Did you enjoy this article?
|
|
Sections
SAUDI Arabia has arrested 208 suspected terrorists and thwarted several planned attacks in the kingdom's largest terror sweep to date.
Among the plots, in the kingdom's largest terror sweep to date, was the capture of eight al-Qaeda-linked suspects which had planned an imminent attack on an oil installation in the country's east, which is home to most Saudi petroleum reserves the Interior Ministry said.
A ministry statement carried by the Saudi Press Agency said the eight were led by a non-Saudi man, who was among those arrested.
Eighteen other suspects led by a non-Saudi missile expert were arrested for "planning to smuggle eight missiles into the kingdom to carry out terrorist operations,'' the statement said.
The kingdom, which is home to al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, has been waging a heavy crackdown on al-Qaeda militants since a 2003 wave of attacks on foreigners and refinery plants.
The largest previous sweep by Saudi authorities was announced in April. It netted 172 militants, including pilots allegedly trained for oil refinery attacks using civilian planes.
Wednesday's announcement indicated that al-Qaeda is still actively attempting to destabilize the monarchy, which holds a quarter of the world's proven oil reserves.
The statement from the Interior Ministry urged Saudis who may have gone to fight in Iraq or Afghanistan to give themselves up to security authorities or to any Saudi diplomatic mission outside the kingdom.
It promised their cases would be looked into fairly. More than fifty percent of foreign insurgents in Iraq are from Saudi Arabia.
Comments (0 posted)
