Two Al Qaeda Suspects Killed [on Top 26 list]

News.com.au/AFP ^ | 2/11/04 | Unknown AFP author

[Coop]

Two members of al-Qaeda have been killed in Saudi Arabia where they were wanted by security forces, according to a statement published on the internet today in the name of the terror network's Gulf branch.

"Amer bin Mohsen al-Zeidan al-Shihri and Abdul Ilah al-Utaibi fell as martyrs during a clash with the forces of the apostate regime of the (ruling) al-Saud in the al-Suweidi district of Riyadh," the statement said.

"The names of the two martyrs were on the list of 26 fighting heroes wanted by this dictatorial regime on the peninsula of the Arabs," said the statement which was attributed to "The al-Qaeda Organisation on the Arabian Peninsula".

Okaz newspaper reported last week that security forces had unearthed a body believed to be that of al-Shihri in the desert near Benban, 30km north of Riyadh.

The purported al-Qaeda statement hit out at the "violation of the tomb of the martyr Amer al-Shihri, a hero who fought the Americans in Afghanistan and returned to the peninsula of the Arabs to fight the crusaders and apostates".

He was among 26 suspected Islamist militants alleged to have links with suicide bombings that left 52 dead in the Saudi capital last May and November.

The interior ministry released the wanted list – which included 23 Saudis, two Moroccans and a Yemeni – on December 6 and posted financial rewards for information leading to the arrest of the wanted men.

The list was subsequently narrowed to 24 after one of the wanted suspects was killed in a clash with security forces and another surrendered to authorities.

Okaz quoted Shihri's father, Mohsen, as saying his son used to work for the body overseeing the religious police before he travelled to Afghanistan eight months prior to the September 11, 2001 attacks in the United States.

Saudi Security forces have repeatedly raided gunmen's hideouts and clashed with presumed Islamist extremists in their hunt for terror suspects, hundreds of whom have been rounded up since the string of suicide bombings began last May.

Agence France-Presse

[Coop]

Generally these AQ death announcements seem to be accurate. [fingers crossed]

[Coop]

Flag

[Semper Paratus]

I see W going into his desk draw and getting out a sharpie.

[EQAndyBuzz]

"Amer bin Mohsen al-Zeidan al-Shihri and Abdul Ilah al-Utaibi fell as martyrs during a clash with the forces of the apostate regime of the (ruling) al-Saud in the al-Suweidi district of Riyadh," the statement said."

Martyrs or no martyrs, they are dead.

[Cap Huff]

Every one of these aQ guys that bites the dust makes the world a better place. Thanks for the ping.

[Coop]

Yep! No telling how many innocent lives are saved each and every time one of these evil cowards is killed or captured.

[DoctorMichael]

Dead aQ's Bump.

[Cap Huff]

That's exactly why I don't subscribe to the "dreaming of an October surprise catch OBL" business. I can comprehend the impulse, but I wish people would think it through. I would like to be as patient as GWB, but I want these guys out of action and the sooner the better. I don't care how it plays in the election cycle, as long as we get them.

[Coop]

I'm with you. And there's no way they could keep his capture quiet, or the fact that an attempted capture was being delayed until politically expedient. The risk would be humongous!

[WOSG]

Even imagining that the military or anyone in the US Govt could catch OBL sooner but is 'waiting' for some politically opportune moment is a grotesque insult to our professionals in uniform.

It's a nutty conspiracy theory that assumes evil intentions on our side.

"I don't care how it plays in the election cycle, as long as we get them."

I feel that way and I am sure GWB feels that way. You have to be a real Bush-hater to even imagine he'd think any other way.

[theDentist]

If I were being hunted as they are, I'd arrange for my name to be published as a "martyr" as well, and skip out of town.

[Coop]

It's certainly a possibility, but I still stand by my above comment.

[Bush Cheney]

Amer bin Mohsen al-Zeidan al-Shihri and Abdul Ilah al-Utaibi

Nope, they don't ring a bell.

[TeleStraightShooter]

...fell as martyrs during a clash with the forces of the apostate regime of the (ruling) al-Saud in the al-Suweidi district of Riyadh,...

What? is Al Qaeda pissed 'cause their funding from that regime dried up?

If only AlGore was prez & the US was not in Iraq, and Saudi Arabia's ambassador to the UK {who paid OBL $$$ during the 1990's} was still their "CIA" chief..... {/sarcasm}

[skeeter]

A dead martyr in hand is worth two in the bush.

[BurbankKarl]

they actually say martyrs? and not militants? I guess rEUters has adopted Islam as the official religion.

[OldFriend]

SA cares not a whit for the Amnesty International supporters of all things evil. They hunt the enemies down and kill them.

[Coop]

It already has been and is going to continue to be a long war. Keep in mind that these are only the ones we know about. How many are smeared on cave walls? Killed/caught in secret?

[finnman69]

Two John Kerry supporters dead.