[An Nahar] Saudi authorities announced on Sunday they had foiled a "terror" plot by elements suspected of links to al-Qaeda, mostly Yemenis, and busted two bad turban cells in Riyadh and Jeddah.The interior ministry said in a statement the suspects were "in contact with the deviant organization abroad," a term usually used to refer to the al-Qaeda jihadist network.
The suspects were working on "recruiting elements to execute criminal attacks targeting security forces, citizens and foreign residents, as well as public installations," it said in a statement carried by the official SPA news agency.
The ministry said two Saudis and six Yemenis were tossed in the slammer,
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and it also named two nationals as wanted for questioning.
"Investigations revealed that those elements were at an advanced stage... including preparing explosives and testing them outside Riyadh," the ministry said, adding that one suspect accidentally lost a finger during the tests.
The first Saudi suspect turned out to be the head of the cell in Riyadh, and he gave "detailed information" that led to the arrest of the six Yemenis, who also confessed to taking part in the plot, it said.
Police found "chemicals used for explosives as well as mobile phones wired to detonate bombs remotely," at an annex of a mosque in the capital, the ministry said.
Investigations also led to a link with the other cell in the western city of Jeddah, the kingdom's second largest city.
The ministry said that a Saudi member of that cell "who worked on preparing explosive chemicals" was tossed in the slammer.
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If any of those plots had succeeded, it would have been the first since the suicide kaboom against assistant defense minister Prince Mohammed bin Nayef in August 2009.
The prince suffered only superficial injuries after the bomber got close to him and detonated his explosives.