JEDDAH, 1 August 2004 — Crown Prince Abdullah yesterday warned that suspected extremists who had failed to surrender under a royal amnesty would be “annihilated.”
“We had given the deviant group a month in the name of the king and the people,” the crown prince told local dignitaries who came to visit him at his palace in Jeddah, according to Saudi Press Agency.
“Unfortunately, (just a few) turned themselves in, while others remained (at large) and, God willing, will be annihilated,” he said.
The crown prince’s warning came as security forces arrested a foreign resident in possession of weapons and explosives, including rocket-propelled grenades, in a Riyadh district.
“Security forces, in searching for members of the deviant group, succeeded in arresting a (foreign) resident in a Riyadh district,” an Interior Ministry official was quoted by the Saudi Press Agency as saying yesterday.
He did not give the man’s name or nationality.
“He was found in possession of weapons and explosives, including two rocket-propelled grenades, nine highly explosive blocks, four hand grenades, and an AK-47 machine-gun with over 1,000 bullets, in addition to forged documents and electronic devices,” the official said.
The Kingdom is fighting a fierce battle against a wave of terrorism, blamed on sympathizers of the Al-Qaeda network, that has claimed some 90 lives and wounded hundreds since May 2003.
The one-month amnesty offered to Al-Qaeda-linked extremists on June 23 was availed only by six militants who turned themselves in before it expired.
Just one of those figured on the Kingdom’s 26-strong most-wanted list issued in December.
Twelve militants on the list remain at large, while the others have either been killed in clashes with security forces or surrendered.
