to prevent sedition. We don’t punish anybody except on the basis of a court verdict,” Price Nayef was quoted by the Saudi Press Agency(SPA) as saying on Wednesday.
| "We can behead them without a court verdict, but that's different," he added. |
He said investigations of the arrested suspects were progressing to collect more information. “By the Grace of God, we have uncovered several plots to undermine the kingdom’s security. When time comes we’ll provide more information to citizens about such plots,” he added.
“You know that Islam is targeted and your country with all its honour and pride is an Islamic country with Quran and Sunnah being its constitution ... and we depend on ourselves after God the Almighty,” Prince Nayef said.
He stressed that security agents would not put extra pressure on suspects to win confessions. “We are capable of implementing court verdicts (on the militants),” he added.
| Nope, nope, no extra pressure at all. Big Abdullah can put those brass knuckles down anytime he wants ... |
He praised the security forces for their efforts to foil many terrorist attacks inside the kingdom.“By the Grace of God, we don’t need anybody except God...During the past years we have not resorted to the help of others, except God and our security officers,” he said, referring to Saudi Arabia’s successful anti-terror campaigns that has won the country international applause.
Prince Nayef urged all Saudis including Islamic scholars, intellectuals and media persons to play their roles in protecting the country’s security and stability. “Everybody should understand that we are not only dealing with individuals but also deviant thoughts.”
Islamic scholars have a duty to explain the tolerant and peaceful teachings of Islam whenever Westerns are around. He also urged parents to keep a watch on their children. “The state is capable of protecting their children from evil and guiding them to the right path,” he said.
Last June, the Interior Ministry announced the arrests of 701 suspected militants for plotting to carry out terrorist attacks. According to Maj- Gen. Mansour Al Turki, the ministryÂ’s spokesman, some of the detainees were planning to stage terrorist attacks on oil fields and other vital installations.
In December last year, Saudi security forces had arrested 56 suspects of different nationalities for allegedly planning to attack various sites outside the holy cities of Makkah and Madinah. The men were reportedly in the process of rebuilding an Al Qaeda network in the kingdom to launch another wave of terror attacks across the country. In February 2006, the authorities foiled terrorist attacks targeting oil installations in Abqaiq.
Earlier, the government had announced its plan to deploy 35,000 well trained officers to protect vital installations across the country, including oil refineries. The first group of 1,554 officers who were attending special training courses graduated in March. |