Posted on 08/24/2006 2:46:44 AM PDT by PrinceOfCups
SECURITY experts commended the tactics and negotiation skills used by security forces at the 17-hour University District standoff Monday night.
General Yacoub Al-Saraa said security forces acted wisely by wearing out suspects throughout the long standoff, instead of storming the apartment. That tactic led to the surrender of four suspects, among them two who had fled from Al-Malaz prison in Riyadh last month.
What actually led security forces to the cell in University district was a mobile phone call from other suspects arrested in Al-Ajwad district Sunday night, a middle-class suburb east of Al-Haramain highway, which goes to the Holy Cities of Makkah and Madina.
On Monday, a police officer seeking anonymity because he is not authorized to speak to the press, told The Saudi Gazette, he saw two injured troopers carried away, one of whom had been shot and the second had passed out from smoke and gas inside the building.
Another two snipers and two more firemen, suffering from intense dehydration were carried away by fellow troopers.
Security Forces officers started to surround a four-story building on Baghdad Street in southern Jeddah’s University District in the early hours of Monday morning, Abu Baker Sheikhan, who had a bird’s eye view of the shootout, told The Saudi Gazette.
Police cordoned off most of the area, as Special Forces troopers positioned themselves around the building.
An armored car gave Special and Emergency Forces troops cover in front of the building, while a crane hoisted troopers up to the rooftop.
“The police were very polite and courteous and did not want to alarm us, but they told us to stay inside our homes to avoid being injured,” Abu Mohammed, a teacher who lives on a street parallel to the shootout said.
The chatter of automatic weapons awoke residents around sunrise, Sheikhan said.
Abu Mohammed said regardless of the sound of shooting, he felt safe enough to go to work and supervise exams Monday morning.
At around midday, police told the owners of both small supermarkets on Baghdad Street to stay open – officers although they were tired and thirsty, were in control of the standoff.
Both shops ran out of water and refreshments and had to restock their refrigerators several times.
Gunfire broke out at one to two hour intervals for anywhere between 10 to 15 minutes, as troopers provided covering fire to evacuate the building’s residents.
Also by midday, police had a crane hoisting troopers on to the roofs of the four-story building where suspects were holed up and adjacent buildings.
Some six to seven families were hoisted off the rooftop of the building by crane.
By early morning and midday, police had cordoned off most of the area with roadblocks and brought in re-enforcements for what appeared to be a very long stakeout.
At least 200 policemen, 50 Special Forces troopers, another 50 firemen, and around 60 paramedics were on the scene.
Some 10 jeeps with heavy machineguns blockaded the two entrances of the narrow street, in the poorer part of the district, mostly populated by low-income foreign nationals and Saudis, living and working at shops and companies in the area.
Some 20 ambulances were stationed around the area, waiting to treat the injured.
Security Forces were bracing for the worst.
A little while after sunset, cheers came from around the building and surrounding streets as four bare-chested men cuffed were put into a black Special Forces SUV, with Jeddah police chief Brigadier General Misfer Al-Zihami, riding victoriously in the front, and at least three troopers in the back guarding the suspects.
In June, security forces said they had arrested 42 suspected terrorists in raids over the previous few months across the Kingdom.
At least 90 civilians, 55 security forces troopers and 136 suspected militants have died since the bombing of a residential compound in May 2003, according to the last official tally. Hundreds more have been wounded.
Oh sure, even the Saudis can listen in on terrorist conversations - but we can't.
Send the ACLU over there to protect terrorist rights. /sarc
(No sarcasm doesn't always have to make sense.)
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.