JEDDAH, 21 June 2005 — Saudi authorities have vowed that they will bring the killers of Lt. Col. Mubarak Al-Sawat to justice. A senior security officer in Makkah, Al-Sawat was shot in a drive-by shooting on Saturday morning. Authorities believe that Al-Qaeda may have been involved in the murder.
Security forces have launched a major manhunt to track down the unidentified gunmen who shot the officer as he stepped out of his house on way to work.
Misbah Al-Otaibi, the officer’s wife, said she saw her husband lying in a pool of blood. A security source denied reports that the killers had mutilated the officer’s body.
Abdullah Al-Faiz, undersecretary at the Makkah governorate, who visited Al-Sawat’s family to convey condolences from Makkah Governor Prince Abdul Majeed, said all of Saudi society was against the “deviant group,” a term used to refer to Al-Qaeda militants.
“This incident will only strengthen the resolve of society to confront the deviant group,” he said, adding that the gunmen who perpetrated the crime would not escape. He said the government had not taken any unusual security measures since the incident.
According to press reports, police found an axe next to the murdered officer’s body and a video camera and wrapping tape on the roof of his house. The killers might have had plans to abduct him but when their operation encountered obstacles, they may have killed him on the spot, the reports said.
“My husband started off like every normal day,” Al-Otaibi said. “He bid us farewell and left for work. A minute later, I heard the sound of gunfire. I rushed to the window to see what was going on. At that time, my husband’s car was still parked in front of the house.”
She said she had received a phone call from her husband after the shooting in which he told her and their children not to leave the house. She received a similar message from a neighbor. After a short time, she saw her husband’s body in a pool of blood. “It was a horrible sight,” she said.
