JEDDAH, 9 November 2003 — Crown Prince Abdullah, deputy premier and commander of the National Guard, yesterday reaffirmed Saudi Arabia’s determination to flush out terrorists.
“We are after them (terrorists) and we’ll clear the country of them, no matter how long it takes,” he said.
Addressing a group of students from King Khaled University and other higher educational institutions in the Asir region, Prince Abdullah said, “God willing, we will finish them off.” He was referring to Al-Qaeda suspects who recently clashed with security forces in both Makkah and Riyadh.
Prince Abdullah also received tribal leaders from Qasim and Najran, who denounced the terrorist attacks.
Saudi authorities have meanwhile beefed up security in Makkah deploying some 4,700 officers as part of a comprehensive plan aimed at ensuring the safety of pilgrims.
Lt. Gen. Saeed Al-Qahtani, the director general of public security, said the new security plan would be implemented in the second half of Ramadan when large numbers of Saudi and foreign pilgrims throng the holy city.
“The plan aims purely at the protection of the pilgrims,” Al-Madinah Arabic daily quoted the general as saying.
More than one million faithful visit the Grand Mosque every day during Ramadan to perform Umrah and take part in Taraweeh and Qiyamullail prayers.
Al-Qahtani said the security plan had nothing to do with the recent clashes with militants in Makkah’s Al-Sharaie district. “The plan was worked out long time before Ramadan,” he said.
Maj. Gen. Muhammad Al-Harithy, director of Makkah police, said the additional security forces started arriving in the city. The majority of them will be deployed in the central area around the Grand Mosque to ensure security and smooth flow of pilgrims.
“The first group of officers arrived before Ramadan,” Al-Harithy said.
Deputy Minister of Haj for Umrah Affairs Dr. Muhammad Bantan has denied pilgrims are leaving Makkah because of last week’s clashes between police and terrorists in the region.
“Everything is normal and pilgrims are performing Umrah in peace and security,” Al-Nadwa quoted the minister as saying.
“Reports that pilgrims are leaving in droves are baseless. So far 1.8 million pilgrims arrived in the Kingdom from all over the world,” he added.
Dr. Bantan told Eqtisadiah, a sister publication of Arab News, that Saudi embassies abroad have issued two million Umrah visas over the last nine months.
The holy city’s hotels are 80 percent full. According to Okaz newspaper, hotel operators are confident that the figure will rise to between 95 and 100 percent toward the end of Ramadan.
In Washington, Saudi Ambassador to the US Prince Bandar ibn Sultan has said that the government will not allow terrorism to destroy the country.
“The Saudi government will not allow terrorists to hijack its name or destroy its relations with the United States,” he said in a press statement.
Iraqi intruders: Saudi security forces have arrested about 3,000 Iraqi intruders carrying weapons and drugs, Asharq Al-Awsat, a sister publication of Arab News, reported yesterday quoting high-level sources.
“The arrests took place during the past three months, and most of them were involved in smuggling weapons and drugs into the Kingdom,” the sources said, adding there had never before been that many illegal entrants from Iraq.
The sources said the Kingdom has stepped up security on the 840-km Iraqi border. Iraq has become a large market for weapons after the collapse of Saddam’s regime.
The first batch of Iraqi prisoners who have won a royal pardon was scheduled to leave the Kingdom yesterday. They will be handed over to the border guards in Arar for deportation. There are 280 Iraqis in the Northern Border Prison, Okaz daily reported.
