A senior member of Al Qaeda residing in Iran gave the order to attack a residential compound in Riyadh on November 8, killing at least 17 people and wounding more than 120, a newspaper reported.
Tap, tap, there goes my surprise meter, although it does completely undercut my theory that the latest Riyadh bombings were the work of a cell operating independently of the senior leadership, which was trying to patch things up with the Saudis. Then again, they could have been trying to demonstrate that their capabilities inside the Kingdom hadnât been degraded to the point where they couldnât still launch attacks in order to increase their position at the negotiating table.
The Okaz daily, quoting unnamed sources, says Saif al-Adl used a Thuraya satellite phone to give terrorists in Saudi Arabia the orders to carry out the attack on the al-Muhaya residential compound.
Which he has likely just ditched, if this report is accurate, since he now knows that his communications have been compromised.
Adl is among a group of 500 suspected members of Osama bin Ladenâs Al Qaeda terror network which allegedly entered Iran through the Baluchistan region during the US bombing campaign in Afghanistan, the daily added.
500 is quite a lot ...
The 500 are being detained and guarded by Iranâs army while some Al Qaeda leaders, residing in the Namak area, north of Tehran, are in touch with bin Laden as well as Al Qaeda members across the world, it said.
"Detained" implies that they are unable to engage in extra-curricular activities such as formenting global instability, and from the looks of things, the only custody that these folks are in is the protective variety. As for al-Adel and Co living up in Namak, word is that theyâre being protected (along with their 500 fellow travelers, no doubt) by Qods Force, which is accountable only to Ayatollah Khamenei. They also appear to have some ties with Qods Forceâs former commander, Ahmed (or Mohammed) Vahidi, who is now a deputy defense minister, as well as VEVAK supremo Hojjat al-Islam Ali Fallahian. Then again, for all we know Binny and al-Zawahiri were living it up at the latest Qods Day festivities in their new role as honorary Black Hats.
Adl appears to be the same person who, according to the Washington Post in May, was identified by US officials as Saif al-Adel and is believed to be an Egyptian Al Qaeda leader hiding in Iran.Okaz called the man al-Masri, which is Arabic for Egyptian.
That may also be a reference to Abu Mohammed al-Masri, al-Qaedaâs equivalent to finance minister, who is also said to be residing in Iran. 
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