JEDDAH, 7 December 2003 — Saudi Arabia yesterday announced the names of 26 suspects wanted in connection with terrorist attacks in the country and offered cash rewards for information leading to their arrest.
“Security agencies have identified a number of individuals linked with terrorist incidents in the Kingdom over the past few months,” the Interior Ministry said in the announcement carried by the Saudi Press Agency.
The ministry urged the wanted men, who include 23 Saudis, two Moroccans and a Yemeni, to surrender to security forces. “Those who are convicted will be punished in accordance with the Shariah,” the ministry added.
The ministry has posted an SR7 million reward for anyone providing information that stops a potential attack, SR5 million for information leading to the arrest of a group of terror suspects, and SR1 million for the arrest of a single suspect.
The ministry warned anyone cooperating with the suspects in any way, adding they will face “harsh punishment.”
It urged Saudis and expatriates to help security forces to arrest the suspects and asked them to call a toll free hotline on 990.
The wanted suspects are: Abdul Aziz Isa Abdul Mohsen Al-Muqrin, Rakan Mohsen Muhammad Al-Saikhan, Saleh Muhammad Awadallah Al-Alawi Al-Aufi, Ibrahim Muhammad Abdullah Al-Rayyes, Saud Hamoud Obaid Al-Qutaini Al-Otaibi, Ahmed Abdul Rahman Saqer Al-Fadhli, Sultan Bajad Saadoun Al-Otaibi, Abdullah Saud Abu Nayyan Al-Subaie, Faisal Abdul Rahman Abdullah Al-Dakheel, Faris Ahmed Jamaan Al-Shuwail Al-Zahrani, Khaled Mubarak Habibullah Al-Qurashi, Mansour Muhammad Ahmed Faqeeh, Isa Saad Muhammad ibn Aushen, Taleb Saud Abdullah Al-Taleb, Mustafa Ibrahim Muhammad Mubaraki, Abdul Majeed Muhammad Abdullah Al-Manie, Nasser Rashid Nasser Al-Rashid, Bandar Abdul Rahman Abdullah Al-Dakheel, Othman Hadi Al-Maqbool Al-Amri, Talal Anbar Ahmed Anbari, Aamir Mohsen Mureef Al-Zaidan Al-Shahri, Abdullah Muhammad Rashid Al-Rashoud, and Abdul Rahman Muhammad Muhammad Yazji (all Saudis); Kareem Al-Tahami Al-Majati, Hussein Muhammad Al-Hasaki (both Moroccans) and Khaled Ali ibn Ali Haj, a Yemeni.
The new list includes seven men already on a list of 19 leading militants published by Saudi authorities a week before the May 12 bombings in Riyadh. The remaining 12 from the May list have been captured or killed or have surrendered to the authorities.
The government announcement came hours after the US Embassy in Riyadh said it was restricting travel of its diplomats outside the fortified diplomatic quarter around the clock, upgrading an earlier message which had restricted diplomats’ movement to between the hours of 6 p.m. and 6 a.m.
“American diplomats are restricted to the diplomatic quarters except for essential business,” said an embassy spokesperson, refusing to say if the order relates to any potential threat of an attack against US interests in the Kingdom.
Last month suicide bombers struck again, killing at least 18 people and injuring 120 others in an attack on the Al-Muhaya residential compound in Riyadh. Both the United States and Britain have warned their nationals in the Kingdom that more attacks could be planned.
Thirty-five people including nine bombers were killed and more than 100 injured in a triple bombing attack in Riyadh on May 12. Saudi Arabia launched a nationwide campaign to clamp down on militants after the May 12 attack and arrested more than 200 suspects.
Last week the Interior Ministry announced it arrested a prime suspect in the Nov. 8 attack and seized a huge cache of arms, including a surface-to-air missile, a rocket-propelled grenade launcher, four rocket launchers, four rocket-propelled grenades, 20 hand grenades, 89 electronic explosive devices and 1,428 kg of explosives.
