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Saudi Arabia feels the
squeeze
By Syed Saleem Shahzad
KARACHI - After this week's terror attacks on
the compounds of foreign nationals in Riyadh, renewed
attention is falling on the International Islamic Front
(IIF), a loose organization of several militant groups
founded by Osama bin Laden, and it has been learned that
new faces and new names will engage US and allied
interests all over the world before another big attack,
senior intelligence sources have told Asia Times Online.
A new nexus of the IIF and local militant groups
across the globe is in place, according to intelligence
analysts, and the new leadership of al-Qaeda has chalked
out a two-pronged strategy. In the first part of the
strategy, different cells comprising local militants
have been established, with key people trained by
al-Qaeda. This was first disclosed after the arrest of
six people in Pakistan, one of them Khalid bin
al-Attash. According to the interrogators, al-Attash
could not be forced to speak, but a local militant
associated with the Lashkar-i-Jhangvi revealed that
al-Attash had trained them. The Pakistani-based
Lashkar-i-Jhangvi has been designated a foreign
terrorist organization by the United States, and it has
confirmed links with al-Qaeda. The training apparently
not only included the preparation of explosive material
and its usage, but also indoctrination into al-Qaeda's
ideology, which aims to liberate Palestine from Israel
through targeting US interests, the main support of
Israel in the Middle East.
The second part of
the strategy involves the establishment of a completely
separate cell of al-Qaeda operatives who remain separate
and unknown to all but the absolute few. They are said
to be plotting a major attack.
On Thursday,
firecrackers were planted in garbage cans at 19 Shell
and three Caltex gas stations in Karachi, Pakistan's
major port city, with a few employees sustaining minor
injuries. Investigators believe that the purpose was not
to damage the property, but to create an atmosphere of
harassment so that the public will stay away from
Anglo/US franchises.
Asia Times Online
investigations reveal that intelligence agencies knew
about this sort of attack, as only one day before they
had arrested an al-Qaeda operator on the outskirts of
Karachi, one Hafwan al-Hashim. Investigators recovered
six computer discs that showed different code names
assigned to different operations. One of them was the
targeting of foreign franchises.
According to
investigators, two organizations, the Harkatul
Mujahideen al-Alami and the Harkatul Jehad-i-Islami,
have a network in the city with a few dozen militants.
These militants have been linked to terror attacks in
Pakistan, including the Sheraton Hotel bomb blast in
which 13 French engineers were killed. Some of the
militants who have been arrested say their organizations
had received huge funds from Saudi philanthropists
during the Afghan war against the US, and they had saved
some of the money, which was now being used for the
current operations. What is emerging is that these
militants now have a political and an ideological
commitment that has raised their morale.
After
the suicide attacks in Riyadh in which several score
people were killed, only a few official clerics
condemned the acts, but even then in a defensive manner.
However, the religious edict issued by three prominent
Saudi scholars shows the real state of affairs.
Saudi sheiks Nasser ben Fahd, Ali ben Khodeir
and Ahmed al-Khaledi released a statement concerning the
19 suspects wanted by Saudi authorities for their
alleged plans to carry out terrorist attacks in Riyadh
against the Saudi royal family. The sheiks said that
what pushed them to write their statement was that a lot
of people had asked them about the truth concerning
these suspects. They added that it was an Islamic
obligation to demonstrate the innocence of these 19
mujahideen in order to relieve people from the confusion
the authorities had raised. The sheiks said that they
came to their conclusion from the following facts:
"1. We know some of these suspects, whose names
and pictures were distributed by the Saudi authorities.
They are of the most courageous and pious mujahideen;
they sacrificed their fortune and their blood for the
sake of Allah, and they participated in the jihad
against the American Crusaders in Afghanistan. They
carried out heroic operations in the battles of the Tora
Bora mountains in December 2001. They were considered
criminals and terrorists because they fought the enemies
of Allah, as the almighty said in the Koran, 'They had
naught against them save that they believed in Allah,
the might, the owner of praise' (Koran 85:8).
"2. By the grace of Allah, the majority of
mujahideen managed to escape safely from the Americans
and their Afghan agents after the battles of Tora Bora.
The Crusaders failed to capture them, despite
distributing their photos to the Afghan hypocrites as
soon as they controlled Tora Bora.
"3. The
mujahideen, who sacrificed all they had in order to
defend Islam, offered their lives for the sake of their
Lord and who struggled bravely against the infidels in
Afghanistan encountered arrest, torture, and persecution
as soon as they returned back to their countries. Their
jihad for the sake of Allah had become a crime and
terrorism.
"4. The Saudi authorities distributed
the photos of these mujahideen among security forces a
long time ago in response to American orders to bring
them in, but they failed to capture them, so they
manipulated this story about their plan for terrorist
operations in Riyadh in order to spread their photos
among the people, and to push deceived Muslims to take
part in the crime of capturing the mujahideen to hand
them to the Crusaders. The authorities further offered
rewards that range from 200,000 to 300,000 riyals
[US$53,000-$80,000] to anyone with information leading
to an arrest.
"5. These mujahideen are virtuous
and pious enough to not think about killing Muslims or
damaging their properties. It is irrational that these
mujahideen, who sacrificed their lives to defend their
Muslim brothers in Afghanistan, plan to hurt or terrify
their brothers in Saudi Arabia, and any attempt to
accuse them of such crimes is one of the biggest sins in
Islam.
"Based on these facts, it is an Islamic
obligation to support, shelter and defend these
mujahideen and any attempt to hurt, pursue, assist or
even distort their reputation will be assistance for the
infidel Crusaders to oppress their Muslim brothers.
Remember Allah's words 'help not one another unto sin
and transgression' (Koran 5:2). Prophet Mohammed (peace
be upon him) said 'Heaven is interdicted for informers.'
"We fear Allah's punishment for any Muslim who
will help in hurting these mujahideen in any way, we
believe and only Allah knows how pious and virtuous
these youths are. Ironically, some Muslims fight these
mujahideen and accuse them insolently [of being]
terrorists instead of supporting them against the
Americans who destroyed and killed thousands of innocent
Muslims.
"We ask our brothers, sheiks and
scholars to reveal the truth for the people and support
these mujahideen. It is unacceptable for them to stay
silent while their brothers are attacked in this way,
and it is an obligation for them to raise this issue in
order to inform people about the innocence of the
mujahideen. We ask all the brothers to publish this
statement everywhere; in markets, mosques, public places
and on the Internet as a way to help the oppressed
Muslim youths. Finally, we ask Allah the almighty to
help these mujahideen and reward those who helped them
and to fight those who attempted to hurt them.
Ali
ben Khodeir
Nasser ben Fahd
Ahmed al-Khaledi
The Arabic website www.alsaha.fares.net made
additional comments about the statement, saying that a
lot of mujahideen left Afghanistan after the war and US
intelligence learned some of their names during
investigations with Guantanamo captives in Cuba.
The Americans sent this list to the Saudi
authorities for them to be arrested, and the Saudis
obeyed these orders, as usual, and distributed the list
to security forces, plus the names of some sheiks who
supported the mujahideen, such as Ali ben Khodeir and
Abdullah al-Rashood. None of the suspects were arrested,
however.
During the recent visit of US Defense
Secretary Donald Rumsfeld to Saudi Arabia, he asked
specifically about the wanted mujahideen, and when he
learned that none had been arrested, he pressured the
Saudis, so they fabricated the story about the
mujahideen's intentions to carry out terrorist attacks
against Saudi people, according to the website. It added
that there was much evidence supporting the innocence of
the mujahideen:
1. The statement distributed by the
Saudi authorities included the names of some mujahideen
who had died several years ago.
2. The Saudi
authorities did not show any photos of the so-called
mujahideen arms cache and explosives that they claimed
had been confiscated.
3. The Saudis said they had a
lot of information on the mujahideen, yet they could not
arrest any of them.
4. The Saudis said the suspects
escaped in a stolen car. So why did they not mention the
model of the car?
This religious ruling reflects
the deep divisions in Saudi Arabia between the ruling
monarchy and extremists seeking to change the very
fabric of the country's society.
(Copyright 2003
Asia Times Online Co, Ltd. All rights reserved. Please
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