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| Arabia |
| Saudi document lists militants' would-be targets |
| 2004-05-01 |
| Saudi militants have plotted to hijack a British plane at Riyadh airport, hit Western embassies and strike at government buildings with rocket-propelled grenades, according to a Saudi security document. The document, treated with some caution by diplomats, has been circulating around European Union embassies in Riyadh this week. It is dated April 22, the day after the latest attack which killed at least five people and wounded 150 at a security building in the heart of Riyadh. The capital has been hit by suspected Al-Qaeda suicide bombers three times in the past year. Citing information gleaned from an Islamic militant who it says was involved in the planning, the document warned of attempts to break into royal palaces, attack senior security officials and visiting VIPs and kidnap or kill Westerners. It mentioned attempts to hijack a British plane at Riyadh airport and use the hostages to secure the release of prisoners. It singled out the United States, British, Spanish and Italian embassies as possible targets. 'It is not clear if the list reflects speculation by the Saudi authorities or hard intelligence about what the terrorists were planning,' one Western diplomat said of the document. He said it read like a 'laundry list' of targets which anyone seeking to drive Westerners out of the world's biggest oil exporter might select. Meanwhile, the US said on Thursday that attacks in Saudi Arabia had galvanised the kingdom into cracking down on Al-Qaeda and had spurred unprecedented cooperation with Washington against terrorism. In its annual Patterns Of Global Terrorism report, the US State Department emphasised Saudi actions against Al-Qaeda. |
| Posted by:Fred |