Al Shuwail was leading Al Qaida strategist

Riyadh: Faris Al Shuwail, a leading strategist for Al Qaida in Saudi Arabia, was among the 47 convicts executed in Saudi Arabia on Saturday.

Al Shuwail provided the media section of the group with recordings and authored dozens of books, including pamphlets on the killing of intelligence officers and on combating the Peninsula Shield, the military arm of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), an alliance established in 1981 and that comprises Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

Al Shuwail moved between Saudi cities, disguised as a woman until he reached Abha in 2004, a report posted by Saudi news site Sabq said. There, he came under the radar of the security authorities who recognised him in a public park.

Judicial courts found him guilty of supporting Osama Bin Laden and other figures with “deviant ideologies” and for issuing statements glorifying them and defending the use of violence.

Investigations revealed he planned to blow up diplomatic missions and a security force building with car bombs. He said that the aim of such plots was to target the US and to topple the royal family in Saudi Arabia and ruling families in other GCC countries, Sabq said. He was also involved in the attack on late Prince Nayef Bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud.