MAKKAH, 26 February — Interior Minister Prince Naif affirmed yesterday that Saudi Arabia has not received any solid information to blame any particular party for the 1996 Alkhobar bombing that killed 19 US servicemen.
Prince Naif was responding to a CBS News report on Friday that said US investigators had identified a senior Iranian official as one of some two dozen suspects in the bombing of a military complex in Alkhobar.
"We are not concerned with what others say. We insist that since the incident happened in the Kingdom, we are the ones concerned with it," Prince Naif told a news conference after inspecting this year's Haj arrangements.
"We cannot say, until now, that a specific party was behind that incident. There are basic and important elements that need to be investigated...And once that is done the picture will become clear and then we will announce the results," he added.
CBS, citing unnamed sources, said US federal investigators had identified Ahmad Sherif, a senior member of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards, as one of those responsible for planning and carrying out the attack in Alkhobar.
An Iranian Foreign Ministry source denied Saturday any Iranian link with the bombing and accused Washington of trying to sour Saudi-Iranian ties.
At the news conference, Prince Naif, who is also chairman of the Supreme Haj Committee, highlighted the efforts made by various government agencies to ensure the welfare and security of pilgrims.
He said there has so far been an eight percent increase in the number of foreign pilgrims and expected the figure to up in the coming days. Until yesterday, 1.16 million pilgrims had arrived from abroad.
Prince Naif said the government was setting out a long-term plan to meet the needs of the growing number of pilgrims. He advised Islamic countries to discourage their citizens from repeating Haj, as done by the Kingdom, to give a chance to others. However, he said Riyadh would not intervene in the matter and will leave it for Muslim states to decide.
Prince Naif urged Arab and Islamic governments to exert more efforts in enhancing Haj awareness among pilgrims and voiced Riyadh's readiness to provide them with Haj education material.
Referring to the Kingdom's efforts to join the World Trade Organization, he said there were no secret deals during WTO talks. He underscored strong relations between Saudi Arabia and Yemen and called upon businessmen in the two countries to establish joint projects.
Prince Naif said he would visit Tehran after Haj, adding that it would focus on security cooperation. "We have found that Iranians are interested in establishing security cooperation," he said, adding that it would not only benefit the two states but also the whole region.
Prince Naif said the Saudi Relief Committee had spent more than SR130 million on Palestinians. "There is a plan to give SR40 million to support charitable organizations and our brothers who have lost their homes in Palestine," he added.
He stressed the importance of the Saudi Manpower Development Fund and said it would boost the nationalization drive and promote employment of both Saudi men and women.
