Posted on 12/08/2004 2:08:16 AM PST by kattracks
RIYADH, Dec 8 (Reuters) - The leader of the al Qaeda attack on the U.S. consulate in Saudi Arabia had been jailed for "extremist ideology" and once worked for the kingdom's austere morality police, local newspapers said on Wednesday.Saudi dailies said Fayez Awad al-Jihani was the head of an al Qaeda cell in the Red Sea city of Jeddah, where the brazen daylight attack on the U.S. consulate took place on Monday.
Jihani was one of four attackers who died in the assault. A fifth was wounded and arrested. Saudi authorities identified three of the assailants, none of whom were on a list of top wanted militants.
The attack, in which five non-American consulate staff died, was the first on a Western diplomatic mission and the first big strike in six months in the world's top oil exporter by militants bent on driving Westerners from the cradle of Islam.
Leading Saudi newspaper Okaz quoted sources close to Jihani's family as saying he had been jailed for four months "due to extremist ideology", was freed in October 2003 and disappeared three months after that. It said rumours surfaced then that he had gone to the western Iraqi city of Falluja.
Al Qaeda's Saudi wing claimed the consulate strike, which was codenamed "the blessed Falluja attack" after the city where U.S.-led forces launched an offensive against insurgents including supporters of al Qaeda ally Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.
Another Saudi daily, al-Watan, quoted a cousin of Jihani as saying he had been fired from the Authority for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice five years ago for "misconduct".
Okaz said Jihani, who was in his mid-20s, joined the authority after graduating from high school but was sacked after he assaulted some people detained by the morality police.
The authority is a pillar of the ultraconservative kingdom. Answerable only to King Fahd and separate from ordinary police, members of the authority patrol the streets with police escort, ensuring their strict interpretation of Islam is upheld.
The body has come under unprecedented scrutiny in Saudi Arabia after a wave of al Qaeda attacks in the kingdom since May 2003. Around 170 people, including foreigners, security forces and militants, have been killed in attacks and clashes.
After the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks -- carried out mainly by Saudis loyal to al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden -- some U.S. officials said the kingdom's religion-infused way of life promoted militancy. The U.S. ally has responded by launching cautious education and political reforms.
"Authority for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice," eh?
Too bad the mutt was killed so he couldn't be tortured to death.
Anyway, there's one gomer wounded and in custody. Let's hope the Saudis let gangrene consume him slowly.
Bump
A bit of mind-reading on the part of Rooters here. And just how does that clarify what they did on 9/11?
Bzzzzzzt! Faulty mind-reading!
It's clear that Islamofascist supporters have been successful at turning the audience perception of AQ actions toward altruistic goals, such as ejection of foreign occupiers, but that takes some lying, as Rooters is happy to provide.
HF
JEDDAH, 8 December 2004 — Saudi authorities yesterday named the slain gunmen who stormed the US Consulate here on Monday. The daylight assault on the heavily fortified consulate claimed at least nine lives, including five consulate staff and four militants.
The Saudi branch of Osama Bin Laden’s Al-Qaeda network claimed responsibility for the attack in a website statement as apparent revenge for the US-led assault on the Iraqi city of Fallujah last month.
An Internet statement signed by the “Al-Qaeda Organization in the Arabian Peninsula” claimed the attack in the name of the “martyr” Abu Anas Al-Shami, a top aide to Iraq’s most wanted man, Abu Mussab Al-Zarqawi. Al-Shami was reportedly killed near Baghdad earlier this year.
“This operation is one of the series of operations carried out by the Al-Qaeda organization in their war against the crusaders and the Jews to chase the infidels out of the Arabian Peninsula,” the group said.
The Interior Ministry said five members of a “deviant group” — its term for Al-Qaeda sympathizers — hurled bombs as a diplomatic vehicle was driving into the compound, then torched one of the buildings and attacked people on the site.
Security forces rushed to the scene and besieged the assailants, killing three and wounding the two others, one of whom later died in hospital, it said.
The ministry identified three of the slain gunmen as Fayez ibn Awwad Al-Jeheni, Eid ibn Dakhilallah Al-Jeheni and Hassan ibn Hamed Al-Hazmi, none of whom was on a most-wanted list of suspected Al-Qaeda sympathizers issued by authorities a year ago.
“The identity of the fourth, who is wounded, must not be divulged for the sake of public interest, and procedures are under way to establish the identity of the fifth person, who died in the incident,” a statement said, adding that all four identified were Saudis.
Gee, I wonder who he is...
The Saudi government needs to disban the Mutawain but they have to be careful how they go about doing it. The Mutawain, or moral police, are selected based on their radical islamic ideas and adherence to strict Wahabism.
If this was a 'blessed Fallujah attack' it points out that these guys don't want to mess with the Marines any more.
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.