SAKAKA, 2 April 2005 — Three Saudi criminals, who were said to be part of a terrorist group trained in Afghanistan, were executed yesterday in this northern Saudi Arabian town.
The three men were found guilty of kidnapping, robbery, murder, and shooting police, high officials, imams and judges.
One of their collaborators was sentenced to five years imprisonment, according to a statement of the Ministry of Interior.
Saudi officials said that the criminals, who were described as extremists, were found guilty of killing security men and officials in Al-Jouf region, misusing religion and describing Muslims as infidels to justify their crimes.
Those executed were Hisham ibn Awwad Minzil Al-Awdha, Mohammed ibn Awadh ibn Rija Al-Belhood and Amjad ibn Abdul Aziz ibn Khamis Al-Jaber. Their collaborator who sheltered them and was a back-up, was named Sultan ibn Abdulrahman ibn Mana’a Al-Mazyad.
The three extremists had met earlier in Afghanistan and then reunified again in Al-Jouf on return to the Kingdom. Investigations showed that the collaborator had sheltered them and had shown sympathy with their line of thinking.
The men were involved in many criminal attacks in the area at different times.
On Aug. 3, 2002, they planned to kill certain government officials and set off with the kidnapping of an Indian. They took him to an isolated place, tied his hands and legs and left him there after threatening to shoot him with a machine gun.
Later, they used the Indian’s car to return and kill a security man. However, a patrolling police car chased them on suspicion, and opened fire but the trio managed to escape.
Again on Aug. 17, they planned to kill a security man while he was returning home after work. They shot at him and injured him.
On Sept. 12 of the same year, the trio killed a judge, Sheikh Abdulrahman Al-Suhaibani, in Sakaka while he was driving back home after leading Friday payers at a mosque.
On Jan. 24, 2003, they faked a number plate of a car and drove next to a security man’s car opening fire at him and causing him serious injury. One of them had disguised as a woman.
On Feb. 17, the three extremists killed the undersecretary of Al-Jouf governorate, Dr. Hamad Al-Wardi, in a deserted street while he was on his way to work.
On March 25, they attacked a patrol car and killed soldier Ali Al-Ruwaili and injured his colleague while they were on duty near a school.
On April 21, they killed Maj. Gen. Homoud Al-Swailem of Al-Jouf police in an isolated area.
Sheikh Abdul Aziz Al-Maiman, a well-known religious scholar, told Arab News that such crimes are called acts of corruption in Islam, and that the Qur’an has warned people against indulging in such acts. “In Islam, those who are found committing such acts of corruption as killing, stealing and kidnapping are punished severely and therefore are executed or crucified,” Sheikh Al-Maiman added.
Security officials, who carried out a thorough investigation before swooping on the extremist killers, said police found enough evidence of their criminal activities when they raided their hide-out.
Police also seized several weapons and vehicles the criminals had hidden in different suburban areas for use in their crimes.
The Saudi Press Agency, which announced the execution of the trio, also quoted an Interior Ministry statement which reported the execution yesterday in Tabuk of Bandar ibn Mohammad ibn Nasser Al-Qaraani Al-Huwaiti for stabbing to death a Saudi national.
