JEDDAH: Muejib bin Muhammad Al-Qahtani, who was on a list of 47 most wanted terrorists published by the Interior Ministry this year, has surrendered to security authorities, ministry spokesman Maj. Gen. Mansour Al-Turki announced Sunday.| Did they check his shoes, underwear, and anal cavity for explosives? All have been tried, with unhappy results...not to mention the traditional Afghan turban bomb. |
Al-Turki said Al-Qahtani would be treated like other militants who had surrendered to police and his initiative would be taken into consideration when looking into his case. He advised the remaining wanted militants abroad to surrender.
The surrender of Al-Qahtani and two others has brought down the number of militants on the list published by the Interior Ministry to 44. Previously, Khaled Hadal Al-Qahtani surrendered on May 6 and Abdussalam Abdul Aziz Al-Farraj on Aug. 3.
All the men on the list are living outside the Kingdom and many of them had left the country illegally. Their association with Al-Qaeda poses a danger to the Kingdom's security. The government has information that 16 of them are in Yemen, 27 in Afghanistan and Pakistan and four in Iraq. Four of these militants have left the Kingdom using the passports of others, 13 sneaked out through the border while 30 left legally.
According to Al-Turki, immigration officers allowed these militants to leave the Kingdom legally because they did not have evidence to stop them or confirm their association with Al-Qaeda and the government would not prevent a person from traveling without any genuine reason.
| Funny how a dictatorship can't come up with a reason to stop terrorists from leaving but can always find a reason to stop a dissident. |