Saudi interior ministry security spokesman reveals identity of Jazan culprits

Arab League holds workshop on combating terror, recommends legislations upgrade

Fresh developments in war on terror in Yemen, Pakistan, Afghanistan

The security spokesman of the Ministry of Interior issued a statement supplementing what has been previously announced on 24 Shawal 1430 H. about the arrival of a car carrying three persons at Alhamra security point along the coastline road in the region of Jazan and the shooting by two of them, who were wearing female clothes, at the security men resulting in the martyrdom of private first class A'amir Ahmad Ala'kkasi, the injury of another security man and the death of the two who carried the shooting and the arrest of the driver of the car.

The spokesman said that the names of the perpetrators are Yosif Mohammad Mubarak Aljbairi Alshihri and Raed Abdullah Salih Aldhahri Alharbi, Saudi nationals. They are among those included in the list of wanted that was announced on 7-8 Safar 1430 H. Their families were informed according to procedures followed in such cases.

The spokesman said the two perpetrators were wearing explosive belts containing the highly explosive material RDX weighing half a kilogram with two detonators. A hand grenade is attached to each of them to enable the detonation of the explosive belt from one side or both of the two sides. One of the explosive belts contained 296 metal balls (ball bearings) to use them as fragments for the aim of causing the largest number of injuries at far distances from the explosion.

The two perpetrators were about to detonate themselves after threatening to carry it out and starting to fire. But the precise dealing with the situation and the fast action by the security men aborted their threat saving the lives of the innocent present at the site and passers-by.

In addition to what has been mentioned, the following martial was seized on them:

1- Half a kilo of highly explosive RDX charge with two fuses prepared to be used as an explosive belt,

2- Preparation components of an explosive devise consisting of an explosive material weighing half a kilo of RDX with a fuse cord of 4.76 meters length, 3- 12 hand grenades, 4- Two Kalashnikov machine guns with 12 magazines for them, 5- Four hand guns, 6- Cash of 19,500 riyals and foreign currencies.

Initial investigations revealed that they entered the kingdom through infiltration across the southern borders to carry out a criminal act that was about to occur. They coordinated with elements inside. Until now, six of them have been arrested. They all Yemeni nationals.

Announcing this, the Ministry of Interior asserts that the people of this homeland led by the security men will firmly confront all those seeking to undermine the security of this country. It also calls on those who sold themselves and accepted to be tools in the hands of the enemies to return to the right path or doom will be awaiting them.

In Cairo, the representatives of Arab ministries of justice, interior and foreign affairs taking part in an Arab workshop on combating the use of Internet in terrorist crimes urged Arab countries to enact and develop legislations necessary to ban the use of Internet web sites for terrorist purposes and also to make good use of the Arab law on combating crimes of information technology that had been endorsed by the Arab justice and interior ministers councils.

The participants, concluding the workshop meetings, called for a comprehensive Arab strategy in this respect to tackle legislative, judicial, security, media and technological issues and stressed the efforts of the United Nations in the field of combating terror.

Attending the two-day event were experts from Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Jordan, Bahrain, Tunisia, Algeria, Syria, Sudan, Iraq, the Sultanate of Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco and Yemen.

In Sana’a, Yemeni Minister of Foreign Affairs Abu Bakr al-Qirbi and Minister of Public Health & Population Abdul-Karim Yahya Rasie met with envoys of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states, ambassadors of the European Union (EU) countries, the United States, China and Japan as well as representatives of the UN organizations and humanitarian agencies working in the Yemeni capital.

Qirbi pointed out that the meeting comes to brief friendly countries and international organizations on the efforts exerted by the Yemeni government to receive and shelter the refugees stricken by the war “ignited by elements of devastation and terrorism in Saada province”.

The Yemeni foreign minister said on Tuesday that his country is ready to hold conditional dialogue with northern Shiite insurgents and will listen to grievances, but will not talk to rebels with separatist demands.

Battles between the Yemeni army and northern Shiite insurgents based in Saada, who complain of political, economic and religious discrimination, have killed hundreds and displaced tens of thousands since war first broke out in 2004.

"There are conditions the government has laid out for dialogue with those carrying weapons in Saada. If they accept them, they can put their demands forward and they will be addressed," Foreign Minister Qirbi said in Cairo.

"There will never be dialogue with those calling for separation," he added, speaking after talks with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.

The United States and Saudi Arabia, the world's biggest oil producer, fear the conflict in Yemen's northern provinces and a separatist movement in the south will enable al Qaeda to establish a stronger foothold in the Arabian Peninsula state.

Some Arab countries including Egypt also fear Shiite power Iran could gain influence in Yemen through the Shiite rebels. Iran has denied involvement.

"The leadership in Yemen opens the door for dialogue with all factions under the umbrella of unity of Yemen ... on condition this dialogue is Yemeni and in Yemen," Qirbi said, speaking on the day a Yemeni court sentenced 10 rebels to death.

Fighting intensified in north Yemen in August when the army launched Operation Scorched Earth. President Ali Abdullah Saleh has said he is ready to fight the rebels for years if necessary.

The government has portrayed the conflict as an effort by extremists of the Zaydi Shiite sect to re-establish the cleric-ruled state, or "Imamate" in religious parlance, that fell in 1962 leading to the creation of the Yemeni republic.

A Yemeni Shiite rebel leader last month denied that insurgents want to set up a Shiite state in the north.

Yemen offered a conditional truce in August, which rebels rejected. The conditions required rebels to return captured military and civilian equipment, hand over those behind the June kidnapping of nine foreigners and to refrain from intervening in local authority affairs.

The well-armed rebels, operating in rugged mountainous terrain, are led by Abdul-Malek al-Houthi, whose group embodies a revivalist strand of the Zaydi branch of Shiite Islam.

Zaydis make up about a third of Yemen's population of about 23 million people. The majority of Yemenis are Sunni Muslims.

Meanwhile, the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud received a message from Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Salih.

The message was conveyed to the king by Yemeni Vice Premier for the Affairs of Defense and Security and Minister of Local Administration Dr. Rashad Mohammad Alo'laimi during an audience.

The audience was attended by Prince Mohammad bin Naif bin Abdulaziz, Assistant Minister of Interior for Security Affairs, and Yemeni Ambassador to the kingdom Mohammad Ali Mohsin Alahwal.

On the other hand, in Dera Ismail Khan, Pakistani helicopter gunships attacked Taliban bases near the Afghan border on Wednesday as the army urged NATO forces to seal the frontier to stem cross-border movement of militants.

Pakistani forces launched an offensive to wrest control of the lawless South Waziristan region on Saturday after militants rocked the country with a string of bomb and suicide attacks, killing more than 150 people.

Six people were killed in two suicide bomb attacks at the International Islamic University in the capital, Islamabad, on Tuesday, prompting authorities to order the closure of educational institutions across the country.

Pakistani stocks closed lower with dealers saying the market was worried violence might worsen.

"The tense law and order situation as evidenced by the closure of schools throughout the country has truly spooked stock market investors," said Asad Iqbal, managing director at Ismail Iqbal Securities Ltd.

Remote and rugged South Waziristan, with its rocky mountains and patchy forests cut through by dry creeks and ravines, is a global hub for militants.

The offensive is being closely followed by the United States and other powers embroiled in Afghanistan.

The government forces initially faced light resistance but fighting has intensified as soldiers approach the militants' main sanctuaries in the mountains.

Government forces attacked the militant strongholds of Makeen and Ladha with helicopter gunships and artillery on Wednesday, security officials said.

Qari Hussain Mehsud, a senior Taliban commander known as "the mentor of suicide bombers", called the BBC on Tuesday to take responsibility for the attacks on the Islamic University and said the militants consider "all of Pakistan to now be a war zone".

The army reported fierce fighting for the control of Kotkai, Hussain's hometown and also the birthplace of Pakistani Taliban chief, Hakimullah Mehsud.

Security forces briefly took control of Kotkai in fighting on Monday night but militants recaptured it in a counter-attack. Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani chaired a cabinet meet and vowed the government was "more resolute" to eradicate militancy from the country.

So far Pakistan's media and public seem behind the offensive, but attitudes could change if Taliban attacks on urban targets are stepped up.

The News daily splashed the university attack across the front page with the headline "Godless kill in God's name" Gilani also assured the nation and the international community that Pakistan's nuclear infrastructure was safe and "these terrorists pose no threat to its safety".

As government forces pressed ahead with the Waziristan offensive, the military called on the NATO troops in Afghanistan to seal the border "to prevent cross-border movement and flow of weapons".

Pakistan Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee (JCSC) Chairman General Tariq Majid made the call during talks with Britain's Chief of Defense Staff, Sir Jock Stirrup.

Pakistani newspapers have in recent days reported that NATO forces had abandoned border posts opposite South Waziristan, raising the possibility of Afghan Taliban coming to help their Pakistani comrades, or of Pakistani Taliban fleeing.

Majid called for "synchronization of effort on both sides and sharing of real-time intelligence with reference to the ongoing operations", an army statement issued late on Tuesday said.

The army says 115 militants and 16 soldiers have been killed since the offensive was launched on Saturday but there was no independent confirmation of those tolls.

Foreign reporters are not allowed anywhere near the battle zone and it is dangerous for Pakistani reporters to visit. Many of the Pakistani media based in South Waziristan have left.

About 28,000 soldiers are battling an estimated 10,000 hard-core Taliban, including about 1,000 tough Uzbek fighters and some Arab al-Qaeda members.

More than 100,000 civilians have fled from South Waziristan, with about 32,000 of them leaving since Oct. 13, the United Nations said. Up to 200,000 people could flee, the army says.

The army has launched brief offensives in South Waziristan before, the first in 2004 when it suffered heavy casualties before striking a peace pact.

The Karachi Stock Exchange's benchmark 100-share index fell 3.36 percent, or 321.28 points, to 9,247.78 on turnover of 177.5 million shares. The KSE-index ended at 9,223.39 points on Sept. 17.