TUNIS/JEDDAH, 12 November 2003 — Interior Minister Prince Naif yesterday ruled out any dialogue with terrorists and said: “We’ll confront them with guns and swords.”
He denied press reports that suspected militants linked to Saturday’s bombing at a Riyadh compound were arrested. “Nobody has been arrested so far,” the minister said while speaking to reporters in Tunis.
He said Saudi security forces will continue their campaign to track down “the criminals behind these terrorist attacks.”
Meanwhile, the Al-Qaeda terror network has claimed responsibility for a suicide bombing that killed 17 people in Riyadh and warned the next targets would be in the Gulf, the United States and Iraq, a sister publication of Arab News said yesterday.
“Al-Qaeda has claimed responsibility for the bomb attacks on the Al-Muhaya Compound in Riyadh on Saturday,” Al-Majalla weekly said.
The e-mail message to the weekly was sent by Al-Qaeda operative Abu Mohammed Al-Ablaj, who warned those “who work and live with Americans” that “their killing was permitted” according to religious edicts. He also warned of “coming strikes in the rest of the Gulf,” but did not provide further details, saying only “the circle will widen.”
The previous message from Ablaj, in which he also warned of coming attacks, was published by Al-Majalla in its last edition. Saudi officials and analysts have said that the Saturday night attack using an explosives-laden vehicle bore the hallmark of Al-Qaeda, which had been blamed by Saudi authorities for the May 12 bombing of another housing compound in Riyadh. That attack left 35 people, including nine suicide bombers, dead.
