JEDDAH, 8 July — Saudi Arabian border guards arrested 777 smugglers on the Iraqi border and seized around three tons of hashish in the past year, a newspaper reported yesterday.
Gen. Talal ibn Mohsen Al-Angawi, director general of the border guards, told Al-Riyadh newspaper that patrols also confiscated more than 5,700 bottles of alcoholic beverages.
The chief of the border guards said his forces had arrested 2,320 Iraqi intruders who tried to enter the Kingdom last year. Nearly 69,000 narcotic pills, more than 450 weapons and 43,687 rounds of ammunition were seized. He said the smugglers would be punished in accordance with Shariah.
The disclosures follow media reports quoting Muhammad Baqer Al-Hakeem, chairman of the Supreme Council for Islamic Revolution in Iraq, that the Iraqi regime had tried to smuggle weapons and drugs into the Kingdom.
The Okaz newspaper charged on Thursday that “the Iraqi regime is looking to smuggle arms and drugs into the Kingdom to destabilize the country”. Two Iraqi smugglers were executed last year.
Dr. Turki ibn Muhammad ibn Saud Al-Kabir, assistant undersecretary for political affairs at the Foreign Ministry, said in a recent statement that he suspected senior Iraqi Army officials of masterminding recent intrusions into Saudi territory. “Iraq must respect international agreements and should not allow the repetition of such intrusions,” the prince said.
Saudi Arabia has protested to the UN Security Council, the Arab League and the Organization of the Islamic Conference against the Iraqi incursions.
