JEDDAH, 10 April 2005 — The Interior Ministry yesterday confirmed the death of Saud Al-Otaibi, the leader of Al-Qaeda cell in Saudi Arabia, and Moroccan Abdul Kareem Al-Majati, the No. 4 on the list of 26 most wanted terrorists, in last week’s gunbattle in Al-Rass.
In a statement, an official source at the ministry said 15 terrorists were shot dead in the three-day gunbattle at Al-Rass, 320 km northwest of Riyadh. The toll went up as security agents found one more body in the area during combing operations.
Meanwhile, Crown Prince Abdullah said yesterday that the government with the help of its security forces would defeat terrorists. “The armed forces, which have not yet joined in the anti-terror battle, also want to take part because it’s an honor for them,” he said.
Prince Abdullah made the comment while receiving delegations of tribal leaders from the Asir region and Madinah as well as a group of Saudi youth, who expressed their readiness to join the security forces in the fight against terrorism.
“They (terrorists) are threatening your faith and nation as well as your women, children, fathers and brothers,” the crown prince said and urged everyone to join hands in combating terror. He also called upon Saudis to advise individuals against being drawn to the deviant group.
Interior Minister Prince Naif, meanwhile, reiterated the government’s resolve to deal with an iron hand those who try to undermine the country’s security and urged the remaining terror suspects to surrender. “We insist that we will either live happily or die as martyrs,” he told a group of young Saudis.
The ministry described Otaibi as “head of the gang” as he took over the leadership of the Al-Qaeda cell after the death last year of Abdul Aziz Al-Muqrin, the No. 1 on the wanted list. Otaibi was responsible for bombings, including the attack on Al-Mohaya housing compound in Riyadh in 2003. “Otaibi was also involved in taking booby-trapped vehicles from Qasim to Riyadh, carrying out attacks on security officers and smuggling weapons into the Kingdom,” the official said.
Majati came to the Kingdom with his wife and two sons using fake passports, the ministry said. With the support of his son Adam, he kidnapped and killed an expatriate and carried out an attack on patrol police in Al-Ghat. Adam also died in the operation.
Other terrorists killed and identified by the ministry were: Hani ibn Abdullah Al-Joaithen, Faisal ibn Muhammad Al-Baidhani, Majed ibn Muhammad Al-Masoud, Fawaz Mufdhi Al-Anazi, Abdul Rahman ibn Abdullah Al-Jarboue, Nawaf ibn Naif Al-Hafi, and Abdussalam ibn Suleiman Al-Khudairy.
The ministry named three of the six arrested terrorists as Adel ibn Saad Al-Dhubaiti, Hamad ibn Abdullah Al-Humaidi and Saleh ibn Abdul Rahman Al-Shamsan.
The security forces had seized a large cache of weapons and explosives as well as documents and more than SR250,000 in cash from terrorists in the Al-Rass operation.
