Jordan charges 11 ‘organ traffickers’

By AFP
First Published: October 2, 2009

AMMAN: Eleven Jordanians were charged on Wednesday with trafficking human organs and selling them illegally in Egypt, police said.

“Three other suspects are being interrogated, while seven more people are still on the run. We have been following on the issue with the Egyptian authorities for several months,” he said.

The suspects, who were extradited from Egypt on Monday, are part of a group preying on poor people in the kingdom, a police spokesman told AFP.

In some cases, people were paid to donate organs while still alive, while in others organs were being removed from people who had died and sold on the black market, the official said.

“The group sold rich Arabs kidneys for up to $30,000 each. If convicted, they face 10 years in prison with hard labor,” the source added.

In 2007, Jordan created a National Commission to Promote Organ Donation in a drive to crack down on illegal trafficking and also to encourage Jordanians to donate their organs after death.

That came after authorities uncovered more than 80 cases of trafficking that year.

Organ trafficking is banned in the kingdom, with jail penalties and up to 20,000 dinars ($28,000) in fines. –AFP

Iran loses its only AWACS as Ahmadinejad threatens the world

DEBKAfile Exclusive Report

September 23, 2009, 12:20 PM (GMT+02:00)

Iran’s AWACS destroyed in parade collision

Up above a big military parade in Tehran on Tuesday, Sept. 22, as Iranian president declared Iran’s armed forces would “chop off the hands” of any power daring to attack his country, two air force jets collided in mid-air. One was Iran’s only airborne warning and control system (AWACS) for coordinating long-distance aerial operations, DEBKAfile’s military and Iranian sources disclose.

The proud military parade, which included a march-past, a line of Shehab-3 missiles and an air force fly-past, was planned to give Ahmadinejad a dazzling send-off for New York and add steel to his UN Assembly speech Wednesday.

Dubbed “Simorgh” (a flying creature of Iranian fable which performs wonders in mid-flight), the AWACS’ appearance, escorted by fighter jets, was to have been the climax for the Iranian Air force’s fly-past over the parade. Instead, it collided with one of escorting planes, a US-made F-5E, and both crashed to the ground in flames. All seven crewmen were killed.

Eye witnesses reported that the flaming planes landed on the mausoleum burial site of the Islamic revolution’s founder Ruhollah Khomeini, a national shrine. According to Western observers, no distress signals came from either cockpit indicating that the collision and explosions were sudden and fast.

DEBKAfile’s military sources say the disaster was a serious blow to the Iranian Air Force not long after its first and only AWACS went into service in April 2008. It was a renovated version of the Russian Ilyushin 76, part of Saddam Hussein’s air force before it was transferred to Iran in 1991 during the first Gulf War.

Tehran hired Russian technicians to carry out renovations and install up-to-date radar. At the launching ceremony of the upgraded AWACS, Air Force commander Brig. Gen. Ahmad Miqani boasted its new radar systems were made in Iran and able to spot any airplane or missile at a distance of 1,000 kilometers from Iran’s borders.

The loss of this airborne control system has left Iran’s air force and air and missile defenses without “electronic eyes” for surveillance of the skies around its borders.

Thank goodness that the Iranian air defense is still able to shoot down a UFO over the Gulf, presumably without the help of AWACS.

Iran downs strange bright craft over Persian Gulf

Tue, 22 Sep 2009 09:02:58 GMT

Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) has targeted and downed an unidentified shining object after sighting it over Persian Gulf waters.

“Glowing objects were sighted over the Persian Gulf. IRGC air defense targeted one of the objects successfully, forcing it to plummet and sink in the seas off Boushehr (Province),” said top regional commander, Brigadier Ali Razmjou.

“The three bright objects were detected by our radars when flying over the Persian Gulf Islands of Khark and Khargou,” he added, according to a Monday report posted on IRNA.

Brig. Razmjou explained that when the radars indicated that they were not Iranian aircrafts, the IRGC fired at the three objects. He also added that the fallen objects’ remains have not been found yet.

The exact time and location of the sighting and downing of the weird aircraft has not been announced.

Posted by bikyamasr on 06/09/2009

Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood looking to film

Bikya Masr

6 September 2009

A film could be Akef’s biggest contribution to the Brotherhood.

CAIRO: With the Muslim Brotherhood beginning filming this fall on an ambitious project, the debate over the motivation for a movie about the life of their founder, Hassan Al Banna, is captivating activists and political analysts. The idea that the Brotherhood is making a film has made activists wince. On the flipside, Islamists are hoping that the movie will allow some of the lesser-known guiding principles for the organization to be made known.

In much the same way that Al Banna himself was controversial in life and in death, the film will take Al Banna’s story beginning in his early days growing up in a Nile Delta village, through to the founding of the Muslim Brotherhood in 1928; his confrontation with the government and subsequent assassination in 1949.

“We are ready to begin and some filming has taken place,” says Ahmed Seif Al Islam Hassan Al Banna, the leader’s son. “We currently have a committee concerning the film and have regular meetings about the film, which will portray Hassan Al Banna’s life accurately.”

Brotherhood MP Mohsen Radi is financing the bulk of the project, supplying tens of millions of Egyptian pounds to see it become a reality.

The Brotherhood hopes that the film will be shown across the globe, with the goal of helping equip the West with a better understanding of the group often criticized. “We want the U.S. and Europe to see the film so they can know the truth about Hassan Al Banna and the Muslim Brotherhood,” Al Islam hopes.

Egyptians would seem to be eager to get the message out relating to the often-misunderstood organization that has moved into being the most viable opposition group in the country. This couldn’t be further from reality. Activists are concerned about the intentions of such a film.

“I simply don’t trust their actions and a movie only continues to make me feel that they are doing something behind our backs,” said one pro-democracy activist.

Much of the opposition feels that the idea of a movie, which they readily admit will be manifested, will make the Brotherhood even stronger and silence their voices. This activist believes that a movie based on the founder’s life will garner even more support for the Brotherhood among the lower classes.

“It is an attempt to overtake the opposition and even if the movie should be shown to westerners, right now is just not a very good time to do so because the opposition is still weak,” he added in an interview with Bikya Masr’s Editor late last year.

The most critical aspect of the film might be where the film will be viewed. Seif Al Islam is not disturbed by the possibility of the film being banned in its home country. He says that they will go ahead and produce it no matter what the government says. The government banned “The Da Vinci Code” a few years back in an attempt to appease the Christian population in the country and the likelihood is that this movie will not be seen in Egyptian cinemas.

The film will surely be debated in the coming months before its scheduled filming launch this fall. Many are questioning the Brotherhood’s real intention for the film, including some who say it is an attempt “to stranglehold the opposition and assume full control over the numerous factions vying for political clout.” Whether or not the film is shown in Egypt, one thing is certain: the film is going to be made.

“It will be completed, I am certain of that,” says Mohamed Habib, deputy of the Brotherhood. “We will continue to show people our true selves so that they may see us for who we are and choose for themselves the best route for Egypt and the Muslim world as a whole.”

This entry was posted on 06/09/2009 at 1:06 pm and is filed under Arts & Culture, News, Religion. Tagged: Cinema, Egypt, Film, Islam, Muslim Brotherhood. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

Palestinians living in Persian Gulf area given 1 month to leave

Sep. 4, 2009
JPost.com Staff , THE JERUSALEM POST

UAE authorities in the Persian Gulf have ordered Palestinians living there to leave within a month, Al Quds al-Arabi reported Friday.

No reason was given in the report, but the London-based paper said that the order was given by senior officials.

Palestinian parliamentarian Atef Adwan told the paper that the plan was apparently to expel Palestinians, including those born in the area and who have lived there most of their lives.

Meanwhile, the Lebanese Al Akhbar newspaper claimed that authorities in the Gulf were also deporting dozens of Lebanese Shi’ites, saying that in recent months, 45 Lebanese businessmen and clerks had been expelled. The paper said no reason was given for the move, but that it appeared to be a security decision.

But I bet that’s OK, because we just gave Hamas 121 shiny new vehicles, including 18 ambulances.

It may in fact be a good decision, considering that two founders of the International Solidarity Movement (ISM) ADAM SHAPIRO AND HUWAIDA ARRAF, who are in the UAE to raise money for their next “Free Gaza” boat ride.

I guess the black humor in this story is that these “Palestinian Activists” turn a blind eye, while the people they profess to be working for, are being thrown out of the country, that they are seeking support from.

Time.com

By SIMON SHUSTER / MOSCOW Simon Shuster / Moscow – Mon Aug 31, 5:00 pm ET

In July, the Russian-manned cargo ship the Arctic Sea disappeared on its way to take timber from Finland to Algeria, sparking reports of the first incident of piracy in European waters since the days of the buccaneers. Experts and observers weighed in with their theories: the ship had been snatched in a commercial dispute; it was being used to run drugs; it was carrying something more precious – or dangerous – than timber.

Since then, the Russian navy has found the ship, and the alleged hijackers who boarded it on July 24 have been charged with kidnapping and piracy. The ship’s captain, his crew and whatever cargo the ship was carrying have also been detained. An initial search of the hull turned up nothing suspicious, and now Russia’s official explanation of what happened will probably become the final one – this was a hijacking thwarted by its navy without a shot being fired. But there are baffling details left unexplained, leading some experts to claim that the truth is much more sinister: the Arctic Sea, they say, was intercepted by Israel as it carried a secret cargo of weapons to the Middle East.

The highest-ranking official to put forward this version of events is the European Union’s rapporteur on piracy and a former commander of the Estonian armed forces, Admiral Tarmo Kouts. In an interview with TIME, he says only a shipment of missiles could account for Russia’s bizarre behavior throughout the monthlong saga. “There is the idea that there were missiles aboard, and one can’t explain this situation in any other way,” he says. “As a sailor with years of experience, I can tell you that the official versions are not realistic.”

Kouts says an Israeli interception of the cargo is the most likely explanation. But this theory, which some Russian analysts put forward in the days after the Arctic Sea was rescued and which Kouts agreed with in his interview with TIME, has been vehemently denied by Russia’s envoy to NATO, Dmitri Rogozin, who says Kouts should stop “running his mouth.”

The official explanation coming out of Moscow is simple enough: the Arctic Sea, manned by a Russian crew, set sail from Finland under a Maltese flag on July 22. It was destined for Algeria and carried less than $2 million worth of timber. Then a group of eight Russian and former Soviet hijackers boarded the ship on July 24. The ship’s tracking device was disabled in the last days of July, as it passed through the English Channel into the Atlantic, and the ship disappeared. On Aug. 12, the Russian navy sent out a search party. A week later, Russia declared that the ship and its crew had been rescued.

But as details of the hijacking emerged, the tale got murkier, and Moscow’s explanation does little to clear things up. Why, with so many other ships carrying much more valuable cargo, would the hijackers target the Arctic Sea and its small load of timber? Why didn’t the ship send out a distress signal? Why did Israeli President Shimon Peres pay a surprise visit to Russia a day after the ship was rescued? Why did Russia wait so long to send its navy to find the ship? And what did the brother of one of the alleged hijackers, Dmitri Bartenev, mean when he told Estonian TV on Aug. 24 that his brother and the other suspected pirates had been “set up … They went to find work and ended up in a political conflict. Now they are hostage to some kind of political game”? Bartenev’s lawyer tells TIME that his client was “in the wrong place at the wrong time.”

There are also questions surrounding the Arctic Sea’s rescue. On orders from the Kremlin, Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov sent a completely disproportionate force, including destroyers and submarines, to look for the vessel. It took five days for them to find it, the Defense Ministry said, even though the Foreign Ministry later announced that it was fully aware of the Arctic Sea’s coordinates the entire time. To fly the alleged pirates and the crew back to Moscow – a group of only 19 men – Russia dispatched two enormous military-cargo planes. And then on their arrival, the ship’s crew was detained along with the alleged hijackers for days of questioning, with no access to their families or the media.

“Even from the basic facts, without assumptions, it is clear that this was not just piracy,” says Mikhail Voitenko, editor of the Russian maritime journal Sovfrakht, which has been tracking unusual incidents on the high seas for decades. “I’ve never seen anything like this. These are some of the most heavily policed waters in the world. You cannot just hide a ship there for weeks without government involvement.”

According to Voitenko and other experts, a secret cargo could have been hidden on the ship during the two weeks it spent in Kaliningrad for repairs, just before it picked up its Finnish haul of timber. Not contiguous with the rest of Russia, Kaliningrad is the country’s westernmost enclave on the coast of the Baltic Sea, and is known as a hub for Russian smugglers. “Personally, I don’t care about any missiles,” Voitenko tells TIME. “I care about what they’re doing with those sailors.”

There are many governments, however, that would be more concerned about a possible missile shipment, especially if it were destined for the Middle East. Chief among them is Israel. In recent years, the Israeli government has consistently raised alarms about Russia’s plans to sell MiG-31 fighter planes to Syria and its construction of a nuclear-power station in southwestern Iran. Negotiations with Moscow have been tough on these issues and relations often icy, as the Israeli President pointed out during his visit to Russia on Aug. 18, just as the mysteries behind the Arctic Sea’s disappearance began to unfold. (Read “Medvedev and Obama: Sunshine in Moscow.”)

“The most likely explanation is that the Israelis intercepted this cargo, which had been meant for Syria or Iran,” says Yulya Latynina, a prominent political commentator and radio host on Echo of Moscow, a station owned by state-controlled gas giant Gazprom. “They will now use the incident as a bargaining chip with Russia over weapons sales in the region, while allowing Russia to save face by taking its empty ship back home.” When contacted by TIME, both the Israeli Prime Minister’s office and Mossad, Israel’s secret service, declined to comment. (See pictures of 60 years of Israel.)

But in an Aug. 18 statement, the Israeli Foreign Ministry said that Peres had discussed “the sale of Russian weapons and military hardware to countries hostile to Israel” with his Russian counterpart, Dmitri Medvedev, on that day during four hours of closed-door talks in the Russian city of Sochi. According to the statement, Peres “stressed that Israel has concrete proof of Russian weapons being transferred to terrorist organizations by Iran and Syria, especially to Hamas and Hizballah.” A spokeswoman for the Israeli President declined to elaborate on any connection with the Arctic Sea. In a parallel statement, the Kremlin did not mention weapons sales, saying after the meeting that “we more clearly and precisely understand each other’s positions.”

Russia’s chief investigator, Alexander Bastrykin, told official state newspaper Rossiyskaya Gazeta that a band of new-age pirates, possibly in connivance with the crew, is all that lies behind the Arctic Sea mystery. But he did concede that there are questions that need answering. “We don’t rule out the possibility that [the ship] was carrying more than just timber,” he said, without elaborating further.

Speaking to TIME, NATO envoy Rogozin backed up the investigator’s statement: “The cargo has to be checked to see if there was something illegal, something being smuggled.” But he declined to comment on the theory of Israeli interception. “This is no longer a question for diplomats or for the military,” he said. “It is now a question for the investigators, and they are carrying on with their work. We are also very curious to hear their findings.” (See pictures of the face of modern piracy.)

When asked by TIME about the possibility that the Arctic Sea was carrying a secret cargo, Vladimir Voronov, deputy head of Oy Solchart Management – the Helsinki-based, Russian-run company that operates the ship – replied, “I don’t know anything about a secret cargo. We’re just a simple shipping firm, and from what we understand, our ship was hijacked.”

According to investigator Bastrykin, a full search of the vessel will be carried out when the ship arrives at a Russian port in the next few weeks. But observers don’t expect any revelations. “The versions we are getting from the Russian government do not fit into any logical parameters, and I don’t think that will change,” commentator Latynina says. “When people lie, they tend to lie consistently.”

Negotiations fuel rumours of commercial deal behind Megrahi’s release

* Terry Macalister
* The Observer, Sunday 30 August 2009

Libya has been courted by government ministers and Foreign Office mandarins on a dozen or more occasions in pursuit of lucrative oil and gas contracts.

Documents obtained by the Observer show ministers and senior civil servants met Shell to discuss the company’s oil interests in Libya on at least 11 occasions and perhaps as many as 26 times in less than four years.

Foreign secretary David Miliband and the former Labour leader Lord Kinnock were involved in the meetings with Shell about its business in Libya or Egypt.

The revelations, showing that the government invested large amounts of political capital in securing North African oil, lend weight to claims that commercial interest lay behind last week’s decision to release the Lockerbie bomber, Abdelbaset al-Megrahi, from jail in Scotland to receive a hero’s welcome in Libya.

Gordon Brown has insisted that Whitehall had no involvement in the release, but critics of the government say the information obtained by the non-governmental organisation, Platform, via a Freedom of Information Act request, raises fresh questions. “These documents show the deep and long-term foreign policy backing provided by the British government to Shell in its efforts to break into Libya. Corporate executives have easy access to the highest level of Whitehall, while democracy advocates and social movements remain shut out on the street,” said Mika Minio-Paluello, a campaigner with Platform.

“Yet again, the Foreign Office has prioritised securing new oil reserves for private corporations over human rights, the environment or democracy. Foreign policy should represent people’s interests, not corporate interests. As a first step, the government must open its files and disclose the true level of oil influence on government decision-making.”

Shell was one of the first western oil companies to re-enter Libya – one of the world’s biggest potential oil sources – following the end of United Nations sanctions and a commitment from leader Colonel Muammar Gaddafi to turn his back on funding terrorism and pursuing nuclear weapons.

A deal was signed by Shell on 25 March 2004 covering the establishment of a “long-term strategic partnership” between the oil company and the local state-owned energy group. It was penned during a ground-breaking visit by the then prime minister, Tony Blair, and was followed up by meetings during July between Shell and foreign minister Baroness Symons and then the foreign secretary at the time, Jack Straw.

In October, Malcolm Brinded, the head of exploration at Shell who signed the deal to explore for oil and redevelop a gas export terminal in Libya, met another foreign minister, Douglas Alexander, with a particular focus on trade. In February 2005, Kinnock was involved in a reception at which Shell was present and North African oil interests were raised.

Anthony Layden, the British ambassador to Libya, was engaged in a series of meetings during April of the same year with Shell in Tripoli. Miliband met with Brinded in October of that year.

Shell said last night it had “no comment” to make on any discussions it had held with British ministers or other government officials about Libya, and the Foreign Office was unable to discuss these meetings.

But a government spokeswoman denied British oil interests played any part in the release of the Lockerbie bomber. She said: “There is no deal – all decisions relating to Megrahi’s case were exclusively for Scottish ministers, the Crown Office in Scotland and the Scottish judicial authorities. No deal has been made between the UK government and Libya in relation to Megrahi and any commercial interests in the country.”

Yesterday Megrahi backed calls for a public inquiry into the atrocity. He said he was determined to clear his name and that an inquiry would help families of the victims know the truth.

Megrahi said he would help Dr Jim Swire, whose 23-year-old daughter Flora died in the disaster and who has frequently called for a full public inquiry, by handing over all the documents in his possession.

• This article was amended on Sunday 30 August 2009. In the article above, we were mistakenly informed by the Foreign Office that the Prince of Wales had visited Libya in 2006. This is not the case. This has been corrected.

Russia, Saudi set to finalise giant arms deal
Khaleej Times – 30 August, 2009

Saudi Arabia is close to signing a two-billion-dollar (1.4-billion-euro) deal to buy Russian arms, a Russian defence industry source was quoted as saying on Saturday.

“Work is nearly complete on a set of contracts on the delivery of Russian arms and military technology to Saudi Arabia, with a total value of around two billion dollars,” the source told Interfax news agency.

“For many of these contracts, all the technical and financial details have practically been agreed, for others work is still ongoing,” he added.

Riyadh may purchase up to 150 helicopters – 30 Mi-35 attack helicopters and up to 120 Mi-17 transport helicopters – more than 150 T-90S tanks, around 250 BMP-3 infantry fighting vehicles and “several dozen” air defence systems, the source said.

Contracts for the sale of the tanks and the helicopters “could be signed as soon as this year,” he told Interfax.

Spokespersons for Rosoboronexport, Russia’s state-owned arms export monopoly, and for the Federal Service for Military-Technical Cooperation, which oversees the arms trade, could not be reached for comment on Saturday.

Saudi Arabia – a close US ally – has long bought most of its arms from the United States and Western Europe, but in recent years has been in talks on buying military equipment from Russia.

Meanwhile Russia is keen to find new markets for its weapons exports, one of the few sectors of Russian manufacturing that has enjoyed international success.

In 2008 Moscow and Riyadh signed a military cooperaton treaty, and this year Saudi King Abdullah received a delegation that included a top Kremlin adviser and an official from Rosoboronexport.

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الأحد 09 رمضان 1430هـ – 30 أغسطس 2009م Sunday 09 Ramadan 1430 – August 30, 2009

Carried out the attack on Mohammed bin Nayef, a sensitive planting explosives to his body
Continuous Improvement

Prince Mohammed bin Nayef receives well-wishers Bnecath

Jeddah – Arab, Cairo – Mohamed Mu’tasim

Sources spoke of “the Arab. Net” on Sunday 30/8/2009 the details of moments of separation that has seen a terrorist assassination attempt on Assistant Saudi Interior Minister for Security Affairs Prince Mohammed bin Nayef, last Thursday evening, where he had planted explosives in a sensitive area of his body – hole anus – which allowed him to pass routine inspections.Explosives experts have confirmed that the device can be planted in sensitive areas of the body and according to special requirements.

And delightful moments of scenario interval that preceded the attack on the dramatic way, where he contacted the Interior Ministry wanted terrorist and asked to declare his repentance in the hands of Prince. On the evening of Thursday, the terrorist to the palace of Prince in Jeddah, and subjected to routine inspections that have not yet discovered explosives hidden inside the anus. Prince was informed of the arrival of the said, go to the room attached to his office within the palace, and an area not exceeding six meters in seven meters, and prepared to receive the terrorist, who will announce his repentance.

Provide terrorist into the room and move the Prince towards the door to receive him, and a signal of a standing ovation, and then invited him to sit on a couch, and moved to his right the other on a couch, not far from terrorism, but distance between meter and a half and two meters.At this moment were preoccupied with Prince call on a mobile phone, and then exploded the package to rupture the terrorist’s body into pieces small. It is so divine providence not only catch Prince Bjrahin small in the hand and the bottom of his eyes. It did not take his stay in hospital only a few hours.

An explosives expert in the investigations following the incident, said “the Arab. Net” that the escape of Prince came as a “miracle”; given the closeness of the package the moment it exploded, indicating that the packaging was designed to explode in the vertical direction.

The eyewitnesses have said that traces of blood and the terrorist explosion is apparent in all corners of the room with the exception of the site that was sitting by Prince Mohammed bin Nayef.

Furniture, who was the chamber to raise the entire time of the attack and subject to forensic investigation services.

Earlier this week, sources said that al-Qaeda launched the assassination attempt on Prince Mohammed bin Nayef as such unprecedented use of new techniques in planting explosives inside the terrorists.

Meanwhile, witnesses said Saturday evening that the palace of Prince Muhammad bin Nayef in Jeddah, and so crowded on the delegations to be congratulated for surviving, and security services to allow all to enter after making sure of their identities and searched, and said that security is tight but does not impede the reception of delegations.

Continuous Improvement

In an interview with “the Arab net”, explained Vice-President of the State Security Investigation in Egypt, former Maj. Gen. Fouad Allam, that terrorists usually develop themselves continuously as a result of the efforts of security agencies to detect the all-new, so they put explosives in the development of the anus, which is inspired of drug traffickers and smugglers, who were wearing what they want in the anus to escape from inspection and detection devices substance abuse.

Allam and Abizaid that there is no place else in the body suitable for planting explosive materials, only the anus, while the other Veetm planting bombs outside the body, or, as happened in some of the bombings, such as naive placing explosive devices on the arm or foot Wolf plaster around like a hand or a foot broken .

The security expert that substances that can be placed in the anus is the article “TNT” explosives and material Aljlijant is also highly explosive and destructive uses her, and stuff that exist within the powder shots.

On the way in which the explosive is planted, Allam said that they are placed inside the plastic tube to prevent interaction with the internal organs of the body so as not to be affected by the body and talked to him trouble might cancel the operation, or there was no interaction between the explosive materials and fluids in the body are affected by explosive detonation does not occur, This tube is selected from a special type of plastic is determined by length of the target of the operation and size of the explosion to be produce, a technique new terrorists will the security services to deal with him.

And about how long he can remain the explosive material within the body, confirmed that she was between one hour and 24 hours, as the explosive material and the degree of density and breaking strength of the pressure within the body and the durability of the young man who put her in the buttocks in order not to move in and out, which should not sit or movements occur abruptness of many.

Maj. Gen. Alam, who has dealt with the terrorists at the height of terrorism, he continued what has happened in Saudi Arabia and there are others like him who follow to avoid what could happen in the future, especially as the princes, like any public official is subject to strict scrutiny are met, whether personally or through agencies.

He said that terrorists are developing the tools, they are in a race with a permanent security services, citing the example of what happened to the days of Nasser when he tried to some members of the Muslim Brotherhood, the bombing of a president they put explosive materials to explode from a distance of 5 kilometers, have been unearthed.

On the other hand, it was revealed former General device SSI Mohamed Abdel Fattah Omar said the bombing that happened in Saudi Arabia using the explosive material placed in the anus that terrorists have come to an explosive device on a minute after being planted inside the tube, which is not an easy process and must be dealt with well Otherwise, any official will be an easy target for terrorists who Ifajkhoun Mwkharchm.

Monday, 31 August 2009 – 10 Ramadan 1430 H

Qaeda attack on Prince part of wider plot

By Abdullah Al-Orefij

RIYADH – The failed assassination attempt on Prince Muhammad Bin Naif, Assistant Minister of Interior for Security Affairs, Thursday night was planned by Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula which operates from Yemen, sources confirmed.

The suicide bomber was recruited by Yemeni Nasser Al-Wohaishi, known also by the nom de guerre Abu Baseer, the sources said.

Al-Wohaishi is the head of Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, which had announced in an Internet posting last January the merger of the Saudi and Yemeni branches of Al-Qaeda.

The merger was seen by analysts as an attempt to consolidate after the Saudi branch of Al-Qaeda was practically wiped out following a vigorous counter-terrorism campaign led by Prince Muhammad.

According to Okaz sources, the bomber who detonated himself only a meter away from the Prince was part of a terrorist cell formed to target oil installations and public figures.

The sources said the bomber stayed in an apartment on Sari Street, northwest of Jeddah, Thursday.

He had slipped into the Kingdom from Mareb, east of Sana’a, Yemen’s Foreign Minister Abu-Bakr Al-Qirbi told The Associated Press.

“He was in Yemen,” said Al-Qirbi. “He claimed that he was going to hand himself over to Saudi authorities and make a statement to his followers to abandon Al-Qaeda principles.”

Okaz sources said the bomb was implanted in the attacker’s rectum, which could explain why he refused to drink coffee at the Prince’s Court.

The bomber had sent word he wanted to surrender personally to the Prince who had ordered that he not be searched to encourage others to come forward.

At the Prince’s home in Jeddah’s north Obhur beach area Thursday night around 11.30 P.M., the attacker was in line to enter a gathering of well-wishers for Ramadan when he blew himself up. The Prince was lightly injured in the attack. The bomber died.

Saudi authorities have so far not announced the identity of the attacker who along with his brother was on the Interior Ministry’s list of 85 most wanted militants.

Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, has made several unsuccessful attempts to strike inside the Kingdom.

In April, Saudi authorities discovered a cave in the remote Saudi mountains near the Yemeni border that was a way station for the militants. Saudi police seized 11 suspected Saudi militants planning armed robberies, kidnappings and other attacks. Earlier this month Saudi authorities announced the arrest of 44 militants and the seizure of explosives, detonators and guns.

Thursday’s bombing was the first assassination attempt against a member of the royal family in decades and was also the first significant attack by militants in the Kingdom since 2006.

Saudi Arabia has waged a fierce crackdown on Al-Qaeda militants in the country. It has killed or captured most of their leaders after a string of attacks that started in 2003.

However, Thursday attack raises concerns that Yemen’s instability could allow Al-Qaeda to carry out cross-border attacks. The Yemeni army is on a near three-week-long offensive on strongholds of Zaidi rebels, also known as Huthis, in lawless swathes around Saada city in the Mareb region. The security forces are stretched by the tribal revolt in the north and separatist unrest in the south. – Okaz/ SG/ Agencies

(HT Elder of Ziyon)