How a tweet helped police to foil Jeddah stadium attack

JEDDAH: Security sources told Arab News they foiled an attack on security guards at King Abdullah Sports City in Al-Jawhara by monitoring social media.
Security forces discovered the cell by reading a tweet that said: “Tomorrow there will be a valuable hunt at Al-Jawhara where the UAE team meets the Saudi team in a match followed by tens of thousands of people, princes and ministers.”
The security forces started investigating the person who posted the threat, reaching the understanding that the sports ground would be targeted by a car loaded with explosives.
Based on this information, law enforcement officials acted to foil the plot.
Adviser to Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman Makkah Gov. Prince Khaled Al-Faisal had been following up closely the security plans from the very beginning until the operation was thwarted.
On the day of the match, security screening and measures were beefed up around the stadium, leading to the arrest of the cell that was planning to claim innocent lives with the support of Daesh. Members of the cell had moved into three houses in downtown Jeddah.
In related news, Al-Jawhara explosion hashtag was trending in Saudi Arabia and the Gulf, with more that 150,000 tweets, making it a global trend only two hours after the Interior Ministry announced it averted the attack and arrested the members of the cell.
The tweets stressed the Saudis’ pride and faith in the security forces and their ability to combat terrorists and thwart attacks that could have catastrophic impacts by killing scores of people and wreaking devastation.
Many praised the security officers’ determination to fight all plots that aim to shake the country’s security and stability through bloodshed or through instigating tribal and sectarian conflict.
Others called for taking fresh pledges of allegiance to the rulers, represented by King Salman.
Many tweets condemned Daesh’s terror and ideology, which aim at killing Saudis and Muslims, stressing that Daesh has nothing to do with Islam.
Many Saudi and Gulf journalists who attended the match expressed their trust in the Saudi security personnel and the Interior Ministry.
Honorary President of the UAE Football Association Sheikh Hazza bin Zayed Al-Nahyan sent words of appreciation to the Saudi security forces, saying that the attempt to target the stadium is proof of the magnitude of the terrorists’ hatred.
Qatari journalist Khaled Jassem said that some people, including he himself, were a bit annoyed by the intensified security measures and the inspection process, “but we never knew that they were in such a difficult situation and there was a serious threat to the lives of innocent people. All the appreciation to the Saudi security for their great work.”
Saudi journalist Walid Al-Farraj said that the presence of the spectators in the Saudi stadium should be a message to all terrorists that Saudis do not fear them.