Posted on 03/14/2005 2:37:27 PM PST by mdittmar
Interior Minister Prince Naif said yesterday that the trial of 13 suspects accused of trying to assassinate Crown Prince Abdullah will start soon after the completion of investigations.
“Investigations in such cases will take their course before being referred to courts,” Prince Naif told reporters in Riyadh when asked about reports on the imminent trial.
Asharq Al-Awsat, a sister publication of Arab News, reported yesterday, quoting Saudi officials that the trial of eight Saudis and five Libyans was likely to start in Riyadh this month.
Prince Naif, who arrived from Sanaa after chairing a meeting of the Saudi-Yemeni Border Committee, also said the probe on the assassination attempt was on the verge of completion. “We’ll then know all the facts,” he added.
Saudi officials said the Libyan plot to assassinate the crown prince in late 2003 was cloaked to look like an Al-Qaeda-inspired domestic revolt and was broken up only days before it was to have been carried out.
“This month, a religious judge in Riyadh is tentatively scheduled to put the suspects on trial who have been in Saudi custody since the plot was uncovered in November 2003,” Asharq Al-Awsat reported.
The Libyans were caught delivering more than $1 million in cash at a hotel in Makkah to Saudi dissidents hired to assassinate the crown prince. The Libyan agents had recruited the Saudis to launch grenades and other explosives into Prince Abdullah’s apartment in Makkah, the report said.
Asked whether the Kingdom would demand extradition of Saudi renegade Saad Al-Faqeeh from Britain because of his involvement in the crime, he replied: “We ask the British government how it stands against terrorism while giving refuge to such people.”
Prince Naif also commended the valor displayed by Saudi security forces in tracking down terrorists.
“These efforts are aimed at exterminating this deviant group. Security officers will continue their campaign with greater force,” he said while talking about yesterday’s gunbattle between security forces and terror suspects in Jeddah.
The interior minister said the Kingdom was keenly following up the case of Saudi prisoners in Guantanamo. He also said no one from the 17 Saudi prisoners released by Iraq reached the Kingdom. He confirmed the presence of terror training camps in Iraq.
Earlier, Prince Naif held talks with his Yemeni counterpart Rashad Al-Alimi as the two countries pledged to step up joint efforts to boost security at their common border to prevent arms smuggling and infiltration.
The two ministers countersigned the approval documents of an agreement inked by the two countries in June 2003.
“We realize that the border security is vital for both countries,” Prince Naif said after the talks with Al-Alimi.
He said demarcation of the joint borderline with Yemen was “at its final stages.”
“All issues between the two countries will be resolved in a spirit of goodwill and sense of responsibility,” Prince Naif told the meeting.
In his keynote speech, Prince Naif underscored the deep-rooted relations between the two Arab neighbors and described the border pact signed in Jeddah as an important event in the history of the two countries.
He urged both sides to resolve all outstanding issues in a way that would protect the interests of the two countries.
For his part, the Yemeni interior minister said the land border demarcation was nearly complete. However, he added that “there are more tasks to be done, mainly those dealing with Yemeni expatriates in the Kingdom.”
Wonder if Alamoudi will be part of this.
Thanks--that was my first thought, also, when I saw the title of your ping.
Ping.
thanks!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.