A recently uncovered cell of Islamic militants planned to kill Saudi ArabiaÂ’s grand mufti and another top cleric, reported the daily Okaz on Thursday. Quoting an unnamed security official, the paper reported that the 24-member militant cell planned to assassinate Grand Mufti Sheik Abdulaziz bin Abdullah Al Sheik, the countryÂ’s highest religious authority, and Sheik Saleh Al Fawzan of the Supreme Council of Clerics.
Anti-militancy advisory: Al-Sheik had previously issued several religious edicts against joining the insurgencies in Iraq and Afghanistan and said that young Saudis are being used as “tools to carry out heinous acts”
Last week, Saudi Arabia announced its largest security sweep to date, arresting what it described as 208 Al Qaeda-linked militants in six separate arrest campaigns ahead of late DecemberÂ’s Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha and the annual Mecca pilgrimage.
The report also described the break-up of a second militant cell led by a 37-year-old Yemeni missile experts who had trained fighters in Afghanistan’s famed Al Qaeda affiliated al-Farouq training camp. “The ringleader planned to carry out operations targeting vital institutions in the kingdom and train members of his cell to launch missiles,” said the paper, adding that he planned to leave the country ahead of the operations. In their initial announcement of the sweeps last week, the Interior Ministry said the attacks were aimed at oil installations in the country’s petroleum-rich east. |