Posted on 11/02/2008 3:15:05 PM PST by ButThreeLeftsDo
Saudi Arabia foiled a 2003 terror plot by militants who planned to hijack a plane and blow it up over a densely populated American city, a Saudi official said Sunday.
The official said the plan, first reported Sunday in government-guided Al-Watan newspaper, was for the attackers to transit through the U.S. to another destination so they could avoid applying for hard-to-get American visas required for Saudis. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue, said the militants were preparing to execute the alleged plot when it was halted.
(Excerpt) Read more at startribune.com ...
Ping..
i find it hard to believe. You know how far it is from Saudi to US? It be shot down before it reach US coast, plus by the time it get to destination, it wont have much fuel left
Not all terrorists are Mensa candidates....
;-)
One of likely many terrorist plots foiled by using extraordinary means to interrogate captured terrorists. Thousands of Americans are alive today because we stood strong and did what needed to be done to protect our country.
Indeed....
Easy: they’d take a flight from Mex to Canada, divert mid-flight to overfly US city. Or the reverse path. They could use other techniques, also.
Exactly. Whenever you see some foreign intel service in the news for stopping a terrorist attack, you know that the intel they acted on came from the US. This case is probably one of many plots stopped by Bush’s policies that he doesn’t talk about. Now the Saudis are talking about (with US permission?) and taking credit.
the house of saud did something for the US?
You go to Dominican Republic, Cayman Islands, or some such. You board a plane for Canada. As the plane is passing thru US airpsace, you hijack it as it is approaching NYC or Chicago.
I sure hope the Saudis did not do anything extreme like yell at the terrorists and maybe hurt their feelings. /sarcasm
Busy year over there , 2003 :
In May 2003, three clerics, Ali Fahd Al-Khudair, Ahmed Hamoud Mufreh Al-Khaledi and Nasir Ahmed Al-Fuhaid, were arrested after calling for support of the terrorists who carried out the Riyadh attacks.
On May 27-28, 2003, eleven suspects were taken into custody in the city of Madinah. Weapons, false identity cards and bomb-making materials were confiscated. In addition, Saudi national Abdulmonim Ali Mahfouz Al-Ghamdi was arrested, following a car chase. Three non-Saudi women without identity cards, who were in the car he was driving, were detained.
On May 31, 2003, Yousif Salih Fahad Al-Ayeeri, a.k.a. Swift Sword, a major Al-Qaeda operational planner and fundraiser, was killed while fleeing from a security patrol.
On June 14, 2003, security forces raided a terrorist cell in the Alattas building in the Khalidiya neighborhood of Makkah. Two Saudi police officers and five suspects were killed in a shootout. Twelve suspects were arrested, and a number of booby-trapped Qur’ans and 72 home-made bombs, in addition to weapons, ammunition, and masks were confiscated.
On June 26, 2003, Ali Abdulrahman Said Alfagsi Al-Ghamdi, a.k.a. Abu Bakr Al-Azdi, surrendered to Saudi authorities. Al-Ghamdi, considered one of the top Al-Qaeda operatives in Saudi Arabia, is suspected of being one of the masterminds of the May 12 bombings in Riyadh.
On July 3, 2003, Turki Nasser Mishaal Aldandany, a top Al-Qaeda operative and one of the masterminds of the May 12 bombings, was killed along with three other suspects in a gun battle with security forces that had them surrounded.
On July 21, 2003, the Minister of Interior announced that Saudi authorities had defused terrorist operations which were about to be carried out against vital installations and arrested 16 members of a number of terrorist cells after searching their hideouts in farms and houses in Riyadh Province, Qasim Province and the Eastern Province. In addition, underground storage facilities were found at these farms and homes containing bags, weighing over 20 tons, filled with chemicals used in the making of explosives.
On July 25, 2003, three men were arrested at a checkpoint in Makkah for possessing printed material that included a “religious edict” in support of terrorist acts against Western targets.
On July 28, 2003, security forces killed six terrorist suspects and injured one in a gunfight at a farm in Qasim Province, 220 miles north of the capital, Riyadh. Two security officers were killed and eight suffered minor injuries. Four people who harbored the suspects were arrested.
SEPTEMBER 2003 : (SAUDI ARABIA) Ahmed Omar Abul Ali, the Virginia Muslim charged with conspiring to assassinate President Bush, met several times with Zubayr al-Rimi—Al Qaeda’s number two man in Saudi Arabia, killed in a shootout with Saudi forces in September 2003: [See : “Abu Ali linked to Saudi Arabia al Qaeda leader.” Hat tip: The Jawa Report.]
On September 23, 2003, security forces surrounded a group of suspected terrorists in an apartment in the city of Jizan. During a gun battle, one security officer was killed and four officers injured. Two suspects were arrested and one killed. The suspects were armed with machine guns and pistols and a large quantity of ammunition.
SEPTEMBER 23, 2003 : (JIZAN, SAUDI ARABIA : ZUBAYR AL-RIMI aka SULTAN JUBRAN SULTAN AL-QAHTANI KILLED IN SHOOTOUT AT A HOSPITAL HOUSING COMPLEX - See AHMED OMAR ABDUL ALI , VIRGINIA JIHAD/PAINTBALL CELL) Al-Rimi, also known as Sultan Jubran Sultan al-Qahtani, was identified in a Sept. 5, 2003, FBI bulletin to law-enforcement officials as one of four suspected al Qaeda terrorists thought to be planning unspecified attacks against U.S. interests. Less than three weeks after the bulletin was released, al-Rimi was killed in a Sept. 23, 2003, shootout with Saudi security forces during a raid on a hospital housing complex in Jizan, about 600 miles south of the Saudi capital of Riyadh. ——— “Alleged Assassin is “Rosa Parks” of Muslim Community,” Little Green Footballs, February 28, 2005
On October 5, 2003, security forces arrested three suspects during a raid in the desert to the east of Riyadh.
On October 8, 2003, security forces raided a farm in the northern Muleda area of Qasim Province and were able to arrest a suspect. Three other suspects fled the scene. Two security officers suffered injuries.
On October 20, 2003, security forces raided several terrorist cells in various parts of the country, including the city of Riyadh, the Al-Majma’a District in Riyadh Province, Makkah Province, the Jeddah District of Makkah Province, and Qasim Province. Security forces confiscated items including C4 plastic explosives, home-made bombs, gas masks, and large quantities of assault rifles and ammunition.
In November 2003, Ali Fahd Al-Khudair recanted his religions opinions on Saudi TV. Shortly after, a second cleric, Nasir Ahmed Al-Fuhaid, recanted and withdrew his religious opinions describing them as a “grave mistake”.
On November 3, 2003, Saudi police arrested six suspected Al-Qaeda militants after a shootout in the holy city of Makkah. The raid on an apartment triggered a shootout that left two suspected terrorists dead, and one security officer wounded.
On November 20, 2003, Abdullah bin Atiyyah bin Hudeid Al-Salami surrendered to security authorities. He was wanted for suspected terrorist activities.
On November 25, 2003, a car bomb plot was foiled in Riyadh. The encounter with security forces led to the deaths of two wanted terrorist suspects: Abdulmohsin Abdulaziz Alshabanat, who was killed in the exchange of fire, and Mosaed Mohammad Dheedan Alsobaiee, who committed suicide by detonating the hand grenade he was carrying. The vehicle that was seized was loaded with explosives and camouflaged as a military vehicle.
On November 26, 2003, a suspected terrorist was arrested. The suspect’s hiding place was linked to the terrorist cell involved in the November 9 car bombing at the Al-Muhaya residential complex in Riyadh. Search of the hiding place revealed large quantities of arms and documents. Items discovered by security forces include one SAM-7 surface-to-air missile, five rocket-propelled grenade launchers, 384 kilogram of the powerful explosive RDX, 89 detonators, 20 hand grenades, eight AK-47 assault rifles, 41 AK-47 magazines, and 16,800 rounds of ammunition. Also recovered were four wireless communication devices, three computers, computer disks and CDs, and SR 94,395 in cash, as well as numerous identity cards and leaflets calling for the perpetration of acts of terror.
On December 6, 2003, the Ministry of Interior published the names and photos of 26 suspects wanted by security forces in connection with the terrorist incidents that have taken place in the Kingdom in the past few months, urging them to surrender to the authorities. The Ministry called on all citizens and residents to report information they may have about any of the wanted suspects. Immediate financial rewards of up to $1.9 million are being offered for information leading to the arrest of any wanted suspect, or any other terrorist elements and cells.
On December 8, 2003, the Ministry of Interior announced that Ibrahim Mohammad Abdullah Alrayis, whose name was on the December 6 list, had been killed by security forces. The Ministry statement praised citizens’ cooperation with the security forces, who are pursuing those wanted and those who are trying to undermine the country’s security and safety.
On December 16, 2003, Ahmed Hamoud Mufreh Al-Khaledi became the third cleric to recant on national television. -—— from an official fact sheet of the Saudi Embassy as of June 2004
On December 30, 2003, Mansoor Mohammad Ahmad Faqeeh, whose name had been published in a December 6 list of 26 wanted terrorist suspects, surrendered to security authorities.
You mean extreme, as in giving them professorships, grant them millions of tax dollars, and let one of their buddies win the Democratic party nomination so they can perhaps become Secretary of Defense and Director of Intelligence?
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