Riyadh accuses al-Qaida of being behind Mecca clashes
Saudi Arabia, Local, 11/5/2003

Saudi Arabia's interior minister Prince Nayef Bin Abdul Aziz said that Saudi security forces foiled what he had called a terrorist attack by members of al-Qaida organization targeting worshippers of al-Omra ( smaller al-Haj rituals ) in Mecca.

In press statements yesterday, he said that these members are seeking to convert the whole country into a site for terrorism without exception, noting that the police arrested 6 Islamists presumed to have links to al-Qaida organization of Osama Bin Laden, two of them had surrendered after they were besieged.

An official source at the ministry of the interior announced in a statement yesterday the killing of two armed Islamists in a fire exchange with security members in al-Share area in Mecca to the western part of the country and that one security member was slightly wounded. The statement said that the police found missile shells, machine guns, explosives and ammunition at the site of the clashes.

However, the Saudi opposition movement for reforms, which takes London as a headquarters, gave a different version of the government's statement. Al-Sharif Abdul Aziz al-Shanbari from the movement said in a telephone call with a al-Jazeera TV that since Monday at dawn, the security forces were deployed in al-Shareya area and strong confrontations took place between the security forces and "the Jihad groups" in which five army officers were killed and other four were injured.

Al-Shanbari said that these groups sent deeath threats to certain princes, expecting more similar incidents in the near future. Al- Shanbari stressed that Saudi Arabia is witnessing a state of chaos and no one has access to details.

Previous Stories:
  Islamists killed in clash with Saudi police   (11/4/2003)
  Saudi Arabia's TV to broadcast Shoura council deliberations   (11/3/2003)
  Washington expects attacks on Saudi Arabia air targets   (10/29/2003)

Please add a link on your webiste pointing to ArabicNews.com and bookmark ArabicNews.com & subscribe to our daily email news bulletin.

Search