One of the men on Saudi Arabia's new most-wanted list is married to Osama Bin Laden's daughter while another was involved in a plot to kill the US ambassador in Yemen. A third had smuggled militants into Iraq from Syria.Documents provided to AP on Saturday, profiling the 85 men -- 83 Saudis and two Yemenis -- on the list, reveal that many of them had either taken part in planning possible attacks targeting oil, security and other installations in the kingdom or had provided Al Qaeda members with weapons, safe haven, false documents and money.
The documents shed light on the extent of Saudi participation in the extremist networks struggling to rebuild themselves in the Arabian Peninsula after a series of crackdowns in the past years. All the men on the list are hiding abroad, many in Yemen. The men were of different ages and from throughout the kingdom, according to documents provided by a Saudi official. The youngest, 16-year-old Abdul-Ilah Al-Shihri, was only 12 when the September 11 attacks took place. He was smuggled into Yemen to join Al Qaeda there by his uncle, Youssef Al-Shihri, according to the documents.
Active members: The official said the men were active members of Al Qaeda or local offshoots of the group and had planned to re-establish the terror network in Saudi Arabia following the kingdom's aggressive campaign that netted hundreds of its members.
Saudi Arabia issued the list on Monday and has asked Interpol for help in arresting the men. They include 11 who have been released from the Guantanamo Bay and have attended the kingdom's much-touted extremist rehabilitation programme. Among them were two Saudis who have emerged as the new leaders of Yemen's branch of Al Qaeda. Another man on the list, Muhammad Aboul-Kheir, 34, is married to the daughter of Al Qaeda leader Bin Laden and worked as his bodyguard. He had links to Ramzi Binalshibh, one of five co-defendants facing murder and war crimes charges for their alleged roles in the September 11 attacks. The documents mentioned his whereabouts either in Afghanistan, Pakistan or Iran.
Another wanted Saudi, Saleh Al-Qaraawi, has been dubbed by the local media as one of the most dangerous men on the list. The documents say Al-Qaraawi, 27, had provided Abu Musab Al-Zarqawi, the head of Al Qaeda in Iraq, who was killed in June 2006, with money and recruits. Qassem Al-Reemi, 30, meanwhile, one of the few Yemenis on the list, has "links to a plot targeting the US ambassador in Sanaa", the capital of Yemen.
The release of the most-wanted list is part of the kingdom's fight against Al Qaeda. The network's attacks have targeted expatriate residential compounds, oil installations and government buildings.