Saudi paper: Detained al-Qaida suspects smuggled weapons from Yemen

AP | 6/19/02 | JOHN R. BRADLEY

[kattracks]

JIDDAH, Saudi Arabia, Jun 19, 2002 (AP WorldStream via COMTEX) -- The weapons and explosives that detained al-Qaida suspects planned to use for terrorist attacks in Saudi Arabia were smuggled in from neighboring Yemen, a Saudi-owned newspaper reported Wednesday.

The London-based Al-Hayat daily also said that one of the suspects, a Sudanese who is believed to be an al-Qaida cell leader, fled the kingdom through Iraq after firing an anti-aircraft missile at a U.S. warplane in Saudi Arabia in May. He apparently made his way to Sudan, which announced earlier this week he had been transferred from Sudan to Saudi Arabia for trial.

On Tuesday, Saudi Arabia announced its first al-Qaida-related arrests since Sept. 11, saying it was holding 11 Saudis, an Iraqi and the Sudanese man in a plot to shoot down a U.S. military plane. It alleged the suspects "were planning to carry out terrorist attacks against vital and important installations in the kingdom, by using explosives and two (surface-to-air) SA-7 missiles, smuggled into the kingdom and hidden in different places around the country."

In making the announcement Tuesday, the official Saudi Press Agency did not say exactly when or where the suspects were detained. It linked the suspects to Osama bin Laden's al-Qaida, the terror network blamed for the Sept. 11 attacks. Fifteen of the 19 Sept. 11 suicide hijackers were Saudi.

The agency, quoting an unidentified source at the Interior Ministry Tuesday, said that six Saudis and the Sudanese man were arrested several months ago, apparently the main plotters. It said the remaining six people arrested - five Saudis and an Iraqi - smuggled the Sudanese man out of the country. It was not clear when those six were arrested.

Weapons are sold freely in Yemen and several suspected al-Qaida members are believed to have found shelter in the area in the country along the border with Saudi Arabia. The border area is largely controlled by armed tribes.

In October, Yemen and Saudi Arabia agreed to joint patrols of their common border as they pledged their support for the U.S.-led war on terror. Bin Laden has substantial support in both countries and traces his family roots to Yemen.

Al-Qaida is believed behind the October 2000 attack on the USS Cole that killed 17 American sailors in Yemen's Aden harbor.

The Sudanese man Saudi Arabia announced it had detained was identified by U.S. officials as Abu Huzifa. He has acknowledged firing an SA-7 missile at a U.S. warplane at Prince Sultan Air Base, the U.S. military's regional command-and-control center and home to about 4,500 U.S. troops and several military aircraft.

According to the Saudi news agency, which did not name the Sudanese man, he was directly connected to al-Qaida and had fought with the group in Afghanistan.

Another London-based Saudi-owned newspaper, Asharq al-Awsat, said the Sudanese was born, lived and studied in Saudi Arabia. It gave no further details.

The Sudanese government said Sunday it had transferred the man to Saudi Arabia after he admitted firing the missile. In May, Saudi security guards found a missile launcher tube about three kilometers (two miles) from a runway at the desert air base.

In Washington, State Department spokesman Richard Boucher declined comment on the arrests Tuesday, except to say: "We've been very satisfied with Saudi cooperation in a wide variety of areas, whether its financial, law enforcement or other matters."

But relations have been strained since Sept. 11, with criticism that the Saudis did too much to support Afghanistan when it was run by the Taliban and al-Qaida and too little to hunt down terrorists or inspire friendlier attitudes toward the West.

It took five months before the kingdom acknowledged that 15 of the Sept. 11 hijackers were Saudi. It has not taken part in a worldwide asset freeze of accounts linked to bin Laden or changed laws - as other Gulf states have - to crack down on money transferring or Islamic banking practices that al-Qaida may be abusing.

Dozens of Saudis are among several hundred prisoners captured in Afghanistan and now in the hands of the U.S. military. Saudi sources say there are about 100 prisoners in the U.S. bases in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

Separately, the Saudi Embassy in Washington issued a statement Tuesday saying that Saudi Arabia has asked Interpol to assist in the arrest of 750 people, including 214 Saudis, "many of which are suspected to be involved in money laundering, drug trafficking, and terrorist-related activities."

By JOHN R. BRADLEY Associated Press Writer

Copyright 2002 Associated Press, All rights reserved

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Last month [June 2002], the Interior Ministry [of Sudan] announced a suspected al-Qaida leader claiming to have fired a missile at a U.S. warplane at a Saudi air base had been handed over to Saudi Arabia for trial. --- "Sudanese Man Convicrted for Spying to US" AP via COMTEX, 21 July 2002 , http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/719882/posts