SPA -- Minister of Islamic affairs, endowments, call and guidance Sheikh Salih bin Abdulaziz Al-alsheikh and Sheikh Dr. Abdulrahman bin Abdulaziz Al-sudais, the Imam of Makkah mosque, said on Wednesday that the deadly bombings that took place in Riyadh Monday night are deemed sinfully prohibited. Citing numerous evidence from the Holy Quran and Sunnah, the Minister and the Imam stated that the bombings were banned because they constitute an attack on the sanctity of Muslim lands, terrorize innocent people, claim the lives of people protected by Islamic law, wreak havoc among people and destroy protected property. They urged young people to have good faith in and seek learning from their scholars, urging all Muslims to cooperate in order to eliminate this phenomenon.
So they're prohibited, not because they're acts of terrorism and repugnant in the eyes of God, but because they took place in Muslim lands â not, say, New York or Tel Aviv or Moscow. Good call, Imam.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
05/15/2003 06:40 pm ||
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US intelligence agencies are investigating whether senior al-Qaeda leaders hiding in Iran may have helped to plan or coordinate the terrorist bombings that killed at least 34 people in Saudi Arabia on Monday. Intelligence officials said several al-Qaeda leaders, including Saif al-Adel, who's wanted in connection with the 1998 bombings of two US embassies in Africa and may now be the terrorist group's third-ranking official, and Osama bin Laden's son Saad have found refuge in Iran, where they remain active. The Iranian government has expelled more than 500 lower-ranking al-Qaeda members and denies harbouring any of the group's senior leaders. But the US officials, who all spoke on the condition of anonymity, said there was evidence that members of Iran's Revolutionary Guard were sheltering al Adel, the younger bin Laden, other al-Qaeda leaders and some other members of bin Laden's family. The officials emphasised that no hard evidence has been found that al-Qaeda fugitives in Iran had a hand in the Saudi bombings. But the suspicions have given a new urgency to United Nations-sponsored talks between White House aide Zalmay Khalilzad and Iranian officials in Geneva. If the CIA or other intelligence agencies find evidence confirming suspicions that the Saudi bombings were planned or supported from Iran, one senior US official warned today, the conversation with Iran "could become a confrontation."
The suspicions of a link between Iran and the bombings are focused largely on al Adel, who some US officials think is now the head of al-Qaeda operations in the Persian Gulf. Some officials think that Khaled Jehani, the leader of the al-Qaeda cell in Saudi Arabia that is suspected of carrying out the attacks, began reporting to al Adel after former gulf operations chief Abdul Rahim al-Nashiri was captured last November. Nashiri is now in US custody. Other officials, however, think Jehani may have taken over from Nashiri and also is running the Saudi Arabian cell, which Saudi intelligence officials think may have had more than 100 members, on his own. Interesting
Posted by: Steve ||
05/15/2003 01:28 pm ||
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Iraq: check.
Next?
Posted by: Kathy K ||
05/15/2003 18:30 Comments ||
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US President George W. Bush has pledged all-out support to the Kingdom to fight terrorism after four suicide bombings killed 34 people, including seven Saudis and seven Americans in Riyadh on Monday. The statement, released following a telephone conversation between Bush and Crown Prince Abdullah, added that Bush expressed his condolences over the deaths in the Riyadh blasts. Prince Abdullah, on his part, thanked the US president for his support and conveyed his condolences on the deaths of Americans in the attacks. âWeâll not show any leniency toward anyone who threatens the Kingdomâs security and stability,â the crown prince told the US leader.
We'll hold you to that...
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
05/15/2003 01:33 pm ||
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Interior Minister Prince Naif has warned that Saudi Arabia will take strong action against religious leaders who instigate violence and terrorism here in the Kingdom. âWe will not remain idle and watch certain religious figures who instigate violence by issuing edicts branding certain people as âinfidelsâ,â the prince said.
We'll believe that when we see you cut a few holy men's heads off...
Speaking to Asharq Al-Awsat, the minister added: âWe will hold them responsible for their words and deeds.â Prince Naif also warned people who try to justify the terrorist attacks in Riyadh that killed at least 34 innocent people, including seven Saudis. âWe will not just stand here and fold our arms. We will deal with them with an iron fist to establish truth and justice,â the prince said.
As long as you're fond of cutting people's heads off, put them on the list. Keeps the recidivism rate down...
The interior minister said the Kingdom had stepped up security to foil future attempts to undermine the country. âThere will be inspections of any suspect cars at the entry and exit points of cities,â he said. Prince Naif confirmed that one of the 19 terrorist suspects, Ali Abdul Rahman Al-Ghamdi, had surrendered to security authorities. He emphasized the role of foreign hands in Mondayâs attacks. âForeign hands supported the attacks. This is clear from the identity of the terrorists who have received training in Afghanistan from Al-Qaeda,â he said.
Uhuh. It was Soddies, sure, but they were egged on by furriners. Can we see a Soddy invasion of Afghanistan now? Didn't think so. How about just cutting off the money supply?
Prince Naif said he was not sure whether the perpetrators of the four bombings in Riyadh were the same 19 Al-Qaeda suspects discovered last week. He said the attackers had used three or four vehicles to carry out the suicide bombings. âIn one car, we saw three charred bodies,â he said.
Decided to get their flat-chested 12-year-olds all together, huh? Well, at least they're dead...
Foreign Minister Prince Saud Al-Faisal said yesterday that the Kingdom would make Al-Qaeda pay for suicide bombings and would hunt down the masterminds. Addressing a press conference in Riyadh, the Saudi chief diplomat reiterated the Kingdomâs determination to fight the terrorists and their supporters. âWhoever did this will regret it because they have galvanized this countryâs determination to extract this cancer (terrorism) and ensure that it doesnât return,â the prince said.
We'll believe it when you catch them and they end up being a head shorter than they used to be...
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
05/15/2003 01:33 pm ||
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I thought for a second that the title was "We Won't Tolerate Investigators", which seems a more accurate description of what's going on.
#3
Let's hope Naif gets off his ass and does something. He's as stagnant as that two-inch puddle in your back yard after a strong storm. Remember he's the guy who contended well after Sept. 11 that Zionists were responsible for WTC.
Posted by: Michael ||
05/15/2003 17:34 Comments ||
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I have a feeling that the Saudi "Royal Family" has gotten too soft to make anything happen now. I mean, picture this: Sitting on their collective asses, raking in Petrodollars for 2 generations, financing terrorists for at least a decade. They remind me of this big gray whale that just beached on the mudflats the other day out of Anchorage. It couldn't get off the mudflats so it died yesterday and everyone is around cutting off the blubber and hauling it off. Not a pretty picture, and not a pretty metaphor, but it will probably come to pass for the Saudis.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
05/15/2003 20:17 Comments ||
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Lawyers of seven Westerners held in Saudi Arabia over a series of deadly bombings said on Thursday they were asking for clemency for their clients. Saudi media have blamed the 2000-2001 bombings on infighting in gangs smuggling banned alcohol. The infamous "Alk Runners"
Diplomats said the attacks might be linked to anti-Western sentiment in the Muslim kingdom, where suicide bombings on foreigners' housing compounds killed at least 34 people in the capital on Monday. "Defense counsel have decided to file a petition on behalf of their clients with His Majesty King Fahd... asking him to treat the period of their detention as sufficient punishment," the law firm of Salah a-Hejailan said in a statement. Five Britons, a Canadian and a Belgian are on trial at an Islamic court on charges of being behind bomb attacks that killed a Briton and an American in 2000 and 2001. Some of them have been in custody since early 2001. A lawyer from the defense team said under Saudi law a clemency appeal could be made at any stage of the trial. "(In the light of) Monday's events, it may be and we are hoping the government will look at this request expeditiously," the lawyer, who asked not to be named, told Reuters. The statement said the clemency request comes after the arrest of a new witness and after a British suspect again pleaded guilty in January following his earlier retraction of a televised confession. Most of the men have withdrawn earlier confessions they made on Saudi state television. Which were beaten out of them.
Posted by: Steve ||
05/15/2003 11:37 am ||
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As tragic as bombings were, they provide these guys a break since Royals will probably set them free as a sop to the West. No problem tho, as I'm sure they were all framed.
Posted by: Michael ||
05/15/2003 17:37 Comments ||
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Saudis have a real dilemma on their hands if they do release the Westerners they have in gaol - they'll all shout bloody murder about how they were framed. This will not help the House of Saud one little bit. They're an embarassment to our own government too, it seems. Jack Straw yesterday refused to acknowledge the Saudis torture prisoners.
EFL:
Fifteen Saudis carried out the triple suicide bombings against expatriate residential compounds that killed and wounded scores of people, Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal said on Wednesday. "Fifteen Saudis did what they did in the attacks in the United States and 15 Saudis did the attacks here," Prince Saud told a news conference, referring to 15 out of 19 suicide hijackers, who carried out the attacks against the United States on September 11, 2001. Humm, his statement is reported differently in the Arab News: Prince Saud said 15 people had taken part in the terrorist attacks. âAs in the Sept. 11 attacks in the US, the number of Saudis who took part in the Riyadh attacks was 15, and this fact should make Saudis and Americans sympathize with one another,â he said. No, it doesn't. Monday night's bombings killed at least 34 people, including seven Americans and nine bombers, according to the latest toll from the Saudi interior ministry. Prince Saud declined to provide details about the fate of the six attackers not mentioned in the interior ministry's breakdown of the fatalities. Two senior State Department officials said Wednesday eight US citizens were killed in the Riyadh blasts. But the prince however admitted that there had been slackness on the part of the kingdom's concerned authorities. "The fact that these terrorist acts took place (means) there was a slackness. We must learn from our mistakes and improve our performance," he said.
"Not that we have in the past, but there comes a time..."
Interior Minister Prince Nayef said the 19 attackers are believed to take orders directly from Osama bin Laden. In a series of e-mails Saturday and Sunday, a man who said he was the head of an al-Qaeda training camp, Abu Mohammed Al-Ablaj, or Mullah Seif el Din, told the Arabic weekly Al Majalla that the group was planning an attack in the Gulf using weapons and ammunition stored there.
Seif Eddin was described as a liaison between the leadership of the Taliban and al-Qaeda...
A US counter-terrorism official had earlier said Al-Ablaj was a Saudi al-Qaeda operative known as Abu Bakr, whose real named is Ali Abd al-Rahman al-Faqasi al-Ghamdi. The official said Wednesday Al-Ablaj was not Abu Bakr and it was unclear whether either was al-Ghamdi. However, Al-Ablaj is a known al-Qaeda operative, and his e-mail is still regarded as credible and as implying al-Qaeda responsibility for Monday night's attacks, the official said. More from the Arab News story:
Prince Naif confirmed that one of the 19 terrorist suspects, Ali Abdul Rahman Al-Ghamdi, had surrendered to security authorities. Anyone think the FBI will be allowed to talk to him?
He emphasized the role of foreign hands in Mondayâs attacks. âForeign hands supported the attacks. This is clear from the identity of the terrorists who have received training in Afghanistan from Al-Qaeda,â he said. Saudi fundies inflamed by Saudi mullahs and trained by other Saudi terrorists in Saudi funded camps in Afghanistan. Yup, it's a foreign plot.
There's a foreign involvement to the extent the Talibs and Qaeda have joined at the top, which it looks like they have. Mullah Seif Eddin doesn't sound like an Arab — he sounds like an Afghan. To me, it looks like the Talibs have climbed aboard the world domination bandwagon. Maybe Prince Naif should think about cancelling some checks.
Prince Naif said he was not sure whether the perpetrators of the four bombings in Riyadh were the same 19 Al-Qaeda suspects discovered last week. Some of them at least, but not the leaders.
Posted by: Steve ||
05/15/2003 08:40 am ||
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interesting contest - who will be first to actually admit that their own ideology is to blame for their mistakes: Saudi Arabia or the NY TImes?
#3
Wasn't there an "al Ghamdi" involved in 9/11? Relative? Inbreeding?
Posted by: Sofia ||
05/15/2003 14:09 Comments ||
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Sofia: Yes, but the Al-Ghamdi surname is even more common there than Smith or Johnson are here. But, blood is definitely thicker than water in the Kingdom in that clan/tribal society. So, may be a close relative.
Posted by: Michael ||
05/15/2003 15:39 Comments ||
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Every once in awhile we stop and gasp in wonder on these pages at how much of the terror networks is a family affair. It's gotta be the in-breeding...
Posted by: Fred ||
05/15/2003 15:58 Comments ||
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This being the Guardian, I'm surprised the headline isn't 'Bomb' 'ringleader' 'caught' on 'video'. Khaled al-Jehani, named by Saudi officials as leader of the cell that carried out the Riyadh bombings, appears with his Kalashnikov in a video recovered from a compound in Afghanistan belonging to Mohammad Atef, an aide to Osama bin Laden, and made public at the beginning of last year. Jehani is believed to have been made al-Qaida's chief of murder and terror operations in the Gulf after the capture of Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri, the USS Cole bombing suspect, last November. With him in the videos, authorities identified, among others, Ramzi Bin al-shibh, a Yemeni national now in US custody named as an unindicted co-conspirator in the September 11 terrorist attacks. US attorney general John Ashcroft told reporters at the time that the five men in the videos were "suspected of planning additional attacks against innocent civilians". The videotapes' sound was not made public, but Mr Ashcroft said that audio analysis suggested the men could be trained "and prepared to commit future suicide terrorist acts". "Hey Ramzi!"
"Yeah Khaled?"
"Wot say we chop off someone's head?"
"Who you have in mind?"
"Well there's this kids who saw me boffing his little sister; he oughta go."
"Sure, no probs, but I need more of a challenge."
"Well then, let's go bomb something."
"Yeah, bombs, great idea! Just remember, the red wire ..."
"Yeah, yeah, I know, I know!"
He said the public's assistance was requested for "further identifying and locating the individuals on the tapes so that additional investigation can be made". "Ramzi, who's that with you?"
"This is cousin Achmed, and cousin Mahmoud."
"Great! Say boys, feel like bombing something?"
After the videos appeared, Jehani's father, Mohammad, was quoted as telling Kuwait's Al-Watan newspaper that his family believed he was dead. They had "received several anonymous calls from people who described themselves only as 'Khaled's brothers in Islam', offering condolences". Express all you want. He's still dead, and he's not in Paradise.
Posted by: Steve White ||
05/15/2003 01:22 am ||
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There. 'That' looks better. That 'looks' better. That looks 'better'.
Posted by: john ||
05/15/2003 3:07 Comments ||
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When I first saw that video I thought that rather than being potential 'martyrs', they were more likely to be the next generation of al-qaeda leaders.
And if I was as ugly as these guys, I might be a terrorist too.
Posted by: Paul Moloney ||
05/15/2003 3:54 Comments ||
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Anyone who takes the name of Khalid should automatically be treated as a jihadi. Khalid al-Walid was a mercenary who served under the ersatz "prophet" Mohammed (may allah piss down his throat), after his army had defeated the Muslims (THANKS FOR NOTHING ALLAH) in the Battle of Uhud, and peddled himself to Mohammed's bandits. If you find that your Muslim neighbor has named a child Khalid, you should report it to counter-terror authorities.
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