Posted on 05/22/2003 8:58:35 PM PDT by Lawrence of Arabia
JEDDAH, 23 May 2003 — Saudi security forces continue to sweep suspected Al-Qaeda hide-outs across the Kingdom, but especially in Riyadh, following the deadly suicide attacks in the capital on May 12 in which at least 25 people were killed, as well as nine suicide bombers.
In addition to the two Moroccans arrested on Monday at Jeddah International Airport, who security sources had said were planning to carry out a Sept. 11-style suicide attack after hijacking an aircraft, US diplomats said yesterday that on Tuesday at least another four Saudis had been arrested in sweeps.
Interior Minister Prince Naif has dismissed the claims of a planned suicide hijacking as “baseless”.
Some of those arrested on Tuesday are believed to have been affiliated to Al-Qaeda cells, while others were in the process of planning further attacks, a diplomatic source told Arab News.
The Saudi security services are working “very aggressively” in their pursuit of militants, the diplomat added.
Security remains tight throughout the Kingdom, with armed checkpoints stationed at major landmarks and outside many Western residential compounds. The Saudi government seems to have given the go-ahead for a full-scale crackdown on militants, with Crown Prince Abdullah, deputy premier and commander of the National Guard, making it clear that there is no room in Saudi society for anyone who sympathizes with the aims of Islamist insurgents.
Saudi officials announced Sunday that several other suspects with apparent ties to Al-Qaeda were arrested last week in the wake of the Riyadh attacks.
In Paris yesterday, US Secretary of State Colin Powell said that the United States and Saudi Arabia had reached an agreement to repatriate Saudi nationals held at the US naval base at Guantanamo Bay.
He also said the United States was close to reaching a similar deal with another country, but did not give details.
“In the last week or so we’ve concluded agreements with two countries and their citizens are in the process of returning home,” Powell told a news conference at the French American Press Club in Paris.
“The only one I can mention right now is Saudi Arabia. There is another one which just needs another day or two to clear the agreement. We are working with all the other countries in an aggressive way to see whether we can clear these cases.”
Efforts to repatriate prisoners from the naval base were focusing in particular on young prisoners with little likely intelligence information or criminal links, he said.
Powell did not give details on the agreements.
About 675 Taleban and Al-Qaeda members are being held at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba. They were captured during the US-led war that began right after the Sept. 11 attacks.
Most of the hijackers were Saudi nationals. The US blames the attacks on Osama Bin Laden’s Al-Qaeda network.
Prisoners at Guantanamo have been held without charge and without being permitted access to a lawyer, which have drawn criticism from human rights activists. Amnesty International has demanded that all those held at Guantanamo be charged or released.
The United States has released a total of 41 prisoners from Guantanamo, including some released in the past two weeks. US officials have said they will free prisoners when it is determined they no longer pose a threat to the United States.
US officials said last week the United States had turned five Saudi prisoners held at Guantanamo Bay over to authorities in the Kingdom.
Saudi media later quoted Interior Minister Prince Naif as saying the five, who were among about 100 Saudis held at Guantanamo Bay, were now being held in Saudi prisons and would be tried in due course.
Meanwhile, the Pentagon yesterday announced the appointment of the chief prosecutor and lead defense attorney for trials of suspects seized in the US war on terrorism in a signal that some Guantanamo prisoners could soon appear before military commissions. Army Col. Frederic Borch III has been named acting chief prosecutor and Air Force Col. Will Gunn has been designated as acting chief defense counsel, Pentagon officials said.
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