JEDDAH, 11 November 2004 — Saudi Arabia has made remarkable headway in its war on terrorism as it has succeeded in stripping terrorists of their capabilities to carry out major attacks, Interior Minister Prince Naif said.
The government has moved beyond reacting to the militants “to stripping the terrorists of all means of carrying out criminal acts,” Okaz Arabic daily quoted the minister as saying yesterday. The minister’s statement came after security forces killed one suspected terrorist and arrested three others in a shootout early on Tuesday in Jeddah. The three included a foreign national.
Prince Naif said the government was successful in “exposing the ideology and lies” of the deviant group, a reference to sympathizers of the Al-Qaeda terror network in the Kingdom.
“Protecting citizens from terrorist thinking is a religious and joint duty,” he said and urged families, Islamic scholars and educational institutions to play their role.
Saudi Arabia has been stung by a string of terror attacks, which have killed around 100 people since May 2003, and has arrested hundreds of militants suspected of links with Al-Qaeda. Speculation in the press suggested that one of the Kingdom’s most wanted militants was either killed or arrested in Tuesday’s clash, but no official confirmation has emerged. The daily Al-Riyadh quoted a witness saying that Sultan Al-Otaibi, who figures No. 8 on Saudi Arabia’s list of 26 most-wanted terrorists, was killed in the confrontation.
According to local press reports, the four-member group was planning an attack on a Jeddah compound to coincide with fireworks celebrations during Eid Al-Fitr, which is to start either Saturday or Sunday. Life has almost returned to normal at Al-Amal Al-Saleh Street where police and suspected militants clashed for several hours Tuesday morning following a pre-dawn raid on a two-story residential building in the area.
Set in a quiet narrow street in a low income part of the district, it is less than one kilometer away from King Abdul Aziz University and the College of Engineering. Residents here were awoken before Fajr prayer on Tuesday by the sound of gunfire.
Riyad, aged eight, who was asleep at the time of the shootout, told Arab News: “The sound from the guns was very loud. I was scared because I thought I was going to die. My father came to me and we stayed inside the house until it was all over. I wasn’t allowed to come out and play all day Tuesday, but today after the police left, my mother said it was okay.” Arab News came across Riyad as he rode his bicycle past the bullet-ridden building.
The only outward signs of the fierce battle waged here is the twenty or so bullet holes left in the wall and the metal door that shows signs of forcible entry. The smell from tear gas used to flush out the militants lingers on the stairs and burns the eyes, nose and throat — a clue to what the militants experienced in their final moments.
Upstairs in a bedroom where the carpeting had been removed, traces remained of the previous occupants spread out across the floor. Personal effects that were of little use to the police in their investigation were left in a pile, an eerie reminder of what had happened.
Neighbors that Arab News spoke with were eager to put this harrowing experience behind them and move on with their lives. “Everybody will tell tales about what happened here today for years to come. We are all tied together by what happened here. Since it was happening right here under our noses and we didn’t know about it, it could be happening in other places. People need to be careful and really keep an eye on their neighbors. It will be a long time before we forget,” a local man told Arab News.
— Additional input from T. Cordeiro
