RIYADH: The 19 terrorist cells dismantled in the last eight months were in the advanced stages of planning a number of attacks, informed sources told Okaz/Saudi Gazette. The plans included abducting security officers to trade their freedom for the release of detained members of Al-Qaeda, the sources said. The Ministry of Interior said in a statement Friday that security men had dismantled 19 terrorist cells and arrested 149 people – 124 Saudis and 25 people from 10 Asian and African countries – connected to the deviant group. They planned to assassinate security men, officials, journalists and peaceful foreigners living under the protection of Muslims in the Kingdom, the statement said. Al-Qaeda camps Investigations revealed that these cells were planned to facilitate the travel of young recruits from the Kingdom to Yemen and Somalia for training in Al-Qaeda camps in different kinds of combat, using explosives and carrying out Al-Qaeda's criminal plans in the Kingdom, officials said. Spokesman for the Interior Ministry Mansour Al-Turki noted that the “great majority” of the149 Al-Qaeda suspects arrested, 124 of whom were Saudis, were “young in age”, reflecting the concern of the authorities that the organization is still managing to attract young people, while in June Khaled Al-Durais, the Supervisor of the Prince Naif Chair for Intellectual Security Studies at King Saud University, announced that a female team had been set up to research “signs of intellectual extremism in women” Cells were dismantled in several regions of the Kingdom including Makkah, Riyadh, Asir, the Northern Region and the Eastern Province, the statement said. Sources confirmed that a Saudi girl using online male and female pseudonyms of Al-Asad Al-Muhajir (The migrant lion), Al-Gharibah (The stranger), Bint Najd Al-Habibah (Lovely girl of Najd) and Al-Najm Al-Satea (Shining star) to post information on websites has been handed over to her family after authorities dealt with her case according to the Penal Procedures Regulation. Her online activities included designing banners and images inciting, in her words, the murder of “infidels”. She also gained notoriety under one name for over 70 poems in classical Arabic and dialect praising terrorists and calling on others to join them, and on one site alone she accumulated over 5,000 posts. When the Interior Ministry spokesman was asked about her release while Haila Al-Qussayer, a woman arrested in March this year for connections to the Al-Qaeda Organization in the Arabian Peninsula, remains in custody, Al-Turki said of the latter that there were “difficulties in releasing that lady due to the extent of her involvement in the organization”. “There is also no one suitable to take her under their charge,” he said. Sources, however, said the 149 suspects had SR2.2 million in cash, which was collected at numerous locations in the Kingdom under the cover of charity work to help the poor and orphans. Authorities have provided Interpol with the names of Saudi and non-Saudi elements that have links with those deviant cells, said sources, who added that security authorities in the Kingdom have proof that these cells were involved in Al-Qaeda's crimes. Security professionalism Arab ministers of Interior and the Arab League secretary general lauded the professionalism of the Kingdom's efforts in countering terrorism and dismantling terrorist cells. The high-level officials said Saturday via telephone conversations that the anti-terrorism work extends beyond the Kingdom's borders, through cooperation with countries throughout the world. This has enabled the Kingdom and those countries to thwart a number of terrorist operations in several countries, they said. Those results confirm the professionalism of the Saudi security authorities and their high efficiency in following terrorist cells and exposing their criminal plans and intentions, they said. High capability The Ministers of Interior of Kuwait, Sheikh Jaber Al-Khaled Al-Sabah; Yemen, Maj. Gen. Mutahhar Rashad Al-Masri, and Lebanon, Ziyad Barood, agreed that Saudi security agencies dismantling 19 terrorist cells reflects the Kingdom's security forces' strength and determination to fight terrorism and thwart Al-Qaeda's plans. They said security men in the Kingdom have gained these capabilities through their experience in countering terror, which has helped them gain a world-class level of professionalism that has impressed officials throughout the world. Security vigilance Arab League Secretary General Amr Mousa said he greatly values the major efforts security agencies in the Kingdom are applying to combat internal and international terror. “What has been achieved in dismantling the terrorist cells confirms the alertness of the Saudi security agencies,” Mousa said. “Undoubtedly, these important and effective efforts confirm the Kingdom's alertness and high efficiency in confronting terrorism.” Sheikh Jaber Al-Khaled Al-Sabah, Kuwait's Minister of Interior, said, “I sincerely congratulate the security authorities in the Kingdom. This is not a surprise because the person at the peak of the pyramid of the Kingdom's security authorities is Prince Naif Bin Abdul Aziz, who is considered to be a security expert whose expertise is of benefit to everyone.” Maj. Gen. Mutahhar Rashad Al-Masri, Yemen's Minister of Interior said what has been achieved by the Saudi security agencies confirms the Kingdom's ability to fight terror. He pointed out that strong, relentless security cooperation between Riyadh and Sana'a is routing the terrorists and uncovering their criminal plans. Jawad Kadhim Al-Bolani, Iraq's Minister of Interior, said “the Kingdom's security authorities' unique experience in confronting terrorists boosts their ability to fight and defeat them.” Accurate information Anti-terror experts said Saudi security's level of high professionalism is the result of training polished by experience they have gained during the Kingdom's war against terror. Their work includes critical, successful efforts to collect accurate information, which makes it possible to dismantle terrorist cells before they take action, experts noted. One expert described Saudi security men as mature, alert and highly professional in confronting Al-Qaeda, which has made it possible for them to tackle the problem with high and unique security professionalism.
