Gulf | Saudi Arabia
Minister denies reports of terror attack during Haj
A top official has said reports that the Interior Ministry has received intelligence information on a terror attack during the Haj are mere rumours.
- By Mariam Al Hakeem, Correspondent
- Published: 00:00 November 21, 2006
Riyadh: A top official has said reports that the Interior Ministry has received intelligence information on a terror attack during the Haj are mere rumours.
"We have so far not received any such reports," Saudi Deputy Interior Minister Prince Ahmad Bin Abdul Aziz said, referring to reports about militant groups planning to sneak into the holy sites to perpetrate terror attacks during the Haj.
"If we paid heed to such rumours, which were being circulated prior to every Haj, nobody would have performed the ritual," he said.
Prince Ahmad made these remarks here on Sunday night after opening the international conference on challenges of education, hosted by the Ministry of Education.
According to Prince Ahmad, there was no plan to construct a security fence on the Saudi-Iraqi border.
"There will be no wall, but efforts are being exerted to prevent infiltration across the border. The plan will be implemented in different phases according to a set timetable," he said adding that this will be in a way that serves the interests of both countries.
Referring to terror suspects, the minister said that trials of some of them who pronounced religious edicts [fatwa] in support of terrorism have been completed.
"Others will be punished if it was proved with substantial evidence that they had involvement in terror acts," he said while noting that there has been a substantial decrease in the number of religious edicts being issued in favour of terrorism.
On the interrogation of Saudi detainees who had been freed from the US prison camp at Guantanamo Bay, Prince Ahmad said that only a few of them had been convicted.
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