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Arabia

Saudi police reportedly arrest 172 militants

2007-04-27

CAIRO, Egypt - Police have arrested 172 militants who were plotting to attack Saudi Arabia's oil fields, the Saudi state TV channel Al-Ekhbariah reported Friday. The channel broadcast footage of the large quantity of weapons of all kinds that were discovered buried in the desert. The arms included brickettes of plastic explosives, ammunition cartridges, handguns and rifles wrapped in plastic sheeting.

Interior Ministry spokesman Brig. Mansour al-Turki told the rival Al-Arabiya channel that the militants included non-Saudis and that one cell planned to storm a prison and release the inmates. The Interior Ministry issued a statement saying that more than 120 million riyals ($32.4 million) had been seized in the operation, one of the largest sweeps against terror cells in the kingdoms.

Al-Ekhbariah showed investigators breaking tiled floors with hammers to uncover pipes that contained weapons. In one scene, an official upends a plastic pipe and bullets and little packets of plastic explosives spill out. The ministry statement said that one cell had planned to carry out suicide attacks against "public figures, oil facilities, refineries ... and military zones."

Posted by:Steve

#10 No mention of any gun battles during the arrest operations. That seems queer to me. One would assume that the word would get out that arrests were going down and that at least some of these 172 would fight rather than be caught/tortured/chopped into pieces by the Saudi's. The veracity of this operation needs confirmation from where I sit.

Posted by: remoteman 2007-04-27 15:22

#9 Sounds like at least one of Tehran's cells in Saudi Arabia has been penetrated. Hope they find the rest and penetrate them, too. The Saudis do get beligerant when their home turf appears to be under attack.

Posted by: Old Patriot 2007-04-27 14:59

#8 Additional: RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AP) - Police arrested 172 Islamic militants, some of whom had trained abroad as pilots so they could fly aircraft in attacks on Saudi Arabia's oil fields, the Interior Ministry said Friday. A spokesman said all that remained in the plot ``was to set the zero hour.''

The ministry issued a statement saying the detainees were planning to carry out suicide atttacks against ``public figures, oil facilities, refineries ... and military zones'' - some of which were outside the kingdom. ``They had reached an advance stage of readiness and what remained only was to set the zero hour for their attacks,'' Interior Ministry spokesman Brig. Mansour al-Turki told the Associated Press in a phone call. ``They had the personnel, the money, the arms. Almost all the elements for terror attacks were complete except for setting the zero hour for the attacks.''

The ministry did not say the militants would fly aircraft into oil refineries, as the Sept. 11, 2001 hijackers flew planes into buildings in New York and Washington, but its statement said some detainees had been ``sent to other countries to study flying in preparation for using them to carry out terrorist attacks inside the kingdom.''

/BDS ON But, but, I thought the Twin Towers and Pentagon were blown up by Dick Cheney! Bet Bush got his Saudi friends to fake these arrests to help his poll numbers. /BDS OFF

Posted by: Steve 2007-04-27 12:30

#7 It's hard out here to be a shaheed.

Posted by: Seafarious 2007-04-27 10:48

#6 The bribes don't see to be working anymore. I wonder if the terrorist were expecting a cost of living increase and didn't get it?

Posted by: Shineth Dingle2070 2007-04-27 10:35

#5 Saudis-You reap what you sow!!!!!

Posted by: Ebbolump Glomotle9608 2007-04-27 10:27

#4 And hopefully, they execute every damn one of these al-Quds agents.

Posted by: Anonymoose 2007-04-27 10:14

#3 Maybe an error. However, I just heard the $32 million again on Fox although Fox doesn't always get it right. Sounds like a fairly large operation. Almost follows the plot of an Oliver North novel entitled "The Assassins."

Posted by: JohnQC 2007-04-27 10:03

#2 JQC, maybe the author meant rials instead of riyals. OTH, Iranian funny money would only convert to about 13,000 USD.

Posted by: GK 2007-04-27 09:56

#1 The Interior Ministry issued a statement saying that more than 120 million riyals ($32.4 million) had been seized

Where did this money come from?

Posted by: JohnQC 2007-04-27 09:27

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