Dubai: Saudi Arabia has arrested 88 men suspected of being part of an Al Qaida cell that was plotting attacks inside and outside of the kingdom, a top security official said.
Interior Ministry spokesman Mansour Al Turki did not give any details about the alleged plots, but said 59 of men arrested had previously served prison sentences for similar offences.
Al Turki said that Saudi security forces monitored the group for months and learned about their plans. He said the arrests were made over the past several days and that Saudi forces “are serious in tracking down” anyone who joins a terrorist group.
“It is unfortunate that some of those who had completed their sentences and were released by court orders returned to their previous ways,” Al Turki told reporters.
The police said that three of the men are Yemeni nationals, one is still being identified and the rest are Saudis.
The arrests come as part of the kingdom’s drive to “punish” those “belonging to or supporting” groups classified as “terrorist,” the interior ministry said in a statement on the official SPA news agency.
Meanwhile, a small fire erupted on a gas pipeline in the eastern region after assailants shot at a security patrol, security and oil industry sources said, in an incident that may heighten concern about the vulnerability of Saudi energy infrastructure.
The pipeline has been repaired and there was no impact on oil or gas production, the sources said.
