Posted on 07/03/2005 12:44:52 PM PDT by NormsRevenge
RIYADH (AFP) - The killing of Al-Qaeda's new frontman in Saudi Arabia means that the network's local branch is now "brain dead" after successive killings of hardcore leaders, a prominent Muslim cleric said.
But while the group's militants still on the run do not compare to the likes of their notorious slain chief Abdul Aziz al-Muqrin, they remain "dangerous as individuals, rather than as an organization," Sheikh Mohsen al-Awaji told AFP.
The Saudi interior ministry announced Sunday that Moroccan-born Yunis Mohammed Ibrahim al-Hayari, recently named as "the head of sedition" by his comrades, was killed in a shootout with security forces after they stormed a suspected militants' hideout in an eastern neighborhood of Riyadh.
The dawn offensive came barely five days after authorities released a new list of 36 wanted militants, topped by Hayari, who they said were linked to a wave of violence unleashed by suspected Al-Qaeda extremists in May 2003.
Twenty-one on the list were thought to be abroad. One of those has since turned himself in to Saudi authorities. The list was the third of its kind published in the past two years.
Twenty-three of 26 most-wanted militants named on a list published in December 2003 have been confirmed killed or arrested, and one more has reportedly died fighting against US-led forces in Iraq.
"The group which calls itself Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula has been brain dead since the killing of Muqrin, Faisal al-Dakheel and (Yemeni) Khaled bin Haj," said Awaji, a moderate Islamist.
"The others are remnants (of the group)... They are just followers, though they remain dangerous as individuals, rather than as an organization," he said, noting that most of those named on the new list were previously unknown.
Dakheel was shot dead by security forces along with Muqrin and two other comrades in a gunbattle in Riyadh in June 2004 after their group beheaded an American aeronautics engineer who had been taken hostage, culminating a series of attacks which terrorized Western residents of the oil-rich kingdom.
Haj had been gunned down in a March 2004 clash. He was described at the time as Al-Qaeda's head of operations in Saudi Arabia and the rest of the Gulf.
Two more top Al-Qaeda operatives -- Muqrin's purported successor Saud al-Otaibi and the Moroccan mastermind of last year's Madrid train bombings Abdel Karim al-Mejati -- were among 15 militants killed in a three-day gunbattle with security forces last April in Al-Qassim, some 320 kilometers (200 miles) north of Riyadh.
Sheikh Salman al-Odah, another leading moderate Muslim cleric, issued a statement this week exhorting the militants on the new list to renounce violence.
"I address this strong appeal to anyone directly or indirectly involved in violent acts to engage in soul-searching, mend his ways and let reason prevail," Odah wrote.
At the same time, he said, "I call on authorities to open the door to the return (to the right path) by forgiving and demonstrating tolerance to those who (repent) and by being transparent in upholding (their) rights," he said.
Awaji said Odah "spoke for everybody (in the country). Everyone is tired of the violence... which in addition to claiming innocent souls has hindered the introduction of comprehensive reforms, which is a priority for Saudi intellectuals."
A Western source has noted that the names on the new list "seem to be a sort of second-tier terrorists."
The publication of the list suggested that authorities "are not letting down their guard even after getting most of the big ones," the source added.
But Awaji warned that violence in Saudi Arabia could not be totally eradicated "so long as the crisis in Iraq remains so intense."
Several of the militants on the new list are reportedly either fighting in Iraq or have died there.
This image released by Saudi Interior Ministey in late June, 2005, shows two different images of suspected militant Younis Mohammed Ibrahim al-Hayari, a 36-year-old Moroccan who headed the latest list of wanted militants. An Interior Ministry official was quoted by Saudi Press Agency as saying al-Hayari, was killed during a raid Sunday July 3, 2005 by security forces on an area where suspected militants were hiding. (AP Photo/Saudi Interiror Minsitry)
RIYADH (AFP) - The killing of Al-Qaeda's new frontman in Saudi Arabia means that the network's local branch is now "brain dead" after successive killings of hardcore leaders, a prominent Muslim cleric said.
Just a bunch of psychopathic murderers with out direction now.
Where are the fat ladies singing and dancing in the street after this "miracle?" Are they doing that ululation thing?
ping
So, stop allowing Saudi terrorists to cross into Iraq.
This is the point in killing or capturing these guys.
Too many on FR and elsewhere cry that someone else will just take their place. While the new person may fill the same spot in the org chart they do not have the contacts with higher ups in AQ and elsewhere. They do not have the same experience. Many of the "old guard" fought in the Afghan war against the Russians. Others fought in Bosnia. These new guys were still in school then. The average age of the guys on the new list is 27.
It is helpful to think of these organizations like a mob family. While the button men and the lieutenants are dangerous men it is the capos and the godfather who know who to bribe who owes favors etc etc.
< /rant>
it is a very good thing to see the Saudis step up to the plate and take a swing. It loks like a Home Run
Alqaida is a limited corporation. They don't even sell stock. Poor business model even for a non-profit.
I would hardly call Saudi Arabia's performace to date - a "home run"...
More like an attempt, that delivered a gutter ball....
The ENEMY in Saudi Arabia is the Islamic Sect of Wahhabi Sunni...
The House of Saud has done little to strangle that "holy" whore...
Semper Fi
I notice that the Saudi's usually kill their terrorists before they ever get to jail.
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