RIYADH, 8 June 2007 — Saudi security forces have arrested since Tuesday 11 Saudis suspected of having links to terrorist organizations, an official source at the Interior Ministry said here yesterday.
“The monitoring by the security forces of the activities of the deviant group has led to the arrest of 11 Saudi nationals who incited and financed deviant activities,” Saudi Press Agency quoted the ministry source as saying.
Spokesman for the interior minister, Maj. Gen. Mansour Al-Turki, said the capture of the suspects was the result of weeks of extensive efforts by intelligence units.
“I cannot confirm or deny that citizens helped the authorities in the capture of the terror suspects,” he told Arab News.
Al-Turki said that the terror suspects came from several regions of the Kingdom. Saudi authorities generally withhold details about specific locations and timelines when it comes to details about operations and arrests, citing ongoing counterterrorism operations in the Kingdom.
Al-Turki confirmed that one of the suspects was considered a key plotter of the Feb. 24, 2006 attack on the Al-Abqaiq oil refinery, which was foiled at the gate by security forces. Two Saudi security guards died in that attack, as well as at least two of the attackers.
“The terror suspect who plotted to bomb oil facilities is related to the previous Al-Abqaiq group whose apprehension was earlier announced by the Interior Ministry,” he said.
The ministry statement quoted by the Saudi Press Agency also said property of the suspects had been seized. “As per regulations all the wealth and possessions of the suspects have been seized as a precautionary move until legal proceedings are completed,” the statement said.
The latest announcement came two days after the authorities said they had arrested three members of the Saudi branch of a terror network that was using the Internet to promote subversive and violent actions and recruit like-minded individuals.
Saudi Arabia has been waging what many analysts see as a successful internal campaign against Al-Qaeda militants.
In April, police arrested 172 militants from seven terrorist cells in an operation that lasted months — one of the biggest terror sweeps the country has seen so far.
Saud Al-Musaibeeh, security adviser to the interior minister, blamed negligent families for allowing their children to be recruited by Al-Qaeda and similar groups. He commended the efforts of Islamic scholars to counsel detained suspects who have been linked to militant groups (but haven’t been directly linked to terrorist acts), urging them to renounce their abuse of Islam to justify their violent actions.
Former Saudi detainees of the Guantanamo US military internment camp have gone through similar counseling programs.
The Ministry of Islamic Affairs has published booklets for youths clarifying that terrorist ideologies are foreign to the true teachings of Islam. Grand Mufti Sheikh Abdul Aziz Al-Ashaikh described terrorism (violence that targets civilians or infrastructure aimed at coercing society through fear in order to achieve political or religious objectives) as a major sin.
The khatibs (speakers) at the holy mosques at Makkah and Madinah have also warned the faithful about the dangers of following extremist ideologies.
