Sunday, August 30, 2009

"Saudi bomber al-Asiri traveled on Mohamad bin Nayef's private plane ..."

In this photo released by Saudi Press Agency, King Abdullah ...
Bloomberg, here

" ... The attacker, who blew himself up on Aug. 27 at the offices of Assistant Interior Minister Muhammad bin Nayef bin Abdel Aziz in the Red Sea city of Jeddah, had said he wanted to give himself up personally to the prince, Saudi state media reported.

“This attack demonstrates that the threat of violent extremism in Saudi Arabia continues,” said Christopher Boucek, a regional security expert from the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in Washington. The fact that al-Qaeda has targeted the Saudi royal family for the first time is significant, he said.

The statement, issued by the “Organization of Qaeda for Jihad in the Arabian Peninsula,” said al-Asiri passed through airport security checks at Najran on the Yemeni border and in Jeddah and traveled on the prince’s private plane between the two cities.

“He managed to enter his palace, pass through his guards and blow up the explosive device,” said the statement. Yemen’s Foreign Minister, Abu Bakr Al-Kurbi, said al-Asiri crossed into Saudi Arabia after traveling from the central Yemeni region of Ma‘rib, Saudi-owned television channel Al-Arabiya reported.

Saudi Interior Ministry spokesman General Mansur al-Turki declined in a phone interview to comment ...."

No comments: