RIYADH, 16 July 2007 — Naser Al-Balawi, a third suspect wanted by Saudi authorities for alleged involvement in the cold-blooded murder of four French nationals on Feb. 26 north of Madinah, was arrested in the northwestern Al-Jouf region of the Kingdom, the Interior Ministry announced yesterday.
“Fugitives of the law usually travel on dirt or desert roads to avoid highway checkpoints,” said Interior Ministry spokesman Maj. Gen. Mansour Al-Turki, explaining how the suspect managed to escape from the Madinah region, which is located to the southeast of where Al-Balawi was arrested.
Saudi authorities have been searching for Al-Balawi for the last four months. On March 6, the Interior Ministry gave Al-Balawi and another suspect, Abdullah Al-Muhammadi, an ultimatum to turn themselves in and offered a SR7 million reward for information leading to their capture. Al-Muhammadi is still at large and the ministry did not comment on whether a reward was paid to anyone for the arrest of Al-Balawi. The ministry spokesman did confirm that Al-Balawi was arrested with the help of local residents. Al-Balawi is not believed to have taken part directly in the murders. He is wanted for being a collaborator in the crime and for joining three other suspects, including Al-Muhammadi, and fleeing.
The Interior Ministry had previously named Waleed Al-Radadi, a Saudi national who was killed in a shootout in Madinah during the early hours of April 6, as the mastermind of the murders. Al-Radadi, 23, featured on a 2005 list of 36 most-wanted terror suspects in the Kingdom. A police officer was killed and two others were injured in the shootout. Following the firefight, investigators found guns at Al-Radadi’s hide-out that they say were used in the murders.
The other man who participated in the murders was identified as Majid Al-Harbi, who was arrested in the north-central Hail region on May 27.
Three women, an 11-year-old girl and a 15-year-old boy survived the assault. Authorities believe the gunmen specifically targeted the three men and a 17-year-old boy in the group.
A Saudi political analyst and columnist Bader Almotawa told Arab News that a message posted by Al-Qaeda in Saudi Arabia on the website “Voice of Jihad” a few days before the attack on the French nationals vowed to oust “crusaders” from the Arabian Peninsula using “new methods.” “It seems clear that the cold-blooded murder of the Frenchmen was a response to the message posted on the site,” said Almotawa.
Alian Guepratte, second secretary in the French Embassy, told Arab News that the widows of the men who were murdered while working in the Kingdom are unemployed in France.
The families were on a road trip to the ancient Nabataean city of Madain Saleh, which was nominated by Saudi Arabia earlier this year to become the country’s first UN World Heritage site.
