Saudi Arabia arrests 149 suspected al-Qaeda terrorists

[News_Editor]

Saudi Arabia arrests 149 suspected al-Qaeda terrorists

2010-11-27 00:05:48 GMT+7 (ICT)

DUBAI (BNO NEW) — Saudi Arabia security forces arrested 149 suspected terrorists linked with al-Qaeda in the last 8 months, disrupting 19 different terrorist cells, officials said Friday.

Maj. General Mansour ibn Turki, spokesman of the Interior Ministry of Saudi Arabia, said in a press conference that among the detained were 124 Saudis and 25 foreigners, adding that 2.24 million riyals (($597, 237) were seized from suspected al-Qaeda members who were trying to spread their ideology during the Haj and Umrah pilgrimages.

Furthermore, the suspects were plotting out an attack against government facilities, Turki said.

"Their general motives are spreading an ideology of hate by calling others disbelievers, collecting money to finance the deviant al-Qaeda group inside and outside the kingdom, easing travel for some individuals for training in destabilized places and executing criminal plots to spread chaos and insecurity." al-Turki said.

In 2009, al-Qaeda's Yemeni and Saudi branches came together a larger group named al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), which is based in Yemen. The militants are also receiving support from Bangladesh, Eritrea, and Somalia.

In March, authorities arrested 113 militants - 58 Saudis and 52 Yemenis - including suicide bombers who had been planning attacks on energy facilities in the world’s top oil exporter.

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