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| Arabia |
| Al-Oufi primer |
| 2004-06-21 |
| A former Saudi police officer has taken over as leader of Al-Qaeda in Saudi Arabia after the former chief was shot dead on Friday by Saudi securty forces. Saleh Mohammad al-Oufi, 38, who is number four on the kingdom’s list of most wanted men, "has been named Al-Qaeda chieftain in Saudi Arabia, succeeding Abdul Aziz al-Muqrin," the Londaon-based Asharq al-Awsat reported Monday. The Saudi Institute, an independent news outfit based in Washington, quoted "intelligence" sources to confirm al-Oufi’s appointment. It said the former police officer, born in Medina, fought in Afghanistan and Bosnia where he was wounded and returned to Saudi Arabia in 1995. "Al-Oufi was in the shadows while al-Muqrin was in charge, because he was busy running the secret Al-Qaeda camps in Saudi Arabia. He was essentially responsible for training, recruitment, and logistics," the institute said in an e-mail. "Al-Oufi might be more dangerous than Al-Muqrin because he comes from the security ranks and the fact he is a Hijazi from the holy city of Medina where he can recruit from the most "Saleh al-Oufi is the most dangerous" of the Al-Qaeda lieutenants left alive in Saudi Arabia, said Al-Hayat newspaper. Oufi left school as a teenager and enrolled in the police but left in 1988 to spend four years in the prison service before being sacked, according to biographical details quoted by several Arab media. Al-Hayat said Oufi met Al-Qaeda founder Osama bin Laden in Afghanistan shortly before the September 11, 2001 attacks in the United States. |
| Posted by:Dan Darling |
| #1 A former Saudi police officer has taken over as leader of Al-Qaeda in Saudi Arabia ... This sort of sums things up right from the outset. |
| Posted by: Zenster 2004-06-21 11:37:16 AM |