Warning: Undefined array key "rbname" in /data/rantburg.com/www/rantburg/pgrecentorg.php on line 14
Hello !

Arabia

Saudi Forces Kill Militant in Riyadh

2005-04-06

Oboy! Another one for the deaders collection... Saudi forces killed a wanted militant and wounded another in a raid in southern Riyadh on Wednesday, the Interior Ministry said. Abdulrahman al-Yazji, one of four remaining fugitives on Saudi Arabia's list of 26 top militant suspects, was killed after opening fire and throwing a hand grenade at security forces, the ministry said in a statement. The clash occurred in the Sina'iyah district of southern Riyadh when security forces, who had been monitoring the building where Yazji was staying, arrived on the scene at 9 a.m. The Riyadh raid followed three days of fighting north of the capital in which Saudi forces killed at least 14 gunmen, including a senior al Qaeda suspect thought to have masterminded bombings in Casablanca in May 2003. Security sources said the unidentified man wounded alongside Yazji was in hospital in serious condition. ADDITIONAL: Several al Qaeda "big fish" were among the 15 terrorists killed and seven captured in a series of gun battles and raids in and near Riyadh since Sunday, Saudi security officials say. Sources in the Saudi government have said four of those killed or caught were on the list of 26 most-wanted terrorists, leaving just two of those on the list still at large. The Saudi Interior Ministry is expected to announce DNA test results Wednesday afternoon to confirm the identities of the suspected al Qaeda militants killed and captured during a three-day stand-off and gun battle northwest of Riyadh and another gun battle Wednesday morning in an industrial area in southern Riyadh. Several Saudi sources told CNN that Abdul-Rahman Mohammed Mohammed Yazji, one of the 26 most-wanted, was killed in the Wednesday morning gun battle. The sources would not confirm or deny reports that Saleh Oufi, head of al Qaeda in the Arab peninsula, was seriously wounded and captured in that battle. He is also on the list of 26. That would be too much to hope for. Thought he was mangled beyond recognition, sitting in a wheelchair? Investigators were also trying to determine whether two senior al Qaeda figures -- the suspected leader of the Islamic terror group in Saudi Arabia and a man linked to the March 2004 Madrid train bombings -- were among 14 militants killed in a battle that began Sunday and ended Tuesday, said Brig. Mansour Turki, an Interior Ministry spokesman. Five militants were wounded and captured, and one surrendered, he said. DNA tests are being conducted to determine whether two of the bodies are those of Saud Humud al-Utaibi and Abd al-Karim el-Mejjati, two of the most-wanted al Qaeda suspects in the kingdom. So we don't have confimation yet on those two.

Link

Arabia

Confusion over death of Saudi terrorist

2005-03-24

The Saudi Interior Ministry said Thursday questions remain over whether terrorist leader Abdullah bin Rached al-Rachoud is dead or alive. "The ministry never confirmed that he was killed or captured but press reports published last week hinted that he might have been eliminated because he has not appeared on any video tape for a long while," Ministry spokesman Brig. Mansour Turki said. Rachoud appeared on a videotape before al-Qaida's main operative in the kingdom, Abdul Aziz al-Muqrin, was killed in a clash with police last July. Rachoud is believed the mastermind of the terrorist attacks blamed on al-Qaida in Saudi Arabia. He figures high on the interior ministry's list of 26 most-wanted terror suspects.

Link

Arabia

U.S. consulate gunman critical

2004-12-09

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia, Dec. 9 (UPI) -- The only gunman who survived the attack on the U.S. consulate in Jeddah earlier this week is hospitalized in critical condition, reports said Thursday. A medical source at the King Fahd Hospital said it will be at least 48 hours before doctors will know whether the gunman will survive. A spokesman for the interior ministry, Brig. Mansour Turki, said the gunmen has yet to be interviewed by police. You mean he may die without telling what or who he knows? How...surprising. He said police wounded in the incident were treated and many have be discharged from the hospital. Four gunmen and five embassy workers, including a Yemeni, Sudanese, Palestinian, Pakistani and Sri Lankan, were killed in the attack.

Link

Arabia

Arms seized in Saudi came from Yemen

2004-09-29

A ship loaded with arms and ammunition seized off the southern Saudi coast originated from Yemen and was on its way to Sudan, reports said Wednesday. Saudi Interior Ministry spokesman Brig. Mansour Turki said the ship's crew members identified themselves as Sudanese and admitted they were trying to smuggle weapons into Sudan. Turki said the crew admitted having lost its way and entered Saudi territorial waters by mistake. "The rules adopted in this case are in line with internationally recognized norms, which the kingdom will be implementing after verifying the nature of the territorial violation at the end of the investigation," Turki said. "If we find out that the violation was committed intentionally the violators will be punished in Saudi Arabia, and if it was a mistake they will be repatriated." "If they are carrying weapons to the valiant Arab fighters defending Sudan against the infidels, they'll be given a hero's send off......say, is this mike still on?" Wonder which side was going to get the guns. Awful long way to cart guns from the Red Sea to the Darfur rebels. The ship was intercepted Tuesday off the southern coast of Jazan carrying hundreds of automatic rifles and large quantities of ammunition.

Link

Arabia

Second Suspect Held in Jeddah Twin Blasts

2004-09-24

Police have arrested a second suspect in the twin blasts that struck Jeddah on Sept. 11, the Interior Ministry reported yesterday, adding that the man belonged to a deviant group. Salah Al-Najjar was arrested in the northwestern city of Tabuk late Thursday, after he escaped a raid on Monday which resulted in the arrest of fellow suspect Rida Al-Najjar, a ministry official said. Both of them al-Najjars? Y'think they're related? Husband and wife, maybe? A gunbattle that ensued Monday's police raid in Tabuk injured Rida and three security officers. "Security forces continued searching for Salah Al-Najjar and he was spotted in a residential apartment in Tabuk," the official said, adding the man did not resist arrest. "Please don't kill me!" "Investigations that followed the two blasts in Jeddah suggested Rida's involvement," Brig. Mansour Turki, the ministry's spokesman said, adding that Salah's name emerged as a result of Monday's raid. Results of preliminary investigations have proved that Rida is an expert in forging documents and IDs used for terrorist operations. The twin blasts outside two Jeddah banks associated with the United States and Britain, caused limited damage but were "undoubtedly terrorist attacks," the AFP news agency quoted Turki as saying.

Link

Warning: Undefined property: stdClass::$T in /data/rantburg.com/www/rantburg/pgrecentorg.php on line 132
-5 More