Terrorists who killed scores of people in three car bombings in Riyadh were part of an al-Qaeda cell whose hideout was raided by Saudi police on May 6.
Formed after the September 11 attacks on the United States and led by Khaled Jehani, the terror cell's safe house was located near the three expatriate housing compounds that were hit by car bombs late Monday, Saudi officials told the Washington Post.
Saudi officials told the daily that nine charred bodies found at the bomb site are believed to be those of the attackers. DNA samples from the bodies are being compared to relatives of members of the terrorist group whose locations were raided May 6.
The 50 to 60-member al-Qaeda cell was formed by Jehani, a Saudi national who went abroad at 18, fought in Bosnia and Chechnya, and returned to his homeland after the US-led attack against an al-Qaeda stronghold in the Tora Bora mountains in Afghanistan in December 2001, Saudi officials said.
Most of the terror group's weapons were smuggled through Yemen, they added.
Saudi officials believe that after the US-led war on Afghanistan, hundreds of al-Qaeda fighters were told to return to their home countries and plan independent attacks on US, Jewish and other Western interests, officials said.
Jehani has been on the US Federal Bureau of Investigation list of al-Qaeda suspects since January 2002, the Post reported on Wednesday.
The terror cell had planned numerous attacks in Saudi Arabia in the last year, all thwarted either because of strict security around the intended targets or because captured members of the cell revealed their plans, Saudi officials said.
Meanwhile, U.S. lawmakers are demanding that the Saudis offer more cooperation than they had after previous terrorist attacks. "The attacks ... should really be a wake-up call to the Saudis," said Sen. Pat Roberts, R-Kan., chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee.
After the Sept. 11 attacks, U.S. officials said Saudi Arabia was not doing enough to stop al-Qaeda operatives in the kingdom.
"There's been a measure of cooperation. It can be stronger, and this may result in stronger cooperation," said Sen. John Warner, R-Va., chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee.
Senate Democratic leader Tom Daschle said, "It's once again imperative that we press upon the Saudis how critical it is that we have their cooperation, not only on this particular incident but all of those issues that have linked Saudis with terrorism in the past."
In his first reaction following the bombings, the Saudi de facto ruler, Crown Prince Abdullah, said Saudi government and people will not be deterred by Monday’s terror attacks in Riyadh. “We will fight terrorism together,” he added.
In an address to the nation, Abdullah said: “The bloody and painful events in Riyadh... have once again proved that the terrorists are criminals and butchers.”
“I pledge to my fellow citizens and to the friends who live among us that the state will be vigilant about their security and well-being. Our nation is capable, by the grace of God and the unity of its citizens, to confront and destroy the threat posed by a deviant few and those who support them,” he said.
Prince Abdullah said the criminals behind the bombings were mistaken if they believed that their crime would “shake even a single hair” of the nation. “If they think that they can undermine the security and tranquility of our nation, they are dreaming,” he said.
On its part, the State Department ordered nonessential diplomats and family members out of Saudi Arabia. (Albawaba.com)
© 2003 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
