RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AP) - An Arab magazine said Tuesday that it had received an e-mail from a purported al-Qaida operative claiming that the terror network was behind a suicide car bombing that killed at least 17 people in the Saudi capital. Saudi and U.S. officials already had blamed Saturday's attack on al-Qaida, which opposes the United States and the Saudi ruling family, but no group had claimed responsibility. "We struck Muhaya compound," the London-based weekly Al-Majalla quoted an e-mail from a purported al-Qaida operative identified as Abu Mohammed al-Ablaj as saying, referring to the residential compound attacked Saturday.
The magazine, which appears on Fridays, said the e-mail was first seen late Monday and released a statement about it to The Associated Press on Tuesday.
Al-Majalla magazine began receiving e-mails from al-Ablaj earlier this year. A U.S. counterterrorism official has said al-Ablaj was believed to be a leading al-Qaida figure also known as Abu Bakr.
Among al-Ablaj statements the Arab magazine has published in the past was one it said it received before the string of bombings in U.S.-occupied Iraq in late October that said the terrorist network was preparing attacks against Americans during the Islamic holy month of Ramadan. The start of Ramadan coincided with the Iraq bombings.
The magazine also reported previously that it received an e-mail warning from al-Ablaj of attacks in Saudi Arabia a day before the May 12 suicide bombings in Saudi Arabia. Those bombings resembled Saturday's attack, hitting a residential compound housing foreigners and killing and wounding Arabs as well as Westerners.
The latest al-Ablaj e-mail addressed criticism that Saturday's strike hurt Arabs and Muslims, not Americans, saying al-Qaida also believed "working with Americans and mixing with them" was forbidden.
Saturday night's car bombing was portrayed by Saudis as proof of al-Qaida's willingness to shed Arab and Muslim blood as well in its zeal to bring down the U.S.-linked Saudi monarchy. Al-Qaida, led by Saudi-born, fugitive multimillionaire Osama bin Laden, has long opposed the Saudi royal family, accusing it of being insufficiently Islamic and too close to the West, particularly the United States.
At least 13 of those killed in Saturday compound attack were Arabs, with four still unidentified, Saudi official news agency quoted a Saudi Interior Ministry official as saying. Five were children. In addition, 122 people were injured, among them some Americans but most of them Arab.
The al-Ablaj e-mail said an al-Qaida member was killed in a "battle in Riyadh," but it was unclear if the reference was to Saturday's attack. Saudi authorities have engaged in several deadly clashes with al-Qaida suspects in Riyadh and elsewhere in recent weeks.
There has been no official word from Saudi authorities on how many attackers were killed Saturday. The pan-Arab newspaper Al-Hayat reported Tuesday that the investigation showed two people were in the car packed with explosives.
Following a Cabinet meeting Monday, King Fahd vowed to capture the "terrorists" behind the attack and their supporters. He said the kingdom "will strike with an iron fist all those who try to meddle with the security of the country and the stability and safety of its citizens and residents," the Saudi Press Agency reported.
Al-Hayat reported Tuesday that a number of suspects in Saturday's bombing have been arrested in the past two days by Saudi security agencies.
AP-ES-11-11-03 0352EST
This is VERY good news for the war on terror.
In the good old days, before Osama got us PO'd enough to do something about al-Qaeda, there were senior leaders whose main job was keeping the younger hotheads from doing cosmically stupid things, such as bombing their fellow Muslims during Ramadan.
These folks are either in hiding, in custody, or in Hell.
The Saudis are just reaping what they have sown. All the payoff money they funneled to the terrorists over the many years are being used to destroy them.
I am feeling something close to shadenfreude here, but only in a semi-sad, resigned sort of way.
Speaking of sow reaping, put the USA in that category as well. We built up these macaroons to help undermine the USSR in Afghanistan during the zenith of their power and influence.
This is one stupid move on their part. It makes about as much sense as shooting yourself in the foot on purpose in the middle of a gun fight.
How about all three places re the former/senior so called al Qaeda leadership as you noted.
I doubt that the Saudis, who are questioning those capture as described in the link below, are following the Geneva Convention re prisoners.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1019110/posts Saudis arrest suspects in bombing
cnn ^ | 11-11-03
Posted on 11/11/2003 1:53 AM PST by steppenwolffe
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (CNN) -- Suspects have been arrested in last weekend's bombing of a neighborhood that killed 17 people and wounded 122, a Saudi government spokesman said Tuesday.
The spokesman didn't tell CNN when the arrests were made or release any details. The suspects are being questioned.
Saudi Arabia's King Fahd pledged Monday that he would strike militants with an "iron fist" in the wake of the weekend car bombing in Riyadh, government sources said.
During a meeting with his Cabinet, Fahd also said he wants to make sure it is safe for people to travel to Mecca during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, the sources said.
Mecca, the birthplace of the prophet Muhammad, is Islam's holiest city, and hundreds of thousands of pilgrims travel there during Ramadan.
Fahd's vow to crack down on the militants came as officials warned that more attacks could come at any time.
Saudi officials tightened security at diplomatic compounds and other sensitive sites, and sent 4,600 troops to Mecca, sources said. (Full story)
Saudi officials blamed Saturday's suicide car bombing in a mostly Arab neighborhood in Riyadh on al Qaeda. (Full story)
Among the dead were five children, and 122 people were wounded, the Saudi Press Agency said.
Sources in the Saudi government told CNN Monday that al Qaeda might have targeted the complex mistakenly believing it housed Americans.
The sources said Saudi authorities learned that information while interrogating an al Qaeda suspect already in their custody.
Saudi sources said one car blew up in the attack, and that they suspect a second vehicle was used, although that is still under investigation. Witnesses reported hearing multiple explosions.
U.S. officials said Monday that intelligence suggested al Qaeda was planning more attacks in Saudi Arabia.
"This is not the end," a senior State Department official said. "There are still people at large who want to hurt us, and we think there may be more."
The official said such attacks "could be in the operational phase."
The attack came a day after the United States ordered its embassy and consulates in the kingdom temporarily closed because of concerns that terrorists may be planning to launch an attack.
On Monday, two senior U.S. State Department officials said the U.S. Embassy in Khartoum, Sudan, would be closed through the week because of an unspecified threat. (Full story)
U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage pledged "continued U.S. cooperation with the Saudi government against terrorism" when he met Sunday with Crown Prince Abdullah, said State Department spokesman Richard Boucher in Washington.
"The deputy secretary said we will be fully participating partners if that is the desire of the kingdom of Saudi Arabia," Boucher said.
Arriving Monday in Cairo, Egypt, Armitage commended Saudi efforts after near-simultaneous car bombings in May at Riyadh housing complexes that killed 23 people, in addition to the 12 bombers.
But he added: "We, the defenders, have to be right 100 percent of the time, and the terrorists only have to be right once."
Boucher said U.S. and Saudi authorities have been working together to round up terrorists, but Saturday's attack underscored the need to do more.
As for who was behind the attack, Boucher said, "It looks like al Qaeda. It smells like al Qaeda. It has all the earmarks of al Qaeda."
One U.S. official said the attack could backfire on al Qaeda by turning more Arabs against the group.
The official noted that in the period since the May attacks in Riyadh, many of the U.S. troops who were based in Saudi Arabia have left the kingdom.
"That makes it all the more clear that their goal is to overthrow the Saudi monarchy," he said.
A spokesman for the Saudi Embassy in Washington told CNN that the government believed that might be the terrorists' motive.
"What we are looking at is a group of people that are committed to overthrow the Saudi state, to create an Afghan-type Taliban rule in Saudi Arabia," Nail al-Jubeir said. "We're not going to have them succeed."
Boucher said the attack made it clear that "al Qaeda, presumably, or whoever is responsible for this attack, is not just going after Westerners or foreigners. They're going after Arabs as well.
"They're going after everybody, including the Saudi government -- everybody who is trying to organize society and move in a positive direction."
The Saudi Press Agency said those wounded included Jordanians, Palestinians, Indians, Pakistanis, Sudanese, Ethiopians, Eritreans, Indonesians, Filipinos, Turks, Sri Lankans and Romanians.
A delegation from the Lebanese Foreign Ministry arrived in Riyadh to help that nation's citizens cope with the attack, the Lebanese consul said.
Consul Ali Ghazawi said three Lebanese from the same family -- a father, mother and son -- were missing. He said four Lebanese died in the attack, though the Saudi Press Agency said seven.
The car that exploded Saturday night left a crater in the center of the neighborhood, which was littered with rubble and burned-out vehicles. Witnesses initially reported hearing multiple explosions.
More from what was in the email that was published in the al-Majalla newspaper.
The armed group has claimed responsibility for the bombing that killed 18 people in Riyadh, warning the next targets will be in the Gulf, the US and Iraq.
Al-Qaida's claim comes shortly after several people were detained in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday for suspected involvement in the blast.
According to a Saudi weekly published in London, al-Majalla, "al-Qaida has claimed responsibility for the bomb attacks on al-Muhaya in Riyadh this past Saturday. It said in an e-mail message received by one of our correspondents in Dubai that the next strikes will be in the Gulf, America and Iraq".
The message was sent by an al-Qaida member, Abu Muhammad al-Ablaj, who is in regular contact with the publication.
Al-Ablaj warned those "who work and live with Americans", adding that "their killing was permitted" according to religious edicts.
