Free Republic

Al-Qaeda's third-ranked leader and alleged mastermind of the Riyadh bombings has been seized in Iran, intelligence sources say. The United States has identified Saif al-Adel as the most senior al-Qaeda member linked to the attacks that killed 34 people, including one Australian, earlier this month. Intelligence sources said al-Adel, formerly Osama bin Laden's personal bodyguard, approved the bombing plans before his capture by Iranian security forces nine days before the attack. Iran is thought to want to handover al-Adel to Washington, in return for senior leaders in the anti-Iranian terrorist group, the Mujahedin-e-Khalq (MEK). He would probably be deported to...

The United States has intercepts that show senior Al Qaeda operatives in Iran probably played a big role in the recent bombings in Saudi Arabia, a senior U.S. official confirmed to FOX News.The official said that the US has intercepts for months prior to the bombings, which showed that senior Al Qaeda operatives in Iran were communicating with Al Qaeda operatives in Saudi Arabia about an upcoming attack, with cryptic language suggesting the attack was going to happen in Saudi Arabia.The operatives had been in Iran for months and came there after they fled Afghanistan during the US Militarys attack...

RIYADH, 26 May 2003 — Was it a catastrophe that strikes once in a lifetime or could it be just the beginning? Were the explosions that rocked Riyadh and caused such death and destruction something we should have expected, or did it come as a complete surprise? Was it the result of alien thoughts, of foreign influence? Some writers said the attacks were the result of a degeneration in religion that saw a tolerant Islam turned by a few into a faith that brands others who do not share their views as infidels. There were people who, seeking a scapegoat,...

<p>RIYADH, Saudi Arabia — The United States has intercepts that show senior Al Qaeda operatives in Iran probably played a big role in the recent bombings in Saudi Arabia, a senior U.S. official confirmed to Fox News.</p> <p>The official said the U.S. had intercepts for months prior to the bombings, which showed that senior Al Qaeda operatives in Iran were communicating with Al Qaeda operatives in Saudi Arabia about an upcoming attack, with cryptic language suggesting the attack was going to happen in Saudi Arabia.</p>

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia, May 24 — When he was a teenager issuing his own fatwas, Mansour al-Nogaidan ordered his followers to blow up a video store in downtown Riyadh because it was spreading Western corruption. Now, years later, a completely changed man has dropped a philosophical bombshell in the fervent national discussion swirling around the suicide attacks this month against residential compounds here. Mr. Nogaidan said in print that the Wahhabi doctrine prevalent in Saudi Arabia was the root cause of the violence fomented in the name of Islam here and around the world. "The main problem is that these...

By Glenn Kessler Washington Post Staff Writer Sunday, May 25, 2003; Page A01 The Bush administration, alarm-ed by intelligence suggesting that al Qaeda operatives in Iran had a role in the May 12 suicide bombings in Saudi Arabia, has cut off once-promising contacts with Iran and appears ready to embrace an aggressive policy of trying to destabilize the Iranian government, administration officials said. Senior Bush administration officials will meet Tuesday at the White House to discuss the evolving strategy toward the Islamic republic, with Pentagon officials pressing hard for public and private actions that they believe could lead to the...

Next in the firing line? Alexander Chancellor Saturday May 24, 2003 The Guardian There has been a lot of soul-searching in Saudi Arabia, as well there might be. The country's press was full of it after the massacre in Riyadh last week. Had it brought the tragedy on itself? Was it deluded to blame foreigners for it? And why were so many terrorists Saudi citizens? There was a strong temptation to blame the atrocity on foreigners. This was how one columnist put it in the Saudi newspaper Al-Jazirah: "Oh, foreign cave-dwellers, depart our country and go to hell! You have...

<p>May 23, 2003 -- 'AN appeaser is one who feeds a crocodile, hoping it will eat him last," Winston Churchill once said. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is learning this the hard way. After decades of appeasing Islamic extremism in the heart of the Arab world - and believing such a policy essentially immunized it against terrorism - it's reeling from an unexpected, painful bite.</p>

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...

<p>After terrorists set off explosives in gated compounds in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, the looks of stunned disbelief on the faces of Saudi officials was reminiscent: How could this happen here?</p> <p>Subsequent analysis gives some hints. The Saudis failed to respond to intelligence reports that attacks were imminent. Security at likely attack sites, such as the gated compounds where dozens died, was not bolstered.</p>

<p>May 21, 2003 -- WASHINGTON - The United States, Germany and Britain closed their embassies and consulates in Saudi Arabia yesterday, citing an "imminent" threat of another wave of terror bombings by al Qaeda.</p> <p>The decision came in response to new intelligence information that a second al Qaeda cell in Saudi Arabia has been activated to carry out another attack.</p>

A Statement From The 19 Saudi Suspects We remind our viewers that the statements, opinions and points of view expressed in this article are those of the author and shall not be deemed to mean that they are those of Jihad Unspun, the publisher, editor, writers, contributors or staff. The 19 Saudi men, whose names and photos were distributed by the Saudi Interior Ministry as dangerous criminals planning for terrorist attacks in the Saudi capital Riyadh, have released a statement about their situation. In the name of Allah, praise be to Allah, an peace be upon Prophet Muhammad First:...

With the grace and speed of a child’s toy top, Saudi Arabia’s top public relations “spinner,” Adel al-Jubeir, has been whirling across the airwaves and newsprint of the American media ever since the Kingdom experienced last week’s wave of murderous, terrorist bombings. Mr. al-Jubeir’s ubiquitousness (notably, in place of Prince Bandar, the equally charming, but less-Western and more controversial Saudi Ambassador) is evidence of how much trouble the Saudis now know they are in. His mission: to ensure that American audiences see Saudi Arabia as a fellow-victim of radical Islamic (or Islamist) terrorism -- not as its most important source....

Even if it is not immediately apparent, the May 12 car-bomb attacks in Riyadh are no ordinary episode in the jihad currently menacing the world. Though foreigners were the physical victims of the well-planned horror, its political targets were the ruling house of Saud. It must have shaken the asinine equanimity of the Saudi royals to realise that the policy of financing fundamentalism abroad while buying peace with fundamentalists at home has failed. They would have grasped that the kind of rough justice meted out during the 1979 seizure of the Grand Mosque in Mecca will no longer suffice to...

The ugly and barbaric terrorist act that took the lives of innocent people in Riyadh must be condemned and the people behind it hunted down and prosecuted. The men who committed the crime have the audacity to say that it happened in the name of Islam. Islam is a religion of peace and tolerance, and we must not allow madmen to hijack it and terrorize the world in its name. The Saudi government seems to be very serious this time to fight extremist elements in the society, wherever they are. These latest acts were aimed at destabilizing the security and...

Last week, people in Saudi Arabia were introduced to a disturbing feeling: fear. With the feeling also came the fact that it has to be dealt with and factored into their daily lives, along with the knowledge that no place is safe from fanaticism. Suddenly the relaxed confidence that one feels at home was no more; bombs rocked three compounds in Riyadh and people’s lives were changed forever. The bombs did not differentiate between children and adults, Muslims or non-Muslims. It seemed that with the bombs, a world was shattered. We were no longer allowed to pretend that it wasn’t...

Did last week’s bombings in Riyadh come as a surprise? Those who know what our children are being taught about Islam, their teachers and the kind of ideas they are constantly fed were not surprised. Those who listen to cassette recordings — which in reality have no basis in Islam — and believe what is said in the recordings were not surprised. Those who listen to what is often said at Friday sermons were not surprised. Those who know how people who follow different schools of thought are ridiculed and treated with contempt were not surprised.Any person who digs into...

Some Arabs Lash Out at Terror Groups Mon May 19, 5:06 AM ET By PAUL GARWOOD, Associated Press Writer CAIRO, Egypt - One homegrown terrorist slit a Casablanca doorman's throat before setting off explosives killing other Moroccans. In Riyadh, Saudis perished in car bombings detonated by their own. AP Photo This week's terrorist attacks have angered millions across the region not just because of their brutality, but because innocents — including Arabs and Muslims — were caught up in the violence. "If those people want to harm the Americans, let them target military locations, but never civilians," said Palestinian Awni...

<p>May 19, 2003 -- Hours after capturing four suspected al Qaeda members in last week's bombings at three housing complexes, Saudi Arabian officials admitted that members of their country's National Guard are being investigated for selling arms to the terror group.</p>

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia, May 18 -- Saudi authorities are investigating suspected illegal arms sales by members of the country's national guard to al Qaeda operatives in the country, U.S. and Saudi officials said. The weapons were seized in a May 6 raid on an al Qaeda safe house and were traced to national guard stockpiles, the U.S. and Saudi sources said. The Saudi interior minister said today that officials have identified three of the suicide bombers involved in attacks last week on four residential compounds in Riyadh, which led to the deaths of 34 people, including eight Americans. He said...