Terror Roundup In Saudi Arabia

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November 28, 2007 3:06 PM

More than 100 people have been arrested in Saudi Arabia on terrorist charges, according to the Saudi minister of the interior. A terror cell of eight people allegedly planning to attack oil installations was busted, and the cell's leader was arrested.

Officials say another terror cell of almost 20 people plotted to assassinate Muslim scholars and Saudi security forces. One cell member, according to government officials, was an expert in missiles and planned to smuggle eight rockets into Saudi Arabia.

An additional 32 people were arrested on suspicion of helping to finance the cells, according to the Interior Ministry.

Terrorist leaders, like Osama bin Laden and Ayman al Zawahri, encouraged their followers to strike targets in Saudi Arabia. Bin Laden, who is Saudi himself, has long seen the kingdom as a traitor to Islam for allowing U.S. forces on their territory.

Bin Laden encouraged jihadis to strike Saudi Arabia in an online audio statement back in 2004.

"One of the biggest reasons motivating our enemies to control our lands is to steal our oil," he said. "Spend all the effort you can to stop the biggest theft in history of the wealth of the present and future generations."

Later his No. 2 man Zawahri also encouraged his followers to strike in Saudi Arabia, also at oil facilities.

"I call on the mujahedeen to concentrate their campaigns on the stolen oil of the Muslims, of which most revenues go to the enemies of Islam," he said in an online statement.

Their followers have listened to these calls. In 2004, terrorists stormed the U.S. consulate in Jeddah, killing five consulate employees. And in 2004, suicide bombers killed 34 people, including eight Americans, at a housing compound in Riyadh. And of course, 15 of the 19 hijackers behind the 9/11 attacks were Saudis.

Saudi Arabia, however, has also been accused by officials at the U.S. Treasury Department of turning a blind eye to terrorists on its own soil, especially Saudi-based charities that have been accused of providing terrorists with cash.

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