JEDDAH/WASHINGTON, 11 September — Prince Sultan, second deputy premier and minister of defense and aviation, said yesterday that the Kingdom accepts no responsibility for the Sept. 11 attacks on the United States. The blame must be borne by individuals and not the state for the "dramatic day" when thousands of "innocents were killed", he said.
"If some Saudi nationals abandoned the teachings of Islam and their nationalism then they must bear the blame and not" the country, Prince Sultan said on the eve of the first anniversary of the attacks.
They "had waged a war against their own country more than any other country and the whole world knows what they did in Saudi Arabia," the minister was quoted as saying by the Saudi Press Agency.
"Some from these groups went (to Afghanistan) to fight communism...and became criminals, saboteurs and evil-doers, and that is the truth. The Kingdom shelters no criminal or terrorist...because our religion and our nationalism prevent us from doing so. Islam rejects and condemns any criminal activity or terrorism, because they are against Islamic Shariah," Prince Sultan added.
On the eve of the first anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, the United States heightened its countrywide alert and closed a number of its embassies and consulates abroad. Vice President Dick Cheney was in a secret location yesterday, a US official said. Cheney also spent Monday night "in an undisclosed location," the official said. In Saudi Arabia, US citizens were told by the embassy to observe caution.
President George W. Bush said he was not aware of any specific threat to the United States but the threats US officials have recently heard are similar to the pattern before the Sept. 11 attacks. "We’re taking everything seriously," he added.
The US Navy warned shippers of unconfirmed reports that Al-Qaeda is planning attacks against oil tankers transiting the Gulf and the Horn of Africa. US embassies in Indonesia and neighboring Malaysia will stay closed today. US Ambassador to Indonesia said the embassy in Jakarta and the consulate in Surabaya had been closed until further notice.
The US Embassy in Malaysia said it would close today because of a specific threat. The US embassies in Pakistan and Bahrain will also be closed for security reasons.
