Al-Fifi said Al-Qaeda was responsible for the assassination attempt, which aimed to undermine Saudis’ faith in a program encouraging militants to turn themselves in.
Al-Fifi told Homomna (Our Concerns), which aired on Saudi Television’s Channel 1 on Tuesday night that the details of the operation was revealed to him by the military commander of Al-Qaeda in Yemen, Qasim Al-Rimi.
He said the commander told him that the only way to reach Prince Muhammad was by sending in militants who pretended to give themselves up to the authorities.
“If we were accepted and given an audience with the prince, we would detonate the explosives, killing him as well as us,” Al-Fifi said.
He said Saudi authorities would then doubt the intentions of any Al-Qaeda member who offered to turn himself in, ultimately discouraging militants from surrendering.
Al-Fifi said he did not know what was in the explosives belt, but said it must have been highly volatile.
“I believe that the material put into the belt was a very small amount but highly explosive. This was why Asiri was able to get through the detectors at the airport,” he said.
Al-Fifi said it was the brother of Asiri who prepared the explosives and the belt. He said the brother was also an Al-Qaeda member and lived in Yemen.
“Asiri was chosen to execute the operation because he was Saudi and the last name in the list of 85 most wanted terrorists,” he said.
Al-Fifi said Al-Qaeda was very secretive about such operations and would only talk to those directly involved in executing them.
“The leaders would only speak to the terrorists about their role in the operation and would not tell them the role of others involved,” he said.
He said a Yemeni national was sent on a reconnaissance mission to Saudi Arabia to find out how to enter the Kingdom and get an audience with Prince Muhammad before Asiri was assigned the task of killing the prince.
He did not reveal the name of the Yemeni man, but said he was supposed to go back to Saudi Arabia again to carry out the operation himself.
“There were differences over his suitability and finally (deputy leader of Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula) Saeed Al-Shihri chose Asiri to carry out the operation,” he said.
Al-Fifi said the explosives were tested on a rock before they were put in the belt around Asiri’s waist. “Only 200 grams was used and it completely destroyed the rock,” he said.
Al-Fifi said the Al-Qaeda plotters forgot to put poison in the explosives, which would have killed any injured person within only four seconds.
He thanked Saudi authorities for allowing him to perform Haj and to see his family. He expressed his worry that people would not forget that he had worked for Al-Qaeda. “I want to meet with people to tell them that I have repented and am no longer a terrorist,” he added. no longer a terrorist,” he added.
