March 19, 2004

TWO OF THE MOST WANTED KILLED IN RIYADH AND THE CONFISCATION OF AMMUNITIONS AND MONEYS. SIX HIGH-EXPLOSIVE HAND GRENADES, TWO KALASHNIKOV MACHINE GUNS, THREE 9-MM PISTOLS AND MORE THAN SR516,000 CEASED. THE SAUDI EMBASSY IN LONDON RECEIVES AN ENVELOPE CONTAINING WHITE POWDER PROVEN NOT TO BE ANTHRAX. A GCC MEDIA CAMPAIGN AGAINST TERRORISM. FOILING A NEW ATTEMPT TO BOMB THE US CONSULATE IN KARACHI. Two of Saudi Arabia's most wanted terror suspects were shot dead in a shootout with police forces. The shootout took place in the Naseem district in south Riyadh according to the Saudi Press Agency. Sources said the suspects were riding in an olive-green 98 Nissan Patrol. Police patrol cars chased the Nissan through the streets of Naseem after the suspects refused to stop at a checkpoint. The suspects then began shooting at the officers, who returned fire. The gunfight took place near the intersection of Abdul Rahman Ibn Ouf and Ahmed Ibn Hanbal streets. Six hand grenades, two Kalashnikovs, ten magazines, three 9-mm guns, as well as SR516,000 in cash were later found in the suspects' car. Police cars were riddled with bullets, but no police or Special Forces officer was injured. One of the suspects was identified as Khaled Ali Haj, a Yemeni national and one of the 26 most wanted terror suspects posted last November. The second man was believed to be Abdul Rahman Muhammad Yazji. Some 50 units from the Criminal Investigation Department, the Special Forces, local police and Saudi Intelligence as well as several units from the Civil Defense crowded the area. Several ambulances also rushed to the scene, eyewitnesses said. Police cordoned off an area stretching all the way to King Fahd Road. This was the first time this year police shot dead wanted suspects in a residential neighborhood. The deaths of the two suspects have reduced to 21 the number of suspects on the list who are still at large. The Interior Ministry posted rewards between SR1 million and SR7 million for information leading to the capture of suspects. A week after posting the reward, security forces received a tip-off from a citizen that led to the killing of Ibrahim Rayyes near a gas station, also in the Naseem district which has been the scene of a string of gun battles between police and militants. Several weeks later, another terror suspect, Mansoor Muhammad Faqeeh, surrendered to authorities. Last month, police found the grave of terror suspect Amir Al-Shehri along the Riyadh-Kharj road. He had survived a shootout with security forces but later succumbed to his injuries. Security men, chasing a suspected vehicle in Riyadh, killed the two of the wanted suspects who started to fire at them after refusing to obey orders to stop, an official source of the Ministry of Interior announced. The source said a security patrol ordered the two suspects to stop while driving along Abdul Rahman Ibn Oaf street in Riyadh. They rejected to obey the order and instead fired at the security patrol who fired back, killing both of them. In the car, the security men confiscated the following items: 1. Six high-explosive hand grenades 2. Two Klashinkov machine guns 3. Ten Klashinkov ammunition magazines 4. Three 9-mm pistols 5. SR516,000". Thanks to Almighty Allah, no citizen or security man was injured. An official source at the Interior Ministry noted that 'when the two suspects, who refused to stop at a checkpoint, began shooting the security men, the security men returned the fire, and subsequently they (the two suspects) were killed.' 'Neither a citizen nor a security man was killed at the shootout', the official source added. 'One of the suspects was identified as 'Khalid Ali Ali Haj', a Yemeni, and the other was identified as 'Ibrahim Ibn Abdulaziz Ibn Mohammed Al-Muzeini', a Saudi, the official source pointed out. In the UK The Saudi embassy in London issued the following press statement: A closed envelope containing white powder was mailed and reached the embassy. British authorities were contacted. They dealt with the matter immediately. All measures were taken for the protection and safety of all personnel of the embassy. The embassy said in a supplementary statement that it had received a report from the British police authorities in this respect. 'The report pointed out that the envelope was free from hazardous and poisonous materials', the supplementary statement noted, adding that "the British police authorities made it clear that that the powder in the envelope was neither harmful nor dangerous'. Meanwhile The Gulf joint program production for the Gulf Cooperation Council GCC announced yesterday the beginning of a media campaign against the "evils of terrorism." The Kuwaiti news agency quoted the executive director of the establishment Hashem al-Shakhas as saying that the campaign "include three feature films, 30 TV messages, 30 radio messages one drama series in 15 session." Al-Shakhas indicated that the " media campaign which aims at calling for tolerance and accepting the other comes because of the incidents taking place in the region and is addressed to the citizens of the citizens of the Gulf Co-operation Council GCC member states." He explained that the campaign explains the intention of the leaders of the GCC on the need of challenging violence in all its forms through creating commitment to Arab and Islamic solidarity and the call to give up violence." He said that the programs "speak of the honorable image of Islam and its tolerance and sublime values which forbid violence and calls for tolerance, refuses violence and encourages humanitarian and civilizational cooperation." France's senior military officer said that Osama bin Laden had on several occasions narrowly escaped capture by French troops working alongside U.S. forces in Afghanistan. But he added that even if the troops had succeeded, that would not by itself have dismantled Al-Qaida. His capture "will change nothing directly," Gen. Henri Bentegeat, the chief of staff of French armed forces, said in an interview with France's Europe-1 radio station. He said Al-Qaida is "a hydra, so if you catch one head, there will be others." But he added that Bin Laden's capture was indispensable "on principle, for justice and for the innumerable victims of these monstrous attacks." He said 200 members of the French special forces were taking part with U.S. troops in Afghanistan in the hunt for Bin Laden. "Our men have not been far," he said. "On several occasions, I even think he slipped out of a net that was well closed." Bentegeat did not say when or where the encounters had taken place. The Ministry of Defense refused to provide additional details. The French military chief, who was interviewed after the terrorist bombings in Madrid, said he considered Al-Qaida "very probably" responsible for the coordinated attacks in the Spanish capital because of their detailed preparation. "It was the same on September 11, the same today in Iraq, where the choice of targets, the choice of methods, the complexity of the operation point to Al-Qaida," he said. Bentegeat said that while France "is certainly not the most threatened," all European countries are more or less threatened by Al-Qaida. "I don't think one should be overworried, but one simply should remain very vigilant," he said, noting that French, European and U.S. intelligence services are working together against international terrorism. Asked about French security measures, he said French fighter jets could scramble within two minutes to face any threat. "Not a day goes by without planes taking off to check on a plane that has veered off its path or does not respond by radio," he said. Also, the U.S. military said that U.S.-led troops surprised eight enemy fighters in a cave complex in southeastern Afghanistan, prompting a gun battle in which three militiamen were killed and five were wounded. The skirmish was the first reported by the U.S. military since the start of a new operation on March 7 designed to intensify the campaign against a stubborn Taliban-led insurgency and to track down Al-Qaida leaders including Osama bin Laden. The clash occurred as dozens of troops, including special forces, searched the complex southwest of Qalat, the capital of Zabul province, some 380 kilometers (240 miles) southwest of the capital Kabul, spokesman Lt. Col. Bryan Hilferty said. He said the coalition troops, who were armed with rifles and machine guns, also came under fire, but none were reported injured. Hilferty said troops, including special forces, arrested five militiamen in the caves, and that eight more suspects were detained in the same area. Meanwhile plainclothes anti-terror police are conducting þ patrols on the London Underground to prevent any possible terrorist þ attacks, police said.þ þ Uniformed officers have begun stop-and-search checks on the network as security was being stepped up.þ þ Underground passengers have been warned to make their own checks for þunattended baggage, British Transport Police said, and a new poster campaign þhas also been launched.þ þ Deputy Assistant Commissioner Peter Clarke, head of the Metropolitan police þ Anti-Terrorist Branch, said public vigilance when traveling on rail or Tube was vital at all times''.þ þThe despicable attacks in Madrid show only to closely that the threat of þ þterrorism remains very real,'' he said.þ þ A BTP spokesman said extra patrols were being carried out at rail and tube stations and that security measures would be constantly revised with the help of anti-terrorism experts.þ þ As part of the continuing government campaign against the threat from þ þterrorism, police have stepped up patrols on the London Underground system,'' he said.þ þ The patrols include, for the first time, deploying plainclothes þ þcounter-terrorist police to key locations.''þ þ He said the measures were being supported by the Metropolitan Police, City þof London Police and Transport for London. þ þ The poster campaign was not a specific response to the death of þ þ200 people in last weeks' bombing of commuter trains in Madrid, but part þof a constant review of security arrangements, said the spokesman.þ þ The changes follow a meeting of officials from Metro systems across the þ þworld at a conference in London last week.þ þ Posters are to be installed in stations to urge the three million daily Tubeþ travelers to report suspicious items or packages left in carriages to police þor station staff.þ þ The posters will implore passengers to ask Who owns this bag?'' and þ þimmediately raise the alarm if no-one can claim the luggage.þ þ Meanwhile, similar concerns were being assessed across mainland Europe in þthe aftermath of the Madrid tragedy.þ þ German interior minister Otto Schily said that if the Madrid attacks were þthe work of Islamic terrorists, the link would pose a new quality of threat þfor all of Europe'', adding that the continent must rethink its security þmeasures.þ þ Schily spoke after an emergency meeting of German security officials.þ þ He urged Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern, who holds the European Union þpresidency, to convene a meeting of member countries' security officials as þsoon as possible.þ þ Italy said the bombings showed the need to improve international þ þco-operation in intelligence-gathering and announced it was sending a team of police and security officials to Spain to collaborate on the investigation.þ þ The interior ministry said security in Italy appeared adequate but þ þinternational collaboration in intelligence-gathering and police þ þinvestigations needed to be reinforced.'' On the other hand Explosive experts defused a bomb in a van parked next to U.S. Consulate in this southern Pakistani city, sparing the building from "big destruction," police said. It was not immediately clear who planted the device. The thwarted attack came just two days ahead of a scheduled visit to Pakistan by U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell. He was due to arrive in the country, but was not scheduled to visit Karachi. "The man or men who left this van near the U.S. Consulate building wanted to blow it up," Pakistan's Information Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed told The Associated Press in Islamabad. Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf has accused the al-Qaeda network of trying to kill him last December. The president said a Libyan man had a role in both attempts on his life, and one of his associates was under arrest. In a hard-hitting speech to tribal elders in Peshawar, he said there were 500-600 al-Qaeda members hiding in the South Waziristan semi-autonomous area. Correspondents say his comments were the strongest yet about the presence of al-Qaeda in the mountainous region. President Musharraf said: We will not allow foreigners to get training in our tribal areas, store explosives and then go back to Afghanistan for killing their Muslim brothers "The man who organised the suicide attacks against me was from Libya and a member of al-Qaeda," the president said, without naming the individual. He said that the suspect had given about $30,000 to a Pakistani man who recruited Islamic militants to carry out the attacks. The president said the government would release more details about the plot, and the suspects would soon be shown on television. The president survived two assassination attempts only 10 days apart in December. On both occasions he was travelling in a motorcade. He told the gathering of 500 tribal elders from all over Pakistan's western semi-autonomous tribal areas to help the government clear the area of unwelcome foreigners. The president suggested that tribesmen could give him more help in the battle against terrorism. The president said so far government incentives for tribes people to hand suspects over had not been successful, even though the authorities had promised that they would not be extradited to another country. He said that complete tribal support in the war against terrorism was necessary so that the country's image abroad could be improved. "You give any name to them, al-Qaeda or not, but I say we will not allow these foreigners to stay in our tribal areas and create problems for us," he said.