Saudis Launch Major Counter Terrorism Effort - Over 100 Al-Qaeda Suspects Arrested
March 24, 2010 - San Francisco, CA - PipeLineNews.org - Reports that the Saudi Kingdom has just initiated a major anti-terror effort in the country have been streaming out of the Middle East for hours now.
The target appears to be AQP [al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, a subsidiary of bin-Laden's organization led by one of his former commanders, but not necessarily controlled by him or his command structure] which was thought to be plotting a series of attacks against the Saudi oil infrastructure - "Saudi Arabia said Wednesday its security forces had arrested 113 militants with ties to Al Qaeda who had been planning attacks against oil operations and security facilities in the eastern part of the kingdom." [source, New York Times, http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/25/world/middleeast/25saudi.html]
The terror threat within the kingdom has been increasing recently, marked by events such as the attempted assassination by a suicide bomber of national security official Prince Mohammed bin-Naif in his home last summer.
According to the Saudi Defense Agency, nearly half of those being detained are Yemenis, a reminder of the danger posed by Saudi's porous southern border.
The al-Qaeda presence in Yemen came to wide public notice last Christmas when a Yemeni trained wannabe suicide bomber - Umar Farouk Abdul Mutallab - attempted to blow up a US airliner using explosives hidden in his underwear.
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