June 11, 2004

AT THE COUNCIL OF MINISTERS' MEETING THE CUSTODIAN OF THE TWO HOLY MOSQUES CALLS UPON CITIZENS TO PLAY A GREATER ROLE IN UNMASKING THE OBJECTIVES OF THE DEVIANT GROUP. THE CUSTODIAN OF THE TWO HOLY MOSQUES NOTES THAT THE TRAGIC SITUATION IN PALESTINE NECESSITATES AN INTERNATIONAL FIRM STAND TO PUT AN END TO ISRAEL'S AGGRESSIVE AND OPPRESSIVE PRACTICES. PRINCE TURKI AL-FAISAL STRESSES THAT THE SAUDI PEOPLE IS DETERMINED TO FIGHT TERRORISM. SAUDI BORDER GUARDS IN NAJRAN ARREST A CAR LADEN WITH WEAPONS AND AMMUNITIONS. The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Fahd Ibn Abdul Aziz chaired the cabinet's weekly session at Al-Salam palace in Jeddah. At the outset of the session, the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques briefed the Cabinet on the contents of talks held by the Monarch and the Crown Prince with King Abdullah II of Jordan which focused on events at Arab and Islamic arenas particularly the developments in Palestine and Iraq. The Kingdom and Jordan laid stress on exerting their endeavors and continually supporting all efforts that achieve security and peace in Palestine and Iraq which will also lead to peace and stability in the region and the world. In a statement to the Saudi Press Agency following the session, the Minister of Culture and Information Dr. Fuad Ibn Abdul Salam Al-Farsi said the Cabinet expressed its wishes of success for Iraq's new presidency and government to achieve security, stability, growth and prosperity in Iraq and to restore to Iraq an effective status to become an active member of the Arab nation. The Cabinet hoped that the expected draft resolution of the United Nations Security Council would meet the positive developments in Iraq through the activation of the pivotal role of the United Nations at this crucial stage and the support for handing over full authority and sovereignty to the new Iraqi government. The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques noted that the tragic situations in Palestine necessitate an international firm stand to put an end to Israel's aggressive and oppressive practices and its blatant challenge to the relevant legitimate international resolutions. The Cabinet emphasized the importance of activating the role of the Quartet Committee and the necessity of establishing institutional cooperation between the Committee and the Arab Peace Initiative Committee to unify efforts and to exchange consultation on the achievement of peace in the Middle East. The Cabinet welcomed the signing of protocols between the Sudanese government and Sudan Liberation Popular Movement, considering it an important step on the way to achieving peace in the Sudan. The Cabinet wished the Sudan security, stability and prosperity. On domestic affairs, King Fahd stressed that the Kingdom will continue hunting down the remnants of the deviating group through the efforts of brave security men and cooperation of citizens. By killing innocents, violating the sanctity of lives, destroying properties and wreaking havoc on the earth, this group which has perpetrated criminal acts seeks to destabilize the Kingdom's security, the Monarch added. The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques pointed out that this aggressive group committing destructive practices will only serve the interests of the nation's enemies, calling for a greater role for citizens in unmasking the group's objectives, intentions and plans, and warned against not reporting this group. The Minister of Culture and Information said the Cabinet then reviewed the local items on its agenda and issued the following decisions: The Cabinet authorized both the Minister of Interior and the Minister of Justice or their deputies to sign the draft Arab Agreement on Fighting Corruption. The final version of the agreement will be forwarded for formal ratification. Upon recommendation from the Minister of Finance, the Cabinet decided to terminate all activities of all exchange companies in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and merge them in a sole banking stock company with a capital of three billion Saudi Riyals. According to the new regulation, fifty percent of the new company's stocks will be floated for public underwriting within thirty days from the date of the publishing of the royal decree licensing the set up of the new company. The second half will go to the owners of the liquidated exchange companies. The exchange companies, currently running speed transfers and exchange activities, will be suspended, their commercial registrations cancelled and precincts closed and they will be considered officially terminated once the decision constituting the new company was issued by the Minister of Commerce and Industry. The dissolved companies will be barred from coming back to run any banking activity in the Kingdom, including exchange activities. The new company will refund or compensate the standing amounts of contracts previously concluded by the exchange companies and are affected by the terminating decision. It will also take care of settling the termination benefits of the former companies' employees according to the Saudi labor and laborers law. The Cabinet has ratified the accession of the Kingdom to the Agreement on Preventing Maritime Pollution, so-called MarPol 1973, the protocols for 1978 and its appendices. On the other hand Saudi security forces are hunting gunmen who killed one journalist and injured another in a drive-by shooting. Simon Cumbers, a 36-year-old freelance cameraman working for the BBC died in the attack and 42-year-old Frank Gardner, security correspondent with the organisation, was critically injured. Sherard Cowper-Coles, the British ambassador to Saudi Arabia, said the men had been shot with a machine pistol as they filmed in a suburb of Riyadh, the Saudi capital. Tony Blair, the prime minister, said his thoughts were with the families of the men attacked. He also spoke of "a struggle against these terrorists who will kill innocent people who are involved in our democracy". The pair had travelled to Saudi Arabia last week following terror attacks in the city of Khobar and were with a Saudi government minder when the attack happened. They were filming the house of an al Qaeda militant, killed last year, when they came under fire. Mr Cowper-Coles said: "They were out of their vehicle. Simon was standing with his camera and Frank was nearby. "A jeep, or jeep-like vehicle drove up and somebody fired at the two Westerners with a machine pistol, with deadly consequences. "It looks as though Simon was killed on the spot, and Frank very seriously injured." Mr Gardner was in a stable condition following extensive abdomen surgery. Richard Sambrook, director of news at the BBC, said the journalists would have been aware of the danger. Speaking of BBC Radio 4's Today programme, he said: "Nobody knew Saudi Arabia or knew the sort of risks they were undertaking better than Frank, who had lived and worked in Saudi Arabia and spoke fluent Arabic and who was an expert on al Qaeda and on terrorism." Prince Turki al-Faisal, the Saudi ambassador to the UK, paid homage to Mr Gardner whom he described as a "highly respected journalist". Prince Turki al Faisal said Saudi Arabia was taking the threat from al Qaeda seriously, but that it was not going to "go in all guns blazing" and make indiscriminate arrests. He said: "That is precisely what the terrorists want us to do; to antagonise the population." Prince Turki al Faisal, Saudi ambassador in London, said yesterday's attack took place in the Suweidi district "where many extremists have been arrested in recent months". He said the attack demonstrated the "blind illogical viciousness" of the culprits. Prince Turki al Faisal also offered his condolences. "Frank Gardner is personally known to me and to many people in Saudi Arabia as a highly respected journalist. He has been vigorous in his pursuit of the truth behind the terrible evil of al Qaeda." Frank Gardner, 42, who suffered wounds mainly to the abdomen and the legs, was in a coma after extensive surgery. "He is still under observation in the ICU," said a supervisor at King Faisal Specialist Hospital where Gardner had been moved for emergency surgery late at night. "Gardner is unconscious (but) his situation is stable and the doctors are hopeful about him," a doctor told reporters. The hospital had earlier described his condition as "very critical" but stable, and said "he has improved in the last six hours". The hotel where Gardner was staying received several calls from people expressing shock and dismay. Prince Turki Al-Faisal, Saudi ambassador to the UK, said terrorists were going after individuals and soft targets because a security clampdown had made it hard for them to organize major attacks and stressed that the Saudi people are determined to fight this evil. He said the Kingdom was "doing everything possible" to protect foreigners. Gunmen killed an American by shooting him nine times in the head at his home, only two days after a deadly attack on two BBC journalists in the capital. Riyadh's police chief confirmed that an American had been killed in a shooting incident in the east of the capital and that an inquiry had begun. Alerted around 2:30 p.m. to "shooting in a house in the east of Riyadh," security forces went to the scene where "they saw that the house was inhabited by an American national, who was killed in the incident," the police chief told the Saudi Press Agency. The victim's American colleague and neighbor, who lives on the top floor of the same villa in Abu Taleb Al-Karkhi Street in the Khaleej area, said he was returning home when he saw his neighbor lying in a pool of blood on the marble floor at the entrance. "I had just got back to the house when I saw the body on the floor. This was about 2.45 p.m.," the neighbor said. The US Embassy identified the dead man as 40-year-old Robert Jacob. He suffered nine bullet wounds to the head, sources at King Fahd Hospital said. Jacob, who had been living in the Kingdom for five years, was married and had two grown-up children in the United States, the neighbor said. Witnesses said the American was followed from a nearby clinic to his villa by two or three gunmen, who shot him inside his house before fleeing the scene. Al-Arabiya television quoted its Riyadh correspondent as saying that the American had been shot by three gunmen who fled the area in a Lexus vehicle and were being pursued by security forces. Immediately after the incident, police had set up several checkpoints. Orange police buses blocked the street leading to the villa in the evening as scores of security officers carrying automatic weapons milled around in the street. Neighbors described Jacob as a friendly man who got on with everyone. "We never had any problems with him during his three years in the villa," said another. BBC journalist Frank Gardner who was critically wounded in a shooting earlier in the week underwent surgery yesterday following an improvement in his condition, according to a source. "A slight improvement by Frank Gardner has allowed surgery to be carried out," said the source, without providing further details. Two BBC managers and a security adviser arrived in Riyadh in the wake of the attack on Gardner and Simon Cumbers. Cumbers, a cameraman, died on the spot. Earlier, a source at the British Embassy said Gardner's condition was "critical but stable". Gardner had earlier undergone surgery at King Faisal Specialist Hospital (KFSH) and remains in the hospital's Intensive Care Unit. Gardner is a leading journalistic authority on the Arab world. The British ambassador in Riyadh, Sherard Cowper-Coles told BBC 1, "If anyone knew his way around the Middle East in general and this country in particular, it was Frank Gardner." Culture and Information Minister Dr. Fouad Al-Farsy sent a cable message to BBC Chairman Michael Grade expressing his deep sorrow over the terrorist attack on the BBC journalists. On the other hand a border Guard patrol in Najran foiled an attempt to smuggle a large quantity of arms and ammunitions into the Kingdom, Arabic daily Okaz reported. The patrol caught red handed a Saudi smuggler driving a Hilux pick-up loaded with 42 pieces of Kalashnikov rifles, 221,400 bullets and 46 bullet magazines. On searching the smuggler's house in Najran, the forces found 46 pieces of live ammunition. Prince Mishal Ibn Saud Ibn Abdul Aziz, Emir of Najran underscored the effort and vigilance of the Border Guards in thwarting the big smuggling operation, lauding their bravery in confronting the smuggler and whoever threatens the country's security. Major General Abdullah Ibn Saeed Al-Ghamdi, Commander of the Frontier Guard in Najran Region said: "The foiling of this big operation came as a result of the vigilant border forces who were chasing the Yemeni smugglers." General Al-Ghamdi said the Yemeni smugglers unloaded the shipment at the mountains facing the Kingdom's border where the Saudi Hilux driver was waiting. "The forces pursued his track until he arrived at his village, Zour Wadi, where he was caught red handed offloading the shipment," he said. Meanwhile messages of condemnation of Al-Khobar attack have continued to pour on the kingdom. The Consultative Commission of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) today condemned the brutal criminal acts perpetrated by the deviated group in Al Khobar, eastern Saudi Arabia, recently. In a statement during the second meeting of the seventh session held by the panel in Muscat, the commission said those acts have nothing to do with true Islam, or pan-Arabism or humanity. India condemned the al-Qaeda terrorists attack in the Saudi Arabian oil city of Al Khobar that left 22 persons including eight Indians dead, terming it as a "wanton act of terrorism". "We condemn this wanton act of terrorism which has led to the loss of innocent lives and damage to property. The Indian casualties were victims of the circumstances rather than pre-mediated targets for attack," external affairs ministry spokesman said. Commandos had ended a 25-hour hostage drama storming a luxury housing complex in Al Khobar, freeing over 50 people held captive by the militants who carried out twin attacks killing 22 persons, including eight Indians. The spokesman said the Indian embassy in Riyadh has placed two teams in Al Khobar for rendering consular and other assistance including informing the next of kin and for repatriation of the bodies of those killed to India. Saudi Arabia's Gulf partners joined a chorus of condemnation over the attacks and killings in Saudi Arabia and expressed their solidarity with the kingdom as it wages its own war on terror. "The GCC denounces these acts and gives its support to Saudi Arabia for all measures it takes to face terrorism," the group said in statement from its Riyadh headquarters. Those who carried out the attacks are "an intruder minority, with no relation to Islam," it added. "GCC countries are in solidarity with Saudi Arabia in its struggle against terrorism in all its forms and whatever its origin and foundations," the statement said. "The security of the GCC countries is indivisible, and terrorism has become an international scourge which threatens world security and stability, necessitating the redoubling of international efforts in the struggle" against this phenomenon, it added. The Minister of Islamic Affairs, Endowment, Call and Guidance received many messages and cables that summed up the strong condemnation of the terrorist attacks that took place in the Kingdom. In India the Secretary General of the Salafi University, said the University strongly "condemns and deplores the criminal terrorist attack in the Saudi city of Al Khobar and expresses regret over the killing of innocent victims." "He stressed full solidarity and support for the brothers in Saudi Arabia in all measures it takes to firmly confront terrorism and the safety of its people and residents." The secretary General of Ahl Al Hadith also said we stand by Saudi Arabia with force in its war against the gangs of criminals, which provoke the spilling of innocent blood ... and which disrupt security and stability." The Head of the Salafi University in Faisal Abad also "condemned the criminal attacks in Saudi Arabia and the hostage-taking which are terrorist acts in contradiction of Islam." In the United Kingdom the director of Call and Guidance affiliated to the Ministry of Islamic Affairs, Endowment, Call and Guidance "expressed condemnation of this terrorist act which cost the life of several innocent civilians, including children." He slammed the attacks as being "criminal and contrary to human and religious values." At a meeting in Cairo yesterday, the Egyptian and Emirati ministers of religious affairs said "these insane attacks bring prejudice against Islam." Earlier, Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood, the country's main opposition group, denounced the attack and said it flouted the teachings of Islam. On the other hand a criminal court convicted seven Kuwaiti extremists of involvement in the 2002 shooting attack on U.S. Marines training in the country that killed one and injured another, sentencing three of them to jail time. Three of the key suspects received four and five years in prison for joining an illegal organization and weapons possession. Three of the others were fined, one was ordered on probation and five were acquitted. The Criminal Court pronounced last Saturday verdicts þranging from five years in prison with stay of execution to acquittal against þ 12 individuals accused in the Failaka attack case.þ þ The court sentenced Sulaiman J.K. and Mohammad A.K. to five years in prison and labor for membership in a group banned by law, and for obtaining and possessing unlicensed fire arms and ammunition. Bail was set at KD 500 for stay of execution.þ þ The court also sentenced Ahmad M.K. to four years in prison and labor for þmembership in a group banned by law, and bail was set at KD 200 for stay of þexecution.þ þ Ahmad J.K. was fined KD 2000, and Ghazi F.T. fined KD 5000 for their þindictment charges.þ þ The court sentenced Ibrahim H.K. to two years of surveillance for þ þunlicensed possession of arms and ammunition.þ þ The court abstained from sentencing Dhari S.E. in return for KD 100 in bail and promise of good conduct.þ þ It acquitted Adnan A.K., Abdallah M.K., Yousef A.K., Mustafa S. and Saad S. and to confiscate all seized possessions.þ þ The above were accused in aiding to kill a US citizen and injuring another þin the island of Failaka last October. The court had heard in previous closed sessions the statements of the accused, as well as statements recorded on þvideo. Morocco has chosen to fight terrorism with legal and education means, while preserving human rights and defending its democratic project, said Morocco's minister of human rights, Mohamed Aujjar. Speaking at an international forum on terrorism, the minister, who recalled the kingdom's achievements in consolidation of democracy and the rule of law, said Morocco's adherence to the UN decade for human rights education is a further evidence to the Kingdom's resolve to promote education and citizenship. Aujjar also called countries of the North to care about concerns of those of the South, especially that terrorism is striking a part of the Arab-Muslim worlds. Civil society representatives from several countries, mainly Algeria, France, Tunisia, Spain, Turkey and the Netherlands are taking part in the encounter titled "Associations against terrorism: what strategies, what actions?" The forum, sought to deepen analysis of the phenomenon on the basis of different approaches and several fields of action. The appeal court of Rabat handed down sentences ranging between 2 years of suspended imprisonment to 8 years in jail against 27 individuals, sued in the framework of the anti-terrorism law. In the first case, involving a group from Sidi Bennour (south), the tribunal rendered sentences ranging between 5 to 8 years in jail against 22 persons mainly for "criminal association, to prepare and perpetrate terrorist acts, harming sacred values, activities within a non-recognized association and non authorized public meetings. Another 5-member group from Casablanca was sentenced to 2 years suspended terms to 5 years in jail, mainly for criminal association, robbery attempt, activities within a non-recognized association and non authorized public meetings. Over 2,000 people have been judged by Moroccan courts in the framework of the anti-terrorist law, enacted on the morrow of the May 16 terrorist attacks perpetrated in Casablanca, killing 45 people, including the 12 suicide bombers, and injuring scores of others. Meanwhile Investigators questioned Vice President Dick Cheney recently in the probe of who in the Bush administration leaked the name of a covert CIA operative last year, a source familiar with the investigation said. The interview of the vice president follows an acknowledgment by President Bush that he has consulted with a private attorney regarding the probe, indicating that Bush, also, expects to be questioned. A federal grand jury in recent months has questioned numerous White House and administration officials to learn who revealed the name of CIA operative Valerie Plame, wife of former Ambassador Joseph Wilson, to the news media. Disclosure of an undercover officer's identity can be a federal crime. Cheney's office said earlier this week that if the vice president were to seek counsel on any issue, he would turn to Terrence O'Donnell, a senior partner in the Washington law firm of Williams & Connelly. Cheney has consulted with O'Donnell for years. "Given the fact that there is an ongoing investigation, it is appropriate to refer requests for comment to the Office of Special Counsel," said Cheney spokesman Kevin Kellems. U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald of Chicago, whose office declined to comment, was chosen to run the investigation in late December after Attorney General John Ashcroft disqualified himself from the politically sensitive case to avoid an appearance of conflict of interest. Cheney was not under oath when he was questioned, according to the source, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the investigation involves a criminal matter. The source did not know what Cheney said or what he was asked or whether he had an attorney present. But the central issue of the investigation is who disclosed Plame's name. Syndicated columnist Robert Novak revealed Plame's work for the CIA a week after Wilson publicly criticized Bush's claim that Iraq had tried to obtain uranium from the African nation of Niger. Wilson had earlier been sent to Niger by the CIA to check out the allegation and concluded it was unfounded. Bush stated subsequently in his State of the Union address that Iraq had sought to buy uranium in Africa. Wilson says revealing his wife's name was an attempt to discredit him. In printing Plame's name, Novak wrote that two administration officials said Wilson's wife suggested sending him on the Niger trip. Wilson has suggested in a book that the leaker was Lewis "Scooter" Libby, Cheney's chief of staff. The White House denies the claim and accuses Wilson of seeking to bolster the campaign of Democrat John Kerry, for whom he has acted as a foreign policy adviser. The interview of Cheney was first reported by The New York Times on Saturday. A number of news organizations have received federal subpoenas to face questioning about the alleged leak. Justice Department guidelines for criminal prosecutions state that all avenues should be explored before reporters are subpoenaed or approached in an investigation. So the issuing of subpoenas for reporters may indicate the investigation is nearing an end.