Can you guess why?
Posted on 11/12/2003 4:28:52 AM PST by kattracks
Saudi Arabia vowed to talk to Islamist militants fighting to overthrow the regime only with guns or swords, spurning a move by Muslim clerics to mediate in a bid to stop further suicide bombings."We can talk to them only with the gun and the sword," Interior Minister Nayef bin Abdul Aziz said.
The hardline message offered no hope of compromise after the Al-Qaeda terror network claimed responsibility for killing 17 people and wounding 122 more -- nearly all of them Arabs - at a Riyadh housing compound at midnight Saturday.
It also threatened more attacks.
"Al-Qaeda has claimed responsibility for the bomb attacks on al-Muhaya in Riyadh this past Saturday and said in an e-mail message ... that the next strikes will be in the Gulf, America and Iraq," said Saudi weekly Al-Majalla.
A group of Saudi clerics has offered to mediate between the militants and the Riyadh government.
"A group of learned men and Saudi clerics is now trying to set up a mechanism to launch a dialogue between the government and the young men who have carried out acts of violence, in an effort to halt the bloodshed," Sheikh Abdullah Nasser al-Sobeihi told AFP.
However another of the scholars, Sheikh Mohsen al-Awaji, accused "certain circles of undermining the initiative to settle ideological conflicts which have nothing to do with the crisis the country is going through."
In a statement on IslamOnline.net, he urged "combined efforts by the ulemas ... (so that) the path of dialogue succeeds and helps to reinforce the initiative in order to preserve security and stability in the kingdom."
Awaji said the initiative was aimed at Islamists "who are not involved in any act against their brothers" and added that he remained "optimistic."
Another sheikh involved in the proposals, Suleiman Darwish, also issued a statement on IslamOnline saying the clerics met Sunday with a senior official "who gave the green light to meet the youth and transmit the Saudi government's ideas."
The aim was to "ensure fair treatment to all those who surrender and particularly those who have not committed any crime."
But the official no-compromise stance has already been set out by King Fahd who warned Tuesday that the extremists who threaten his kingdom would be crushed with an "iron fist".
"Retaliation will be stiff," Fahd said.
Prince Nayef, speaking to the official Saudi Press Agency, denied a press report that several people had been arrested over the latest blast.
"No one has been arrested up to now," Nayef said.
But the security forces "will continue the hunt for these criminals to arrest them and bring them to justice," he added.
"The security forces have already eliminated many terrorists, arrested others and seized large stocks of weapons that these criminals used to threaten the security of the country and its citizens," the interior minister said.
The crackdown began in earnest after the authorities blamed Al-Qaeda for triple suicide bombings that killed 35 people in Riyadh on May 12.
Hundreds have been arrested and the kingdom remains on the alert.
At least 5,000 soldiers and police have been deployed in Mecca, where as many as 2.5 million Muslims are expected to celebrate the last 10 days of the fasting month of Ramadan, which is due to conclude around November 24-25.
The decision to deploy extra forces to the holiest city in Islam was reached after security forces smashed a suspected Al-Qaeda cell last week and announced it had been preparing an attack on the faithful in Mecca, a security source told AFP.
More reinforcements were also deployed in Medina, the second holiest site in Islam, the source added.
Can you guess why?
I wonder what would happen if our SOF delivered a couple annonymous "packages" to a certain address in Mecca, during the pilgrimage, then took responsibility as Al Quaeda members. Hmmmmmm
You can bet the lamestream media will never air that quote.
Hell, that would force every Dim to accept our retaliation in Iraq and soon to be, the Middle East.
I can't get the imagined picture out of my mind of the men on Lexington green ... just a few hours ago working in their fields, hoping it would be a good crop year, and standing against their own army ( we were British subjects at the time), and taking care of business right then and there.
You go President Bush - Don Rumsfeld!
We need more of that stance in dealing with our own domestic terrorists.
What, are you going to "cut" (i.e. increase by a smaller amount than originally projected) their allowance?
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