WEAPONS TIE SAUDI TROOPS TO AL QAEDA

[MKSheppard]

http://www.nypost.com/news/worldnews/76056.htm

WEAPONS TIE SAUDI TROOPS TO AL QAEDA
By ANDY GELLER

May 19, 2003 -- Hours after capturing four suspected al Qaeda members in last week's bombings at three housing complexes, Saudi Arabian officials admitted that members of their country's National Guard are being investigated for selling arms to the terror group.

According to a report in today's Washington Post, Saudi authorities raided an al Qaeda safe house on May 6 and seized weapons that were traced to the country's own stockpiles.

Past audits of National Guard armories have revealed missing weapons, but there has been no crackdown on illicit arms trade.

U.S. officials told the paper that they hope that this latest report will "focus [the Saudis'] attention" on ending illegal arms sales to al Qaeda.

The Saudi interior minister, Prince Nayef, said the four bombing suspects arrested in the last three days were not directly involved in the attacks, but had advance knowledge.

"All indications point" to al Qaeda, he said.

Thirty-four people, including eight Americans, were killed in Monday's blasts at three Riyadh complexes that mostly housed foreigners.

Nayef said the four men - as well as three of the nine suicide bombers - were part of a group of 19 involved in the weapons seizure.

The 19 received orders directly from Osama bin Laden and were planning to use the seized weapons to attack the Saudi royal family and American and British interests, officials said.

Investigators have now identified a total of five attackers, Nayef said.

"We still need some time to identify all the characters," he said.

Nayef said no connection had been confirmed between the Riyadh blasts and Friday's attacks in Casablanca, which killed 41, including the 13 bombers.

Nayef vowed Saudi Arabia would protect its citizens and foreigners, but said there was no guarantee another attack could not take place.

With Post Wire Services

************

Washington Post is reporting:

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia, May 18 -- Saudi authorities are investigating suspected illegal arms sales by members of the country's national guard to al Qaeda operatives in the country, U.S. and Saudi officials said.

The weapons were seized in a May 6 raid on an al Qaeda safe house and were traced to national guard stockpiles, the U.S. and Saudi sources said.

The Saudi interior minister said today that officials have identified three of the suicide bombers involved in attacks last week on four residential compounds in Riyadh, which led to the deaths of 34 people, including eight Americans. He said they were part of a group of 19 people wanted in connection with the May 6 raid.

[MKSheppard]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jh ... world.html

Bomber 'moles' in Saudi forces
By Robin Gedye and John R Bradley in Jeddah
(Filed: 16/05/2003)

Al-Qa'eda has infiltrated Saudi Arabia's military and
security forces at the highest level, including those entrusted with the protection of western residential compounds, American intelligence officials believe.

They are convinced that Tuesday's suicide bombers depended on a significant level of "insider" knowledge of the compounds that were hit and that al-Qa'eda even infiltrated the elite National Guard, which is involved in compound security.

Riyadh remained on edge last night, with airlines reporting a flood of bookings for flights from Saudi Arabia to Britain and America and bomb scares forcing the evacuation of a compound near those attacked and the landmark Faisaliya Tower.

Intelligence sources said several bombers were wearing National Guard uniforms to help them get into the three bombed complexes.

"The only area where there is no evidence of a significant al-Qa'eda presence is in the Saudi air force," one intelligence official said. "The police, army, navy and National Guard have all been infiltrated."

American military and intelligence officers say the attack on the residential quarters of the Vinnell corporation, whose ex-US army officers train the National Guard, must have had detailed insider knowledge.

The suicide bombers detonated their vehicle inside the company's strongly walled compound right outside the main housing block.

"It took them 30 seconds to a minute to get from the gate to the housing block. They had to know where the switches were to operate the gates after attacking the guards," one military official said. "They then drove at breakneck speed with a bomb weighing nearly 200 kilograms to the most intensely populated location in the complex and blew it up."

Western airlines based in Riyadh reported heavy bookings for American and European destinations, with flights fully booked for at least a fortnight.

British Airways said it had decided, as a temporary measure, to accommodate its crew in Cyprus instead of Riyadh, because of an "imminent danger to cabin crew".

Air France said nearly all its flights were leaving full, adding that 50 Americans left last night on just one Air France flight heading for various destinations in the United States.

A specialist at Jamal Jaroudi Est, a Riyadh security firm which provides security for more than 150 compounds, told The Telegraph that security at most of them was inadequate.

[MKSheppard]

http://www.worldtribune.com/worldtribun ... ing_4.html

U.S. intelligence: Saudi military riddled by Al Qaida infiltrators
Special to World Tribune.com

GEOSTRATEGY-DIRECT.COM
Wednesday, May 14, 2003

The U.S. intelligence community believes Al Qaida has infiltrated Saudi military and security forces.

U.S. intelligence and diplomatic sources said assessments by both the CIA and the Pentagon's Defense Intelligence Agency have concluded that Al Qaida operatives in Saudi Arabia have contacts throughout the kingdom's armed forces. The sources said Al Qaida has operatives in the elite National Guard, the Navy and the Army.

"The only area where there is no evidence of a significant Al Qaida presence is the Saudi Royal Air Force," a U.S. official familiar with intelligence assessments said. "The police, army, navy, National Guard and all the rest have been infiltrated by Al Qaida."

The sources said the Al Qaida suicide attacks on three Western compounds on early Tuesday pointed to the vast amount of knowledge the organization possessed on the layout of the residences and the security detail. They said nine attackers obtained National Guard uniforms, drove to the gates of the compounds, killed actual National Guard soldiers and immediately entered the Western residency complex.

The FBI said it will send a team to Saudi Arabia to investigate the bombings. Officials said Saudi authorities have approved the FBI request to launch its probe in the kingdom, Middle East Newsline reported. A senior State Department official said Al Qaida knew virtually all of the security arrangements at the housing complex for the Vinnel Corp., which has been training the National Guard. The official said Al Qaida attackers entered the gate, drove a truck to the Vinnell complex and detonated a bomb that weighed nearly 200 kilograms.

"It took them 30 seconds to a minute," a senior State Department official said. "They had to know where the switches were."

[weemadando]

And any of this is at all surprising to you because?

[Stormbringer]

Exactly. Saudi Arabia is a festering shit hole. That corruption runs from the top to the bottom isn't suprising at all.

The only thing I find suprising is our continued unwillingness to put pressure on the fuckers.

[Sea Skimmer]

The KSA National Guard has always been a hive of anti western anti American sentiment. This is hardly surprising.

[Vympel]

Well, at least all of Saudi Arabia's Western arms means you can cut off the spares with a snap of the fingers.

[Sea Skimmer]

Well, at least all of Saudi Arabia's Western arms means you can cut off the spares with a snap of the fingers.

There Army's explosive stockpiles and mortars are probably morel likely to cause the west harm then there F-15's and Tornados.