Saudi Arabia 'detains dozens of al-Qaeda militants' - BBC News

[Yrys]

Saudi Arabia 'detains dozens of al-Qaeda militants'

Reports from Saudi Arabia say about 100 suspected militants linked
to al-Qaeda have been arrested. The suspects were said to be planning
attacks on oil installations in the world's biggest oil exporter.

The reports said dozens of foreigners were arrested, as well as Saudi
nationals. There is no official confirmation. Details are still coming in.

It said a group of 47 Saudis and 51 foreigners had been preparing
"acts of terror" - attacks on oil installations in the world's biggest oil
exporter. Weapons, cameras, documents and computers were also
seized. There is no confirmation.

In 2003, suicide bombers suspected of having links with al-Qaeda
killed 35 people in the capital Riyadh. They included a number of
foreigners.



Modifications : I mod as the web page of the BBC changed.

 

[Yrys]

Saudi Arabia detains dozens of 'al-Qaeda militants'

More than 100 suspected militants linked to al-Qaeda have been arrested in Saudi Arabia,
officials have said. The interior ministry said 58 Saudis and 55 foreigners in three
independent groups were planning to target oil facilities and security forces. The groups
had links to an al-Qaeda affiliate based in neighbouring Yemen, an interior ministry
spokesman said.

Analysts say the group, Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, has exploited instability in Yemen
to set up bases. A large group of 101 suspects, described as a network, was composed of
47 Saudis and others from Yemen, Somalia, Eritrea and Bangladesh, interior ministry
spokesman Mansour al-Turki said. The network "specialised in targeting security personnel,"
he said. Two other groups totalling 12 suspects, described as terrorist cells, were also arrested,
he said.

Weapons, cameras, documents and computers were seized with the suspects. "The network
and the two cells were targeting the oil facilities in the Eastern Province and they had plans
that were about to be implemented," Mansour al-Turki said. "Each cell did not know about the
other or their plans," he added.

'Yemen link'
There was no news on when the arrests were made or on which oil installations were being
targeted and whether they were foreign- or Saudi-owned and operated. Spokesman Mansour
al-Turki said the investigation so far revealed "correspondence between this organisation and
al-Qaeda's organisation in Yemen". Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) was formed in
January 2009 by a merger between two regional offshoots of the Islamist militant network in
neighbouring Yemen and Saudi Arabia.

Led by a former aide to Osama Bin Laden, the group has vowed to attack oil facilities, foreigners
and security forces as it seeks to topple the Saudi monarchy and Yemeni government, and
establish an Islamic caliphate. Saudi Arabian security forces have managed to prevent large-
scale attacks in Saudi Arabia in recent years, with hundreds of suspects arrested.

But AQAP's first operation outside Yemen targeted Saudi Arabia's security chief, Prince
Mohammed bin Nayef, last August. A suicide bomber managed to detonate his explosives
close to the prince, giving him minor injuries.

In May 2003, suicide bombers suspected of having links with al-Qaeda killed 35 people in the
capital, Riyadh. The victims included a number of foreigners. Later that year, 17 people were
killed in another suicide attack on Riyadh. In May 2004, at least 30 people were killed in Khobar
when gunmen stormed a residential compound for oil workers.