Saudis Arrest Hundreds in Major Anti-Terrorism Sweeps
The Saudi government has arrested more than 700 suspected al-Qaeda-linked militants this year, officials announced Wednesday.
The Interior Ministry says some of these suspected terrorists were planning separate attacks against the kingdom's oil and other economic installations.
The detainees had planned a car bomb attack against one of the kingdom's oil installations, officials said. They belonged to "cells" which planned to revive "criminal activities" in the kingdom, and their leaders were based outside the country.
Of the individuals originally detained, more than 500 remain in custody. The rest were released because there was no proof linking them to the terror network, the official Saudi Press Agency reported.
It is the largest number of detainees ever held by Saudi authorities.
According to police, one of the suspects had a message from Ayman al-Zawahri - al-Qaeda's No. 2 leader - which police discovered. It is not known if the message was a letter or some other form of communication.
Al-Zawahiri's possible involvement in the plot shows just how important this economic terrorism plan is to Al-Qaeda. With the ultimate economic jihad target--Wall Street--a very tough one to crack due to outstanding intelligence and police work here in the U.S, why not try an alternate route to bringing down the world economy? In a jihadi-friendly (at least in terms of its populace) country like Saudi Arabia, no less, which just also happens to be the cradle of Islam. Such an attack could wreak havoc with the global economy and help to topple the Saudi regime in one fell swoop. Both scenariois are music to Al-Qaeda's ears.
Saudi authorities say that 520 suspected terrorists with links to al-Qaeda are in custody after several anti-terror sweeps over the past few months. Seven hundred and one men were originally in custody, but some were let go due to lack of evidence.The unlucky 520 are accused of plotting attacks against major oil installations in the Royal Kingdom. With oil and gas prices at an all-time high, such an attack would cause worldwide economic bedlam. Al-Qaeda is well-aware of that -- that's why the group has called for attacks against Saudi oil facilities for years. Here's more from CBN News:
