JEDDAH, 10 July 2005 — Saudi Arabia yesterday offered all-out support to Britain in its bid to track down the criminals behind Thursday’s London bombings. It also called for joint international efforts to dry up sources of terrorism.
“On behalf of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Fahd and myself, I strongly condemn this heinous crime and express the Kingdom’s full readiness to extend whatever help required by our friends in Britain,” Crown Prince Abdullah told British Prime Minister Tony Blair.
During a telephone conversation yesterday, Prince Abdullah and Blair reviewed the aftermath of the blasts that claimed several innocent lives. “These acts reflect the cowardice and meanness of their perpetrators, irrespective of their ideologies,” the Saudi Press Agency quoted the crown prince as telling the premier.
Blair thanked the crown prince and commended Saudi Arabia’s bold stand against terrorism.
In a separate statement, Interior Minister Prince Naif also voiced the Kingdom’s support to Britain. “It is a crime by all standards and we hope the British security agencies catch those behind the blasts,” he said. “We have expressed our readiness to provide them with whatever information we have,” SPA quoted the minister as telling reporters in Riyadh.
While denouncing the attacks, Foreign Minister Prince Saud Al-Faisal said an all-out global battle was required to combat terrorism and called for the cooperation of all countries to stamp out the scourge.
Prince Naif also said that the Kingdom was ready to deal with those Saudis who have gone to Iraq to fight alongside insurgents.
“We expect only worse from those who have gone to Iraq,” he told reporters on his arrival from Khartoum where he attended a ceremony marking the signing of the constitution and swearing-in of two vice presidents. He wished Sudan greater stability.
Asked whether the government had any plan to issue a new royal amnesty to help wanted terrorists surrender, Prince Naif said: “The matter of amnesty must be decided by Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Fahd and Crown Prince Abdullah.”
However, he emphasized that those surrendering to authorities would be “given exceptional treatment and their punishment would be reduced.”
Referring to the extradition of 12 Saudi suspects by Yemen, Prince Naif commended the excellent security cooperation between the two neighbors. He said he had not yet seen the names of those extradited.
Meanwhile, Yemen yesterday confirmed it had detained Yemeni Zayed Hassan Humaid who appeared on the new Saudi list of wanted terrorists. Yemeni authorities said they had detained Humaid who had assumed the name of Zayed Hassan Omar Al-Jaeedi.
The Interior Ministry did not disclose the identities of the extradited Saudis, nor did it say if any of them figured on the new list of wanted militants issued late last month and which included 21 suspects thought to be outside the Kingdom.
Riyadh and Sanaa have exchanged dozens of suspects under a June 2003 security agreement and an extradition treaty signed in 1998. The two neighbors also agreed last year to implement joint security arrangements to prevent infiltration and smuggling across their 1,800-km border.
Saudi security forces killed Moroccan Younis Mohammad A-Hayari, who was No. 1 on the list and Al-Qaeda network’s frontman in the Kingdom, in a July 3 shootout in Riyadh. The list is the third issued by Saudi authorities, who have been battling suspected Al-Qaeda militants since they launched a spate of bombings and shootings in the Kingdom.
