Saudi forces kill suspected Al-Qaeda leader
Updated 06:39am (Mla time) Dec 31, 2004
By Ali Khalil
Agence France-Presse
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia -- Saudi security forces have killed 10 suspected Al-Qaeda
militants in two days of clashes in the capital, including a Yemeni thought to
be the terror group's leader in the country, officials said Thursday.
The clashes, in which two people on the country's most-wanted list were also
killed, occurred before and after two car bombings against security targets in
the capital on Wednesday that left two other people dead.
Saudi forces killed seven militants in a shootout late Wednesday that came just
an hour after bombings at the interior ministry and a special forces base, a
ministry statement said.
The other three were killed in a firefight that began late Tuesday and
continued overnight, said the statement carried by the official SPA news
agency.
The ministry identified the two most-wanted militants as Saudis Sultan Bjad
Saadun al-Otaibi and Bandar Abderrahman al-Dakhil.
A security source said a Yemeni among the dead, Ibrahim Ahmed Abdel Majeed
al-Reemy, was believed to be the actual leader of the Al-Qaeda in Saudi Arabia.
"It is a big success for Saudi forces ... Reemy is believed to be the real
leader of Al-Qaeda in the kingdom following the killing of Khaled (Ali bin)
Haj," who was killed in a shootout in Riyadh last March, the source told AFP.
Reemy, who did not figure on the most-wanted list, is a "big shot in Al-Qaeda
and is believed to be the link between the organisation in Saudi Arabia and bin
Laden himself," the source said.
Haj, a Yemeni, ranked third on the 26-strong list of most wanted suspected
Islamist militants alleged to have links with suicide bombings which killed 52
people in Riyadh in May and November 2003.
The source said that Al-Qaeda tries to show that its leadership in the kingdom
is in the hands of Saudis, but that Yemenis are the actual leaders "because
they are the most trusted by (Al-Qaeda leader Osama) bin Laden."
Also among the dead was Thamer Khamis Abdel Aziz al-Khamis, a Saudi believed to
be responsible for releasing Internet statements from Al-Qaeda fighters in the
kingdom.
The ministry said another of those killed, Saud Abdullah al-Jadhii, was
suspected of being involved in plotting a blast at security force headquarters
in April that killed five people and wounded 145.
The ministry named the other dead militants as Khaled Ahmed Mohammed bin Sanan,
Badr al-Sobeii, Mohammed Abdullah Saleh al-Mohsen, Mohammed Suleiman Ibrahim
al-Wakeel and Abdul Wahab Adel Abdul Wahab al-Sheridah.
Otaibi and Dakhil figured as number nine and 11 respectively on the most-wanted
list, which was issued last December.
Their death brings the number of militants remaining at large to seven.
Last June, the declared local leader of Al-Qaeda, Saudi Abdul Aziz al-Muqrin
and three associates, were killed by security forces in Riyadh shortly after
they posted website photos of the beheading of a US hostage.
Since May 2003, Saudi Arabia has been swept by a wave of violence which the
authorities blame on the Al-Qaeda network of Saudi-born bin Laden.
More than 100 people have died and hundreds more been wounded in the attacks,
many of which have targeted foreigners.
The bomb attacks in the oil-rich kingdom, prompted security alerts elsewhere in
the Gulf region and sent world oil prices rising.
"It is clear now that their aim is not confined to fighting 'infidels' as they
claim, but also ... to destabilize security through killing Muslims and harming
peaceful citizens," Deputy Interior Minister Prince Ahmed bin Abdul Aziz said
during a visit to the site of the ministry blast.
A Pakistani taxi driver and a Saudi security man were killed in the attack on
the ministry, the Al-Eqtissadiyah newspaper said, adding that about 90 were
wounded in the two blasts.
The interior ministry said six guards were wounded in the attack on its
offices, along with several bystanders, and that foreigners were among the
wounded in the second explosion at the special forces base in eastern Riyadh.
Ministry spokesman Mansur al-Turki said both attacks appeared to have been
suicide operations.
The latest violence came just two weeks after the airing of a purported voice
message from bin Laden urging his followers to rise up against the Riyadh
regime and attack oil sites in Saudi Arabia and the Gulf.
On Wednesday, the US embassy had again urged nationals in the kingdom to
exercise extra caution.
In neighboring Kuwait, the authorities beefed up security around vital
installations such as oil facilities and potential Western targets, security
officials and witnesses said.
Units from the national guard and special forces were deployed around hotels,
Western residential buildings and key installations as police set up
checkpoints along roads, witnesses said.
Oil prices surged on news of the bombings, with New York's main crude oil
contract shot higher by 1.87 dollars to close at 43.64 dollars on Wednesday
before dropping back on Thursday.
Saudi Arabia is the world's number one oil producer and exporter, and the only
one with spare capacity to meet spikes in demand in consumer countries.
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