A woman passes by rubble at the site of an explosion in Riyadh in 2003. [Sultan al-Fahed/Reuters]
Saudi experts and scholars said the kingdom's security forces dealt a serious blow to extremists when they foiled terrorist plots that targeted Riyadh and Jeddah.
Saudi authorities on Sunday (August 26th) announced that they thwarted terrorist plans to attack security forces and public installations following the arrest of eight suspected members of two cells affiliated with al-Qaeda in the two cities.
Maj. Gen. Mansour al-Turki, security spokesperson for the Interior Ministry, said the plans were at an advanced stage. For several months security officials monitored the activities of suspicious individuals who were in contact with al-Qaeda outside of the kingdom, he said.
"It became clear from tracking these [individuals] that they formed a terrorist cell in Riyadh and sought to promote deviant takfiri thought and recruit members to carry out criminal attacks against security personnel, residents and public installations," al-Turki said.
Security forces arrested the leader of the Riyadh cell, a Saudi national, and his confession yielded detailed information about the cell's plans and led to the arrest of six cell members, all Yemenis, according to al-Turki.
He said security forces also uncovered another cell linked to the Riyadh group in Jeddah and arrested one cell member - a Saudi - there.
"The successive painful strikes dealt by security services to extremists have crippled their mobility, as well as their planning and implementation capabilities," said Ahmed al-Mulaifi, a researcher specialising in terrorism and Islamist groups.
"The exposure of the two cells in Jeddah and Riyadh confirms that the initiative is in the hands of security forces," he said. "The blows dealt recently to al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula in Yemen broke the terrorists' back and forced them to flee to mountain gorges."
Individuals who advocate deviant ideology seek to draw attention to themselves by carrying out desperate attacks, similar to those the detainees were planning in Jeddah and Riyadh, al-Mulaifi said.
He said Saudi Arabia has tightened the noose around extremists and prevented them from establishing a foothold in the kingdom.
He also called for concerted educational, social and security efforts to strengthen the community against terrorism and its adherents.
"Intelligence co-ordination and information exchange between neighbouring countries as well as within the Arab security community helped consolidate preventive security efforts that attack terrorists in their hideouts and deprive them of the opportunity to take the initiative," al-Mulaifi said.
Saudi preacher Sheikh Ali al-Qarni, said, "Terrorism is on its way to final eradication from this country thanks to the great efforts made by the various security agencies and their units in different locations."
Al-Qarni, who participates in the country's munasaha programme, said scholars, teachers and opinion leaders have helped educate the community, promote a culture of dialogue and enlighten people about the dangers of terrorism.
"The deviant group will see nothing in Saudi Arabia but decisive measures," al-Qarni said. "Just as it failed to sow its deviant ideology in the soil of this country, it will fail to undermine [Saudi Arabia's] security and stability now that the truth of [this group's] evil intentions has been revealed to all."
He said the munasaha counselling programmes "help those who went down that slippery path and have proven their effectiveness in guiding many misguided youth back to the right path by showing them through dialogue the groups' true intentions, which are outlawed under sharia law".
Columnist Ahmed al-Qasim said similar preventive programmes must be strengthened to complement efforts made by security personnel to protect the kingdom against terrorism.
"The responsibility falls on everyone to raise awareness about the dangers of deviant thought," he said, noting that the arrest of the Jeddah and Riyadh cell members is among a long list of Saudi security accomplishments.
Al-Qasim urged that additional efforts be made to "keep track of the nests of extremists on the internet, where they try to spread their false ideas and lure naive individuals to their camp".
"Fighting this phenomenon is a collective responsibility […] because security in its fullest sense includes and affects everyone," al-Qasim said.
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READER COMMENTS
عيسى ماجد
2012-9-17
Terrorism is one of the greatest dangers that are threatening the world and the entire humanity, where it has spread in every country. Also, the phenomenon of extremism has become continuously increasing due to what many areas in the world are suffering from such as the lack of security and the diminishing role of the governments in fighting these phenomena that are threatening the lives, the safety and the security of the people everywhere and every time. Recently, the preoccupation that the governments in every State are working on is to fight these terrorists and extremists with all the possible means and with all the possible tools that the State has in order to protect the lives of the people.
زكي صالح
2012-9-13
Currently, terrorist organizations are striving to spread their organizations and groups across the whole Arab region, and we have to stand up to them and prevent them from establishing any connections with the Arab populations that want to have peace and security in their countries. We have seen in these past days the activities that have taken place at the hands of these groups and the destruction and incitement to chaos that they have engaged in under the pretense that they are eradicating corruption in the Arab governments, or the treacherous attacks and killings and bombings that have taken place in the Arab region. We are witnessing this and we know very well that these groups are present around us, and so it is imperative that the Arab governments engage in collaborative security measures and improve their readiness to combat and confront the danger of terrorism, and this cooperation should include regional as well as international cooperation among all the countries of the world in the fight against terrorism, terrorists and extremists. The Iraqi government should direct all its efforts and do its utmost in order to confront terrorism and the terrorists, and it should carry out awareness-raising campaigns for the youths and society. Also it is necessary to make Arab society aware of the importance of confronting terrorism and its bloody crimes that are perpetrated against us without us being able to do anything, and they should be made aware of the danger of terrorism and its organizations and the extremists in the Arab countries, and their activities in terms of killing and stealing and torturing people and spreading dissension among nations. There needs to be regional Arab cooperation in order to confront terrorism, and the Arab governments need to unite at this point in time in order to cleanse the Arab countries of the crimes of terrorism, and it is necessary to promote a culture and mindset among the populations in order to eradicate the ills of extremism that are severely affecting our Arab countries and which are used to further the interests of the terrorist groups and their crimes.
ﻣﺼﻄﻔﻰ ﺍﺳﻌﺪ ﻣﺤﻤﺪ
2012-9-11
Terrorism spread in the Arab world significantly to the extent that we find them heavily in most of the Arab countries. We can say that the reason for the spread of the terrorist movement is the weakness of the security agencies in some Arab countries. We find that the countries that have strong security agencies are having a hard time finding terrorist movements there and if they are present, they disappear after a period of time. These movements are some of the hands of Al-Qaeda found in Afghanistan and they work on getting rid of people as if they purge them from their sins and as if they make themselves the rulers, and they rule us as they want. We have to know that these movements are from the biggest dangers that the Arab countries face. Our enemies are known and we can face them. However, these are covert enemies and we know nothing about them. They are similar to a malignant disease that spreads in secret and no one is able to notice it. We are all sure that these movements spread in most of the Arab countries and they are now sleeping cells in some countries. Also, they have specific time to move and they live between us. They may be our friends and neighbors so that we have to pay attention to them and to everything that may be dangerous. The citizens should cooperate with the security agencies and tell everything that may represent danger on us for the sake of a better future as well as clean our homelands from these corrupted cells that work on spoiling the homelands. We all have to work not only in our countries but there should also be an international cooperation in order to save the borders and the sovereignty of the Arab countries. The power is in the cooperation and no one can shake the stability of our homelands.
ﺻﺎﻟﺢ ﻣﺤﻤﺪ ﺳﻠﻴﻤﺎﻥ
2012-9-11
The Arab countries have always been targets of terrorists and terrorist attacks that tried to demolish the stability and security of the countries of the region. Iraq was the most affected one by these terrorist attacks that brought many outside and inside problems. Iraq was often the goal of the terrorist groups that try to spread their extremist ideologies which aim at separating the sons of the same country. This was due to the variety of sects in Iraq, so these groups managed to spread extremism among the individuals of these sects. Accordingly, these groups declared war among these sects. Consequently, these terrorist groups took advantage of these problems and spread war and destruction in the country. Ever since that time, Iraq suffered from terrorist groups that spread extremist ideologies to a very wide range. After there were differences between the people who belong to one attitude with different sects, it developed to be among the various attitudes causing more civil wars. Therefore, terrorism has become the biggest problem in Iraq and there were negative results it left because of its extremist ideologies. Such ideologies spread catastrophes and more pain among the sons of Iraq. This country has long suffered. Therefore, all efforts must unite together in order to face these terrorist attacks and get rid of them. They have to realize that their real enemies are these groups whose only aim is to create more and more crises which hinder their steps towards a better future.
ﻋﺎﻣﺮ ﻣﻮﺳﻰ
2012-9-11
The terrorist groups are deployed in almost every nation. In each State there is at least one organization which is linked to terrorist networks. Those organizations are operating under camouflage in order to seize the opportunities and carry out their criminal acts and spread them throughout the country. Therefore, we must warn everyone against the danger of terrorism. In fact, the spread of terrorism in neighboring countries would bring about a disaster that could destroy the whole region. In this respect, I believe that the Arab Governments must hold meetings in order to discuss how to deal with the terrorist groups that pervade and interfere in the region. Indeed, those groups are trying to tarnish the image of Islam and Arabs before the West. The Security Forces and the citizens have advised the neighboring countries more than once to stop helping and supporting the terrorists because that could lead to the revival of terrorism in the region. They warned them that the number of terrorist members and cells would increase and that this would lead to the destruction of the region in the future, but to no avail. The authorities must be fully aware of the terrorist threat. The Arab citizens, as well as the Security Forces, are familiar with the radical thought of those terrorist groups. The Security Forces will remain steadfast and strong in facing the terrorist groups. Over the years, they have acquired experience. They know quite well the nature of the terrorists. The Arab peoples and States are supposed to come together and make one nation in order to eradicate those terrorist organizations and deprive them of any opportunity to manipulate the Arab countries. They must address these terrorist groups firmly and strongly. The citizens should report on whoever cooperates with terrorists. We must put an end to their crimes, which afflict the innocent people. The terrorists are operating under the pretext of Islam. In fact, this religion has nothing to do with their actions and their crimes.
مطلق عبدالله
2012-9-9
I ask God, the One who is capable of everything, to strengthen the security forces in fighting the corrupt!
ال ود
2012-9-4
The country and the entire society whether tribes, or families which are part of the tribe. By the tribe, I mean they are part of them and among them. If the brother goes out and keeps wandering and walking around, they would gather against the family and the youth and burn them!!
ليث اسعد
2012-9-2
O Lord!
عبدالله ابوعمر
2012-9-2
Certainly, al-Qaeda has failed. It is incapable of committing any terrorist act in Saudi Arabia. But, the danger lies in the presence of some runaway terrorists of al-Qaeda in the south of Yemen, where there is a security vacuum and the lack of control of the Yemeni State over the dens of al-Qaeda, as some Yemeni tribes support them in the south of Yemen.
باقري انور احمد قاسم حيدره العطوي
2012-9-2
What is this?