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June 9, 2006 |
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PRINCE NAIF IBN ABDUL AZIZ: THANKS TO ALMIGHTY ALLAH, WE HAVE SUCCESSFULLY ABORTED MOST OF THE TERROR PLOTS AND ACTIVITIES. THE IRAQI PRIME MINISTER ANNOUNCES THE KILLING OF ABU MUSAAB AL-ZARQAWI. US AND BRITISH WORRIES ABOUT TERRORIST ATTACKS. The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah Ibn Abdul Aziz received at the royal court at Al Yamamah palace in Riyadh Sheikh Abdul Aziz Ibn Abdullah Al Al-Sheikh, the Kingdom's Mufti and Chairman of the Senior Ulema and Religious Research Commission and Ifta: Sheikh Salih Ibn Mohammed Al-Lihaidan, Chairman of the Supreme Judiciary Council: and senior Ulema and Sheikhs who came to greet him. Later, the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques received a delegation of heads of government departments in Al-Zulphi, led by Sheikh Bakr Ibn Abdullah Al-Bakr who condemned terrorist acts, lauding the efforts exerted by security forces in fighting organized crime. The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah Ibn Abdul Aziz thanked the attendance and said to them that their country is safe and God willing all those who want to harm it will be defeated as the higher word is that of God. The audiences were attended by a number of princes and senior protocol officials. On the other hand Prince Naif Ibn Abdul Aziz. the Interior Minister, has hailed the remarkable role played by the security men in combating terrorism. Addressing a press conference after patronizing a graduation ceremony at Riyadh-based Naif Arab University for Security Sciences, Prince Naif said the security men had shouldered their responsibility in this respect in a satisfactory manner. 'Thanks to Almighty Allah, we have successfully aborted most of the terror plots and activities', he said. Prince Naif slammed classification of the Saudi society and said 'the Saudis do oppose such classification. We are Muslims and adherent to the teachings of Islam, the Holy Quran and Sunnah (the Prophet's teachings). Prince Naif pointed out that the interior ministry has been informed through the foreign ministry that arrangements are underway in Iraq to extradite two Saudis who were in the list of the 36. 'We will exert intensive efforts for their extraditions, and the matter is to be settled by the Iraqi authorities'. Underscoring the significant role that could be played by the media in combating terrorism, Prince Naif hoped that the Arab media would play the desired role in this respect. "The media should tackle problems in an objective manner because credibility is an essential matter for the media', he said. Prince Naif noted that the role of the media as regards security awareness is still limited, and added 'as interior ministers we have met Arab information ministers and taken good recommendations, but unfortunately the recommendations were not activated, and we hope they will be activated, and we hope that the Arab League will play a role in this respect. Prince Naif said the terrorism combating agreement was concluded in 1998 and added' but unfortunately neither the Arab media nor the Arab officials, either politicians or non-politicians, did tell others that we had combated terrorism and agreed to combat terrorism'. "We would like to urge the Arab media men to tell facts to the Arab citizens, and to discuss the issue in an objective way and moreover to reply others through telling facts', he said and added 'our voice should be audible outside our countries in all languages'. "We only want facts and truth, we want all to believe that our society is a secured society in all domains, and we should believe that the citizen is the security man and the vice versa'. "When we all feel that with security sense, then security will be realized', he said adding 'we do not oppose objective criticism based on facts, but we don't like exaggeration because exaggeration leads to lies'. Prince Naif slammed the allegations, which say that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is still trading in people, and said Late King Faisal had put an end to the phenomenon of slavery. Prince Naif reiterated that the Saudi syllabuses are Islamic educational syllabuses, and added 'if there are some people with deviant views and ideas, then we should not hold the syllabuses responsible.' Prince Naif said 'we do oppose those who associate backwardness with Islam and think that Islam runs counter to to progress'. He urged education and media institutions to shoulder their responsibility towards confronting terrorism. Asked about those who had issued a statement accusing some persons of trying to westernize the society, Prince Naif said 'we haven't here a religious institution and another institution called 'civil institution', we oppose the terminology of 'religion's men, because we are all religion's men'. He hoped that the persons who had issued the statement would correct their mistake, and added the doors of the Saudi rulers are open wide to meet citizens and to exchange views with them on all issues of mutual interest'. Asked about the report recently published in the US criticizing the Saudi syllabuses, Prince Naif said 'we don't accept directives or instructions from abroad' and added 'with the grace of Almighty Allah we have been going ahead on the proper path. Others should understand us and deal with us on the base of proper understanding'. On the Saudi-Yemeni borders problem, Prince Naif said the issue has been settled, and added 'no doubt this is a great achievement which started at the era of Late Custodian of the two Holy Mosques King Fahd Ibn Abdul Aziz and completed at the era of the Custodian of the two Holy Mosques King Abdullah Ibn Abdul Aziz . 'The settlement of the borders problem will benefit both of the Saudis and the Yemenis', he noted. He underlined the importance of cooperation between the Saudis and the Yemenis to put an end to the phenomenon of smuggling and infiltration across the borders. In Jazan Security forces have arrested 10 people in a number of flats in two buildings. Information were received that a number of suspects were occupying furnished flats in a compound close to the sea were four people were arrested. In another furnished flat in Jazan, security forces arrested 6 people who surrendered without fighting back. No weapons were found but the suspects had around SR 13,000 and a computer. The official spokesman of the Ministry of the Interior General Mansour Al-Turki said the arrests happened in service flats in the area and the suspects are being held for questioning. Meantime Abdul Rahman Ibn Hamad Al Attiyah, Secretary-General of the Arab Gulf Cooperation Council, has received the document of the Sultanate's endorsement of the GCC states' agreement on fighting of terror, which is endorsed by a Royal Decree issued by Sultan Qaboos bin Said. In a statement, Attiyah expressed his appreciation for the Sultan's endorsement of the agreement and praised the efforts being exerted by the leaders of GCC states in implementing the decisions of the regional body and supporting it in its drive towards more progress and prosperity of the region. In Baghdad the leading notorious insurgent Abu Musaab Al-Zarqawi has been killed. Speaking at a news conferece, Prime Minister Nouri Al-Malki declared, "today Al-Zarqawi has been finished." Al-Malki added that Al-Zarqawi was killed in an American air strike north of the town of Baacouba. The killing of the notorious insurgent constituted a message to all those involved in the insurgency against the state, he said, and vowed to pursue the "political process," he said He also vowed to "face all kinds of challenges .. the sole road for the prosperity of the Iraqi people is by means of unity and national conciliation because all the Iraqis are in one boat and it must anchor at the safe beach .. I thank all my citizens for their services and coordination and I also thank the armed forces and the army and the Multi-National Forces for their leading role. "We will meet you on other occasions of victories God's willing." Speaking at the same news conference, Zalmay Khalilzad, the US ambassador, said Zarqawi's death "did not end violence in Iraq but is a step in the right direction and is a good omen for Iraq, the prime minister and efforts of the global war against terrorism." He affirmed that there are difficulties ahead, but the authorities will continue to fight terrorism and who want Iraq to fail. The ambassador called for bringing sectarian violence to an end "in order for Iraq to unite." George W. Casey Jr., the top US commander in Iraq, who also spoke at the conference, confirmed the death of Zarqawi saying that he was identified through facial recognition and fingerprints. He added that Zarqawi worked on undermining the coalition efforts for stability in Iraq and killed thousands of innocent people. "Although Zarqawi is dead the terrorist organizations are still a threat against Iraq's stability and prosperity," he said, adding that the Iraqi forces, along with the coalition troops, would continue to hunt terrorists until terrorism in Iraq is eradicated. Casey added that Zarqawi was killed in the area of Hebheb in Diyala in a wooded area, and that pictures of the operation would be made public later. The US official noted that seven people were killed in the same operation and that the scene of the action was still "being excavated" to determine exact toll of losses. Al-Malki added that the killing of Zarqawi would contitute "a strong boost for the efforts against terrorism .. it is a negative message to those betting on using terrorists and undermining stability of the country." "This is an open battle between us and all those who seek to instigate sectarianism," the premier added, clarifying that the operation was preceded with tip-offs from civilians. Meanwhile Egyptian security forces have arrested two men wanted for involvement in bombings that killed 20 people in the Sinai resort of Dahab in April, according to an Egyptian security official. The two brothers were arrested in northern Sinai and are believed to be affiliated to a group with radical Islamist views, named by Egypt as Tawhid wal Jihad. The security official said initial investigations showed that there were more than 40 other associates of the group who were still on the run. Twenty people were killed, including several foreigners, on April 24, when three suicide bombings ripped through the popular Red Sea resort of Dahab during a peak holiday season. An interior ministry statement said police had killed three men wanted for involvement in the Dahab bombings. The deaths took the total number of suspects killed by police to 10, according to previous interior ministry statements. Two of the men, Atwan al-Swerki and Radi al-Swerki, were the brothers of Atallah al-Swerki, who is believed to have carried out the Dahab attacks, a security source said. The three had been hiding in farms in northern Sinai when police got a tip-off and surrounded the area for hours. "[The suspects] started to shoot, and police returned fire killing all three instantly," the source said. In Amman Jordanian military prosecutors indicted seven al-Qaida militants for plotting to carry out suicide attacks against the capital's international airport and hotels. Four defendants - a Libyan and three Iraqis - are in police custody and will stand trial while another three are at still at large and will be tried in absentia. The plotters also planned to attack resort hotels at the Dead Sea and the Red sea port of Aqaba, prosecutors charged. They are also charged with the illegal possession of explosives. In March, Jordan state-run TV announced that security forces had succeeded in foiling a terrorist plot organized by an al-Qaida group involving Iraqi, Libyan and Saudi militants. The indictment sheet said police seized a bag of 3.9 kilograms of explosives hidden in a toy. One defendant, Iraqi Saad Fakhri Younes al-Nueimi, 40, was assigned by a Saudi militant, identified as Turki Nasser Abdullah, to carry out the attack at Queen Alia International Airport by detonating the explosives bag, the prosecutors said. Another Iraqi, Youssef Abdul-Rahman al-Obeidi, who is at large, reportedly told another defendant, Iraqi Saad Fawzi, that the attack would be claimed by al-Qaida, prosecutors said. The charge sheet added that the Libyan defendant, Mohammed Saeed al-Darsi, 23, had intended to go to Iraq to fight U.S. troops, but changed his mind for fear of arrest and instead joined in plotting attacks against Americans in Jordan. The two other Iraqis in custody are Mohsen Mathloom Alousi, 34, and Abdul Karim al-Jumaili, 48. The indictment said that some of the defendants were living in Jordan while others came from Iraq through Syria. No trial date has yet been set. In Damascus Syria said that terrorists, said to be from an Islamist group, tried to infiltrate this into a deserted building near the general customs headquarters Western Damascus, and clashed with security forces. The official news noted that "The clash led to the killing of four armed terrorists and the martyrdom of a member of the fighting terror forces while the other terrorists were arrested, two of them wounded," sources said. It said "ten US guns were confiscated from the group with their ammunition and an other ammunition in addition to locally made explosives together with tapes recording including religious preaches and other arms." Syria said that the "primary investigations into the arrested terrorists who tried to infiltrate this morning into buildings Western Damascus were provided with weapons from a neighboring country," interior ministry said today. An official source at the ministry said "primary investigations of the arrested terrorists showed that until.. last October, they were following one of the Sufi ways, then they joined a Takfiri group." The source noted that "arms were supplied to the group by a neighboring country to stage sabotage acts aimed at vital targets and national interests." U.S. officials believe Canadian arrests over the weekend and three recent domestic incidents in the United States are evidence the U.S. will soon be hit again by a terrorist attack. Privately, they say, they'd be surprised if it didn't come by the end of the year, CBS News reported. The first of the domestic incidents, all of which drew little attention at the time, began with the holdup of a string of Torrance, Calif. gas stations last summer. Muslim converts who bonded together in prison planned to use the robberies to finance attacks on 20 Army recruiting stations. Los Angeles Police Chief William Bratton admits they stumbled on the plot during a search. "Make no mistake about it," Bratton said. "We dodged a bullet here perhaps many bullets." Police in Toledo, Ohio, busted another cell in February. This one consisted of three men training to attack U.S. forces overseas. Once again, luck played a role. When they tried to enlist someone in their mosque to help, he turned them in. "These individuals are often hiding in plain sight in cities like Torrance and now Toledo," says John Pistole, a FBI deputy director. Two months ago, a pair of Atlanta men, one a Georgia Tech engineering student, were arrested not long after communicating by e-mail with two of the suspects arrested in Canada over the weekend. The Atlanta men are charged with videotaping domestic targets, including the U.S. Capitol and the World Bank. Analysts now conclude similarities between all the cases were dramatic: All were self-financed, self-motivated, and in each case the men were seeking out others to join their cell. In short, Osama bin Laden didn't pay for these plots, recruit for them or even know of them. They were all totally homegrown even amateurish. But if four, including the one in Canada, have been uncovered in just 11 months, officials fear there are inevitably other plots that have not been and are maturing even now. The next attack here, officials predict, will bear no resemblance to Sept. 11. The casualty toll will not be that high, the target probably not that big. We may not even recognize it for what it is at first, they say. But it's coming of that they seem certain said the report. Police are hunting for a chemical device after anti-terror officers carried out an armed raid that led to two arrests and a man being shot. The 23-year-old suspect shot during the terrorism operation in Forest Gate, east London, is recovering in hospital under armed guard. His brother, 20, is being held at Paddington Green police station. Police have been given warrants extending the time they can hold the two men until 7 June. Security said they had had intelligence there was a "viable" chemical device in the house. Intelligence had suggested it was a potentially fatal device that could produce casualty figures in double or even triple figures. The suspects are Abdul Kahar, who was shot, and Abdul Koyar, who are both of Bangladeshi origin. The go-ahead for the raid came after discussions between MI5, the anti-terrorist branch, and bio-chemical experts from the Health Protection Agency which advises on the potential health risks. An air exclusion zone was imposed around the scene, banning aircraft from flying below 2,500ft above the site. But local residents were not evacuated, either because the threat of explosions was not deemed serious enough or police did not want to alert the suspects. Some officers wore bio-chemical suits and carried gas masks in the search of the terraced house in Lansdown Road. Deputy Assistant Commissioner Peter Clarke, head of the Met's anti-terror branch, said the operation was planned in response to "specific intelligence". |
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