One cell had links to Somalia, but the large majority had ties to Yemen. Mansour Al-Turki RIYADH: The Ministry of Interior announced Friday it had captured 149 Al-Qaeda militants in recent months who were raising money and recruiting members to carry out attacks inside the Kingdom, with links to other militants in Somalia and Yemen. “In the past eight months 149 people linked to Al-Qaeda were arrested, among them were 124 Saudis and 25 from other nationalities,” Interior Ministry spokesman Maj. Gen. Mansour Al-Turki told a news conference. Turki said the suspects belonged to 19 Al-Qaeda cells and were planning to target government facilities, security officials and journalists in the Kingdom. He gave no names of targets. “Documents and weapons were recovered that were connected to those plans,” he said. “Procedures were taken through the international police (Interpol) concerning persons involved in those plans residing abroad.” When asked whether they had also targeted oil installations in Saudi Arabia, the world's top oil exporter, he said: “We cannot exclude this. Investigations are ongoing.” The television channel Al Arabiya reported that the Kingdom had also foiled plans to attack Saudi oil installations. The non-Saudi suspects were Arabs, Africans and South Asians, he said, adding that the thwarted cells had associations with Al-Qaeda in Yemen, Somalia and Afghanistan. “These cells have links with Al-Qaeda who are disturbing the security in Yemen, with Somalia and organizations in Afghanistan,” Al-Turki said. One cell had links to Somalia, but the large majority had ties to Yemen. Most cells were very small, were operating independently and still in the stages of being set up, he said. The ministry confiscated SR2.24 million ($597,000) from Al-Qaeda suspects, he said, and militants had tried to collect money and spread their ideology during Haj and Umrah. “The organization is trying to recruit people inside the Kingdom. There are cells that facilitate (the recruits) to travel outside (the Kingdom) to train and then return, Al-Turki said. “They exploit the Haj season for this purpose,” he told journalists at the press conference. The plan was to send them to countries including Somalia and Yemen, he said. One cell was learning how to build car bombs, he said. The ministry also revealed that two persons had been arrested for their contributions to Internet websites under a variety of pennames and pseudonyms. One of the pair, Al-Turki said, was a woman. “Her case has been dealt with and she has been returned to her family,” he said. Those who had donated money were not aware they were giving to militant organizations, he said. Saudi banks last month launched a campaign to stem the flow of money to support Al-Qaeda. The arrests announced Friday follow one of the largest Al-Qaeda sweeps in years by Saudi Arabia earlier this year. In March, the Kingdom arrested 113 Al-Qaeda militants including alleged suicide bombers who it said had been planning attacks on energy facilities in the country. The March arrests netted 58 suspected Saudi militants and 52 from Yemen. The militants, who also came from Bangladesh, Eritrea and Somalia, were backed by the Yemen-based AQAP. Last month a plot to send two parcel bombs from Yemen to the United States was foiled following a tip-off from Saudi Arabia. It was not revealed whether any of the arrested are named on the ministry's 2009 list of 85 wanted persons. The Interior Ministry makes periodical announcements of its advances in security efforts.
