Riyadh worried over Al Qaida in Yemen

Riyadh: The discovery by Saudi police of two Al Qaida extremists wearing explosive vests in preparation for an "imminent" suicide attack underscores yet again the rising threat to Saudi Arabia from the deteriorating security situation in neighbouring Yemen.

The target of the foiled October 13 attack is not yet known, Ministry of Interior spokesman General Mansour Al Turki said Monday. But equipment found in the men's car last week, including explosives, machine guns, grenades, and two additional vests, suggests that the operation would have been significant — potentially resulting in the loss of many lives.

The men, one of whom spent several years in the US detention facility in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, had been sent to Saudi Arabia by an Al Qaida affiliate based in Yemen, according to a Saudi Interior Ministry statement. Their foiled attack was the second close call for Saudi security forces in less than two months involving Saudi militants from the Yemen-based group, Al Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP).

Made up largely of Saudis and Yemenis, AQAP is reportedly being reinforced by veteran jihadi fighters from Iraq and Afghanistan, according to some analysts. It is able to work in relative freedom in Yemen because of the Yemeni government's preoccupation with its own more pressing issues, namely a full-blown rebellion in the north and a secessionist movement in the south.

Another reason the Yemeni government tolerates the group's presence may be because the jihadi fighters sometimes assist Yemeni forces in military operations against the rebels, a Western diplomat said — all of which make the precarious state a potential haven for militants.

"In Yemen there is great potential for [AQAP] to take advantage of undergoverned spaces to regroup, plot, and prepare for attacks against US and Western targets in Yemen, Saudi Arabia, and the region," says Christopher Boucek, author of a September report on Yemen called "Avoiding a Downward Spiral."

The Saudi government, which shares a long, rugged border with Yemen, is extremely concerned about its neighbour's internal turmoil. "Yemen is the backyard of Saudi security," says Mustafa Alani, a counterterrorism expert at the Dubai-based Gulf Research Centre. "The Saudis look at Yemen and see separatism, sectarianism, terrorism, so they have genuine concerns."

Fighting

In an effort to stop further deterioration, the Saudi government is publicly "standing 100 per cent behind" the Yemeni government of President Ali Abdullah Saleh, says Alani. "They think it must be supported despite all its shortcomings."

The kingdom has been the second-largest contributor — after the United States — to an international appeal for humanitarian aid in Sa'ada, where an estimated 150,000 Yemenis have been displaced because of ongoing fighting between government forces and Al Houthi rebels.

Saudi concerns about Yemen's direction are shared by Washington, according to Boucek, Middle East researcher at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

"For the US government, Yemen is a counterterrorism priority second only to Afghanistan/Pakistan," Boucek said in an interview.

In his report, he said that while the international community must be "realistic about the limitations of intervention in Yemen. In the near term, however, inaction is not an option."

Terror plot revealed

Saudi security authorities said that the slain terrorists Yousuf A Shihri and Raed Al Harbi had plans to carry out major attacks on vital security installations in Riyadh. They were on the way to hit the targets, equipped with four suicide vests ready for use as well as Kalashnikov assault rifles, grenades and revolvers.

"The actual plan was to start attack with revolvers and then blow up," the officials said, according to local reports.

Their plans also included blowing up themselves in the midst of huge crowds at major city centres to inflict heavy casualties. Their suicide vests contained half kilogram of RDX with high potential to inflict damages up to kilometres," the sources said.

"Two among the arrested six Yemenis had also plans to join Yousuf and Raed in carrying out suicide missions in Riyadh," the sources said.

The officials also identified the driver who arranged transportation of two hardcore terrorists into Saudi territories

By Abdul Rahman Shaheen, Correspondent