Ain-Al-Yaqeen - April 23, 2004

		April 23, 2004

THE DETENTION OF 8 TERRORISTS IN SAUDI ARABIA, WITH A CAR LADEN WITH MORE THAN 4 TONES OF EXPLOSIVES.
THE GRAND MUFTI: SECURITY MEN ARE MUJAHEDEEN WHO PRESERVE THE COUNTRY AND WHOEVER KILLS THEM IS A NON-BELIEVER.
THE IMAM OF THE GRAND MOSQUE CONDEMNS ATTACKS AGAINST SECURITY MEN AND DESCRIBES THE TERRORISTS AS "DEVIANTS" AND "OUTCASTS."

An official source at the Interior Ministry has confirmed that the concerned security authorities have captured the GMC car which carries the plate number "DNA 034." The captured car, sought by the security authorities, was full of explosives, said the official source noting that details of this development will be announced later.

The explosives-laden 1991 GMC Suburban wanted by the Ministry of the Interior since February was found in the Al-Sulai district in south Riyadh, the Saudi Press Agency said.

The ministry in February put out a warrant for the dark gray truck saying the vehicle was "loaded with explosives that could be used in a terrorist attack" and posting an SR7 million reward for information leading to its seizure.

The GMC was last spotted in Al-Rabwa district in February.

Sources told Arab News the GMC was spotted outside a warehouse in Al-Sulai district, an area full of warehouses and junkyards and mostly frequented by lorry drivers.

An Egyptian working for a company with a warehouse just adjacent to where the GMC was found said it had been parked there for some days.

"The GMC has been parked there for the past three days. Every day as I would stroll around the area I would see it there... but I never got close to it because I was afraid it was stolen or something," he said.

The worker, who could be a millionaire now, is cursing his bad luck. "I didn't know that the GMC was wanted by the government or that there was a reward for reporting it," he said.

However, he said the GMC had no license plates and had been repainted red.

Security personnel earlier found tins of paint and car parts in the villa where four terror suspects were hiding last Monday in Al-Faiha district before engaging in a gun battle with security forces.

The worker also said that security officers had asked all workers in nearby warehouses to keep away from the area until the car was removed.

According to eyewitnesses, several local residents over the past days were seen carrying cartons believed to be food supplies through the rear entrance of the warehouse.

Security forces have been tightening security in several areas in the capital since February in a bid to find the vehicle, mainly in Al-Rawabi, Al-Rabwa, Al-Sulai, Al-Jazeera, Al-Rawdah, and Al-Salam districts. Several security checkpoints had been erected in the entrances and exits of those districts.

GMC is a favorite brand among terrorists. Police had also found two explosives-laden GMCs primed for attacks on the Riyadh-Qasim road.

Meanwhile, the search was still on for five terror suspects who l shot dead officer Naif Al-Otaibi of the Al-Mujahedeen units and injured his colleague in Wadi Hanifa, near Al-Oyaynah, 45 km northwest of Riyadh.

Police patrol cars sweeping the rugged area spotted the suspects who were hiding in a cave in the valley, but they got away. Due to the mountainous terrain, security officers were unable to follow in their cars.

The incident followed a series of clashes in and north of Riyadh on Monday and Tuesday in which a total of five security officers and one suspected terrorist were killed.

Saudi security forces also defused another two truck bombs apparently kept ready for use in terror attacks in Riyadh.

The discovery of the two vehicles, which were found at Shuaib Juraidal in Rumhiyah village, 90 km east of Riyadh, brought to five the number of car bombs seized in the Kingdom in the past week.

After the two cars were found, security forces backed by helicopters combed the region searching for armed men who managed to flee in a Jeep.

An Interior Ministry official announced the arrest of eight suspects linked to recent deadly clashes with security forces and car bombs. The Saudi Press Agency quoted the official as giving details of three seized vehicles packed with thousands of kilograms of explosives, including one they had been searching for since February.

Security forces cordoned off Rumhiyah and people have since been prevented from entering the area.

The explosive found in the two trucks were similar to that found in a booby-trapped GMC van in Riyadh.

"We saw police towing away the two trucks at 2 p.m. The trucks were covered in plastic and escorted by police patrol cars," the witnesses said.

They said there was a large presence of security forces and patrol cars. Police have set up several checkpoints.

Earlier residents in the area had become suspicious about the vehicles and reported them to police. According to eyewitnesses, the trucks had been camouflaged with straw. It was reported that the drivers of the two trucks fled in a third vehicle.

The Interior Ministry had warned Riyadh residents on Feb. 13 that the car registered to a wanted suspect could be used in an attack.

The ministry official said the 1991 GMC Suburban had been rigged with 1.3 tons of explosives. The two other cars were packed with a total of 2.8 tons of highly explosive material, the official said.

A series of suicide bombings targeting residential compounds killed 52 people in Riyadh in May and November 2003.

On April 12, a member of the security forces was killed and a terrorist gunned down during a clash in an eastern neighborhood of Riyadh. The next day, four policemen were killed by machine-gun fire in separate attacks on the road linking Riyadh and Qasim, northwest of the capital, and authorities said they discovered the first two explosives-laden cars. Many suspected terrorists as well as security personnel have been killed in shootouts, particularly in Riyadh, since last year's suicide bombings.

Explaining developments following statements issued last Monday and Tuesday about Al Faihaa neighborhood incident and consequent sinful attacks against security men, a source at the Ministry of Interior stated that authorities seized two trucks and a car laden with a total of 4118 kilograms of explosives ready for detonation. The source added that various items and weapons were also seized at different locations.

Eight suspects were arrested in connection with these events, the source said.

Police have been hunting down a group of militants who fled the capital after gun battles in which they fired rocket propelled grenades at police. The same group is believed to have killed four policemen at checkpoints.

A security source said police had arrested a suspected militant in the Red Sea city of Jeddah in connection with the recent clashes but he did not give more details.

Eight terror suspects linked to violent clashes with security forces in the capital over the past week have been arrested, an Interior Ministry statement said.

"Security personnel were able to track down those who took part in the recent heinous acts and who are followers of a devious ideology, and located their hideouts and smoked them out of their holes," the Saudi Press Agency quoted the statement as saying.

The ministry did not say when or where the suspects were arrested, adding, "In the interest of the ongoing investigation, it is necessary not to mention the identities" of those arrested "or the roles they played."

The statement also said the suspects fled "hiding their guns and equipment of destruction in residential areas where women and children lived."

The ministry also clarified that security forces over the last few days defused three vehicle bombs.

One was a red 4X4 GMC pickup, primed with 1,429 kg of a highly explosive ammonia-based substance generally used for construction and mining in the trunk wired to the passenger's and driver's seats.

The second car, a white GMC pickup, was primed with 1,389 kg of the same substance.

The third vehicle was a 1991 GMC Suburban the ministry had been looking for since February. The statement said it was booby-trapped with a mixture of explosives including some 1.3 tons of the ammonia-based substance. The vehicle had been repainted and fitted out with fake license plates to avoid detection, the statement said. Police also seized spare car parts, women's clothing, weapons, ammunition, a PC, home-made pipe bombs and cash left behind by the terrorists, it added.

Late Thursday, militants suspected of killing a security officer and wounding another on the Riyadh Qasim road a day earlier were still followed by police in the rugged area of Wadi Hanifa northwest of Riyadh. The search for them continued throughout Friday with the help of Civil Defense helicopters. It was not clear if the suspects were among the eight arrested.

In all, suspected terrorists killed six security officers over the last week since a gun battle between police and militants in Riyadh's Faiha district last Monday.

The two terrorists who shot dead a security officer last Wednesday were still hiding.

Police patrol cars sweeping the rugged area of Wadi Hanifa near Al-Oyaynah, 45 km northwest of Riyadh, spotted the suspects who had killed an officer of the Al-Mujahedeen units and wounded his colleague.

The suspects, who were hiding in a cave in the valley, were spotted by security officers using night vision binoculars, sources told Arab News.

Security officers then sealed several ways into the area and waited for backup. However, when orders to engage arrived the suspects had managed to flee into "deeper grounds", according to a security source.

Due to the rugged terrain, security officers were unable to follow in their cars.

The search for the suspects continued throughout last Friday on foot and with Civil Defense helicopters.

Authorities are still trying to find out whether the terror suspects hiding in Wadi Hanifa have any connection to the suspects that shot dead four policemen in Onaiza, Qasim on Tuesday and whom the Ministry of the Interior has linked to a shootout with security forces in Riyadh's Al-Faiha district last Monday.

A security source said that news that police were preventing local residents from entering the Hijra Boda area near the Wadi was "totally untrue", saying the throngs of passersby who gathered to watch the helicopters and the fleet of police patrol cars did not hinder search operations.

Meanwhile, the injured officer, Bujaid Al-Otaibi who was shot in the leg, is recovering in Huraimila Hospital in Al-Uyaynah, a source said.

The two Al-Mujahedeen officers came under fire from the gunmen who were traveling in a white Mitsubishi pickup.

After shooting the two officers they took the body of Naif Al-Otaibi with them and dumped him some 500 meters from the road, continuing their escape on foot.

The incident followed a series of clashes in and north of Riyadh last Monday and Tuesday, culminating in the discovery of the explosive-laden vehicles primed for attacks in the capital.

Since the government issued a list of 26 most wanted suspects after the May and November bombings in Riyadh, hundreds of suspects have been arrested.

On the other hand The Grand Mufti Sheikh Abdul Aziz Ibn Abdullah Al Al-Sheikh said that Islam does not tolerate the shedding of blood or the random killing of either Muslims or non-Muslims. In a lecture given at Imam Mohammed University Al Al-Sheikh warned against acts of terrorism, and emphasised the detriment they cause to society.

Al Al-Sheikh stressed the importance of honouring agreements and treaties, and said that Islam does not tolerate any form of betrayal and dishonesty. He said that Islam has nothing to do with terrorism, which utterly contradicts the teachings of Islam and rulings of the Islamic Shariah.

He said that terrorism, which is a result of deviant ideas, destabilizes society and threatens the welfare of all citizens. "The Ulema (Muslim scholars) utterly oppose terrorism, and believe in obedience to rulers," he noted.

The Grand Mufti described security men as Mujaheddeen who preserve the country and whoever kills them is a deviant.

Calling for the enlightenment of youth, Al Al-Sheikh stressed the importance of protecting youth from deviant ideas. "The terrorist acts that have been committed in Makkah, Madinah, and Riyadh are completely contrary to the teachings of Islam," he added.

Meanwhile the imam of the Grand Mosque in Makkah told Muslims it was their duty to foil terror attacks as the Kingdom battles Al-Qaeda-linked terrorists.

Describing the terrorists as "deviants" and "outcasts", the imam, Sheikh Saleh Ibn Humaid, told thousands of worshipers who thronged the Grand Mosque to inform authorities about "this misguided lot whose ignorance of their faith made them kill fellow Muslims in the name of Islam".

The Kingdom has launched a crackdown on terrorists after suicide bombings killed at least 50 people in 2003.

"What is happening these days in this holy land is a rash act of aggression," Ibn Humaid said in the sermon aired live on television.

"Their aim is to sow chaos and instability in our nation," he said. "They have branded Muslims and their leaders as infidels and God will curse them and send them straight to hell because they kill fellow Muslims and terrorize them.

"Terror will not change politics, it will only bring destruction and could open the way for foreigners to intervene. It is not lawful to protect these deviants and all of us should denounce them," Ibn Humaid added.

On the other hand Saeed Ibn Zuair has been arrested for remarks he made on Al-Jazeera TV channel, the Ministry of Interior said.

The Saudi Press Agency quoted the ministry as saying Zuair had been arrested after appearing on a program "for what he said" on the broadcast.

The statement said Zuair "supported the terrorist acts in Riyadh which targeted Muslims and non-Muslims who are residents in this sacred country, saying that the terrorist acts perpetrated by certain devious people were directed toward non-Muslims, and also saying it was permissible for those people to shed Muslim blood."

The arrest was "due to his sympathy and his clear support for terrorist acts and justification of them and those who perpetrated them".

Since it was "against Islamic teaching to justify the killings of innocent people who are citizens of this country and others... he has been apprehended for interrogation and further investigation by the Commission for Investigation and Grievances."

Zuair would be transferred to a Shariah court and dealt with accordingly, the ministry added.

He was released 14 months ago, according to Al-Jazeera television, where he made the offending statements.

In Morocco the court has convicted the 33 accused of undertaking terrorist attacks. They 31 were convicted in the first case and 3 were convicted in the second case.

In London anti-terror police have raided four more addresses in the north as part of an operation which saw 10 terror suspects arrested in swoops last Monday.

Police said they had carried out searches under the Terrorism Act 2000 at homes in Tameside, near Manchester.

"It is part of the ongoing operation which led to 10 people being arrested on Monday," said Assistant Chief Constable Dave Whatton, of Greater Manchester Police.

"Searches are continuing at a number of addresses as part of this operation," he added in a statement.

Lat Tuesday night, police obtained warrants to allow them more time to quiz the 10 held on Monday in a series of dawn raids involving 400 police across northern England.

Newspapers said those raids had foiled a series of suicide bomb attacks at Manchester United's Old Trafford soccer stadium although police and the Home Office declined to comment on the reports.

London police chief Sir John Stevens has repeatedly said an attack in Britain, most likely a suicide bombing, is inevitable.

Earlier this month, five British men and a teenaged boy were charged with terror offences after police seized half a tonne of fertiliser, often used in bomb-making, in major anti-terror raids across the south.

On the other hand President Bush urged Congress to renew the anti-terrorist USA Patriot Act and strengthen it before the law expires next year, saying it gives investigators the tools to stop "terrorist monsters."

"There's only one path to safety, and that's the path of action," Bush said. "Congress must act with the Patriot Act. We must continue to stay on the offense when it comes to chasing these killers down and bring them to justice."

Bush credited the law, which passed overwhelmingly in the aftermath of the September 11, 2001, attacks on New York, Virginia and Pennsylvania, with the ability of federal agents to break up "terrorist supporters and operatives" in eight states.

He urged Congress to make permanent all the act's provisions and to add others that he said would strengthen the law.

Those include provisions expanding the federal death penalty for terrorist attacks, restricting bail for suspects facing terrorism charges and allowing administrative subpoenas to be issued without a judge's or a grand jury's approval in cases "where speed is of the essence."

"We can't return to the days of false hope," he said. "The terrorists declared war on the United States of America, and the Congress must give law enforcement all the tools necessary to protect the American people."

Critics on both the left and right say the act already gives federal agents too much power to snoop on and limit the freedom of individual Americans.

Timothy Edgar, legislative counsel for the American Civil Liberties Union, said some of the Patriot Act's provisions make sense.

He cited those allowing government agencies to share intelligence and help intelligence services to translate intercepted documents.

"The provisions that are a problem are those that minimize judicial scrutiny of searches and surveillance and that increase government secrecy," Edgar told CNN in a weekend interview.

"We believe that the government shouldn't be able to go into your home without telling you, and that it shouldn't be able to get records about what books you've read, your medical records and other private records without any individual suspicion."

Deputy Attorney General James Comey said the law has suffered from "two years of confusion and misconceptions."

For instance, he said, no reference to libraries is in the Patriot Act, even though critics say it would allow investigators to probe a citizen's library records.

"There's a provision that allows counterterrorism investigations to get a court order to obtain documents from car rental places or hotels, or in theory, I suppose, libraries, although I can't figure out how libraries got mixed in this," Comey said.

"That's a power that regular criminal investigators have had for hundreds of years. It now applies to counterterrorism investigators. They have to go to a judge and get a court order to obtain the records."