THE SAUDI ARABIA KINGDOM WARNS WEST AFTER AL-QAEDA ARRESTS

     Riyadh, 4 Shawwal 1434/11 August 2013 (MINA) – The Kingdom has provided important information to a number of countries that were potential targets for Al-Qaeda thanks to initial investigations with two arrested terror suspects, according to Interior Ministry spokesman Maj. Gen. Mansour Al-Turki.
       The Kingdom recognizes the importance of global cooperation to stamp out terrorism, the spokesman said. The Kingdom is keen to pass on any information it has to affected countries, he said, Saudi Gazette quoted by Mi’raj News Agency (MINA) as reporting, Sunday.
       The two men, a Yemeni and Chadian who were arrested by Saudi security forces during Ramadan, gave away important information about possible terrorist attacks that targeted certain countries.
       On Thursday, the Interior Ministry announced the arrests of the expatriate pair suspected of having contacts with Al-Qaeda’s offshoot in Yemen, Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP). The clues came through social media, as the two suspects discussed via coded words an “imminent suicide attack in the region.”
        An Interior Ministry statement carried by the Saudi Press Agency said the authorities have “managed at the beginning of the last 10 days of the holy month of Ramadan to arrest two expatriates.”
       The last 10 days of Ramadan started early last week, four days before the United States issued a worldwide terror alert for its citizens.
       “The two recruited themselves for the service of deviant thought,” said the ministry, indicating that authorities “seized items from the suspects which included computer hardware, electronic media and mobile phones.”
        This is not the first time the Kingdom passed on important information to certain countries under threat from a terrorist attack, said Al-Turki.
        In May 2012, Saudi security officers passed on information to the US about terrorist plots targeting a US airplane in Yemen.
        The Al-Qaeda offshoot in Yemen sent one of their operatives to blow up the airplane, but the plan was thwarted.
        Al-Turki said the ministry monitors closely all accounts on social networking sites that might pose a threat to the Kingdom’s national security.
      He said: “Everyone knows that terrorists do everything they can to abuse social networking sites and use them for their own goals.
      “The ministry keeps a close eye on any online messages that prompt or encourage hatred and want to wreak havoc here.
      “The ministry carries this out in line with the cyber-crime law in the country.”
       Both apprehended men said they used five usernames on Twitter in order to mislead authorities and lure more followers to their accounts.
       One of the accounts they used sent 3,364 tweets and has 762 followers.

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        Some of the tweets encouraged people to attack scholars and security officers.
        The spokesman noted that one of the terrorists posted a photo of his little daughter with the following caption, “My little terrorist”.
        This action reflected the terrorist’s deviant thoughts and his readiness to sacrifice even his loved ones in order to achieve Al-Qaeda’s goals, said Al-Turki.

(T/P09/P04/E1).

Mi’raj News Agency (MINA)