Looks like the Saudis are continuing to capture some of their militants.. Hopefully another step towards a lasting victory for Saudi reformers..
Top Wanted Terrorist Surrenders
Raid Qusti, Riyadh Bureau Chief
RIYADH, 31 December 2003 — One of the Kingdom’s most wanted terror suspects surrendered to security authorities yesterday, the Interior Ministry announced.
A ministry spokesman welcomed the surrender of Mansour ibn Muhammad Ahmed Faqeeh, one of 26 suspects wanted in connection with terrorist attacks in the Kingdom, saying surrender would be taken to indicate suspects’ “serious desire to return to the truth and clarify their position.” Faqeeh’s family visited him yesterday.
Faqeeh, a high school dropout, was probably inspired to militancy by his older brother Fahd, who was killed in Afghanistan five years ago. His younger brother Hassan, 18, was arrested shortly after May 12.
In a press statement soon after the publication of the wanted list, Faqeeh’s father said his son Fahd had embraced an extreme ideology that took him “down a dark path that led to his death.”
The Kingdom named 26 suspects early this month and offered rewards of up to SR7 million to anyone who helped police arrest them or thwart an attack.
Saudi television as well as local newspapers have repeatedly shown pictures of the suspects, who included 23 Saudis, two Moroccans and a Yemeni.
Security forces killed Ibrahim ibn Muhammad Al-Rayyes, one of the 26, in a shootout this month. Police said a tip-off had been received for which a reward was paid. Saudi Arabia has reaffirmed its determination to root out terrorism and has launched a nationwide campaign to arrest suspected militants following the May 12 bombings in Riyadh, in which 35 people including nine bombers were killed and more than 100 injured.
In November, suicide bombers struck again, killing at least 18 people and injuring 120 others in an attack on the Al-Muhaya residential compound in the capital.
The Interior Ministry announced last month it arrested a prime suspect in the Nov. 8 attack and seized a huge cache of arms.
Three prominent Islamic scholars — Sheikh Nasser Al-Fahd, Sheikh Ali Al-Khudair and Sheikh Ahmed Al-Khaldi — recently retracted fatwas sanctioning armed resistance against the police and intelligence officers.
Al-Khaldi, who was arrested for supporting militants, said he had used his time in jail for soul-searching and was convinced his old fatwas and ideology were wrong. The sheikh called on the terrorists and other hard-liners to “put down your weapons and forsake your extreme ideas.”
arabnews.com |
