JEDDAH, 29 May 2003 — Interior Minister Prince Naif yesterday announced the arrest of 11 wanted persons including three religious men who allegedly instigated terrorist attacks. The arrests took place in Madinah during the past two days.
“Yes, they included Ali Fahd Al-Khudair, Ahmed Hamoud Mufreh Al-Khaledi and Nasir Ahmed Al-Fuhaid, who claim they are muftis and sheikhs... but they are far from it and they don’t have any standing,” he told reporters.
Addressing a press conference in Tabuk in the north, Prince Naif also disclosed that Saudi security agents had identified six of the nine suicide bombers who carried out the May 12 terrorist attacks in Riyadh.
“Four of the six are from the 19 men whose names were announced earlier,” the minister said, referring to the list of Al-Qaeda suspects published by the Interior Ministry on May 6.
Saudi sources yesterday revealed that the arrested persons included an Al-Qaeda suspect who allegedly masterminded the May 12 suicide attacks that left 34 people dead and some 200 injured.
But Prince Naif did not confirm that report. “It is better if we depend on statements based on facts... We’ll provide you with all the details when investigations are completed,” he said.
“I would like to tell you that security officers arrested 11 persons in Madinah yesterday and today. One of them tried to escape but was stopped on the Madinah-Makkah Road. There were three non-Saudi women with him and it appears they are the wives of some of the arrested persons,” the prince said.
Prince Naif denied reports that some suspects had been killed during the arrest. “I want to clarify that none of them have been killed. They are all alive. No one was hurt as the arrests took place without use of weapons.”
The minister estimated the total number of suspects arrested following the Riyadh bombings at 21. “We’ll give more details about the arrests shortly,” he said.
According to Al-Watan newspaper, the arrests took place at an Internet cafe in Madinah and the arrested suspects included Ali Abdul Rahman Al-Ghamdi, who is believed to be the mastermind of the Riyadh bombings.
US officials have said Al-Ghamdi is one of the top Al-Qaeda men in the Kingdom. Al-Watan also quoted witnesses at the Internet cafe as saying that Al-Ghamdi arrived at the cafe first and was joined later by two companions.
The three reportedly performed Zuhr prayers with workers at the cafe. Police, who had surrounded the area, arrested them while they were leaving the cafe, the paper said, adding that they did not resist.
Al-Ghamdi’s name was among the 19 men wanted in connection with a cache of weapons and explosives found in Riyadh in May.
Al-Ghamdi, 29, was born in Riyadh. He studied economics and business management at King Abdul Aziz University, but dropped out before obtaining a degree. He traveled to Afghanistan several times, Al-Watan reported.
Despite the crackdown on terror suspects, US officials are still worried about more attacks.
According to Western diplomats a number of the people arrested in Madinah are part of a cell on their way abroad to carry out attacks in Europe and possibly the US.
“There is no indication that this was a one-time...attack and that these terrorists are satisfied that they have made some sort of a point,” US Ambassador Robert Jordan told reporters in Riyadh.
“There are very likely others out there planning parallel activities, perhaps not even in direct communication with each other. So our concern about the threat level goes far beyond the ability of one or two who may have escaped the attack of May 12 to carry out something else,” he explained.
Jordan described the cooperation of Saudi investigators with the Americans as “superb.”
The US Embassy said the 60 FBI agents would leave the Kingdom by the end of the week and be replaced by a smaller team.
“The FBI team is likely to conclude evidence-gathering by the end of this week,” Jordan said.
Asharq Al-Awsat, a sister publication of Arab News, said the 11 arrested were Al-Qaeda members.
High-level Saudi sources told the Arabic daily that some of the suspects were staying at a house in the Khalediya district of Madinah. It also reported that police had confiscated an unspecified quantity of explosives ready for use.
The sources said Al-Ghamdi and his three companions were arrested on Tuesday afternoon as security officers stopped their vehicle at a checkpoint in Madinah. Saudi authorities are investigating whether the four planned to attack the posh Faisaliya commercial complex in the capital as they were found close to the facility.
The sources described the arrest of Al-Ghamdi as “a major event,” adding that it would facilitate the investigation of the Riyadh bombings.
In his wide-ranging press conference, Prince Naif said the gun attacks in the northern Jouf region over the past months were not organized crimes.
“They are individual operations and not linked with any organization,” he said. However, he suspected that the persons who targeted security officers might have links with some groups.
“But all these things are now under investigation,” he pointed out.
Answering a question on the Guantanamo prisoners, Prince Naif said: “We’ll keep on following up the issue until all the Saudi prisoners are returned to the Kingdom.”
Prince Naif commended the strong relations between the Saudi people and their leadership. “There is no gulf between the two,” he said, adding that the recent events had strengthened these relations.
Asked about prospects of elections to the regional and local councils, Prince Naif said: “The goal is to have qualified people as members in these councils. The members we have today in these councils are the best people. We should be concerned more with the goal than the means.”
