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Posted on 06/15/2002 10:30:13 AM PDT by My Favorite Headache
CNN BREAKING:
Report: Saudi Arabia diplomat confirms nationals held in Morocco
June 15, 2002
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AP) -- A Saudi diplomat has reportedly confirmed for the first time that three men detained in Morocco for allegedly planning attacks on U.S. and British warships are natives of the kingdom.
Al-Eqtisadiah, a Saudi daily, on Saturday quoted Abdul Aziz al-Khojah as saying a Saudi investigative team has arrived in Morocco to follow ongoing investigations into the three Saudis.
Moroccan officials identified the three men as Saudis earlier this week when they confirmed their arrests. The three, who were taken into custody in May, claimed to be members of the al Qaeda terror network, the Moroccan officials said, speaking on condition they not be identified.
The three were allegedly planning to carry out attacks similar to the one against the USS Cole in October 2000. In that strike, two suicide bombers rammed a small boat packed with explosives into the destroyer as it anchored in a Yemeni port, killing 17 U.S. sailors. Al Qaeda has been linked to that attack.
These three are accused of planning attacks on U.S. and British warships in the Straits of Gibraltar between Morocco and Spain.
Al-Khojah's comments mark the first official word from the Gulf state that the men are Saudis.
On Thursday, Saudi Deputy Interior Minister Prince Ahmed had questioned their nationalities, saying: "We can't say for sure they are Saudis until the results of the investigations become clear," he said. On Saturday, Saudi officials refused to comment on the newspaper report.
Saudi Arabia, an oil-rich Gulf state and guardian of Islam's holiest shrines, rejects being labeled the home of terrorists.
It took months before Saudi diplomats acknowledged official U.S. reports that 15 of the 19 September 11 hijackers were Saudi. However, it stresses that Osama bin Laden, al Qaeda's leader and the prime September 11 suspect, was stripped of his Saudi citizenship years ago.
Morocco has said it has no intention to extradite the suspects to Saudi Arabia if there is a trial.
"The questioning is set to start at about 5:00 p.m. (1 p.m. EDT). This the first step in the legal proceeding of the case since the arrests of the suspects," the official told Reuters.
Late Monday, Moroccan authorities said they had arrested the Saudi men, aged between 25 and 35 and named as Hilal Jaber Aouad al Assiri, Zuhair Hilal Mohamed al-Tbaiti and Abdullah M'Sfer Ali al-Ghamdi.
The other two due to appear before the prosecutor are two young women, married to two of the Saudis, who were arrested on Monday.
The five are suspected of being members of the al Qaeda network and of plotting "terrorist" attacks against NATO targets, including U.S. and British warships in the Straits of Gibraltar, government officials said.
Washington blames al Qaeda for the September 11 attacks on the United States.
The questioning was due to take place at the office of the prosecutor Moulay Abdallah Alaoui Belghiti in the premises of the court of appeals in Casablanca, Morocco's economic capital.
Pardon me while I head for the vomitorium.
Perhaps the Saudi Arabians are trying to tell us something...
Perhaps we should show and tell the bastards, something ourselves.....something VERY destructive and educational...
Semper Fi
Meanwhile your repetitive use of an obscenity says much about what you either forgot, or failed to learn in the Corp.
....and says a lot about this website.
Bastard - is an English word - denoting those born out of wedlock - fatherless..... Hardly and obscenity - but a statement of fact... Were you offended? Learn to live with it. Bastards are Bastards - either by birth or behaviour. At present, you're treading a fine line
What I learned in the Corps - is to know my enemy... It is becoming clearer and clearer who that is... Then to destroy the enemy - by all means at my disposal.... We were not taught to mince words.... .
Your example of beheading a muslim for raping a muslim -- was hardly convincing... Have the Saudi Arabians beheaded any muslims for crimes against infidels???
I suspect that is rare.. But, I suspect it will become more common in the near future....
Semper Fi
So whos forcing you to stay? Buh-bye!
For knowing your enemy .
My point is the situation in Saudi Arabia is confusing and complicated. The rulers don`t control all of their citizens, especially those out of the country and some of them are nutter than a fruit cake. The Saudi government usually works quietly but , if Freepers will examine their performance over the years, they are a friend of the US. We will want them with us when Saddammnn is sent to the virgins. Gotta think big picture.
Don't let the door hit you in the Clymer on the way out.
I know why.
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