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Monday, November 29, 2010     INTELLIGENCE BRIEFING

Saudis report capture of 149 Al Qaida operatives

ABU DHABI — Saudi Arabia has announced the capture of additional Al Qaida agents linked to regional operations.

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The Saudi Interior Ministry said 149 Al Qaida operatives have been arrested over the last eight months. The ministry said the operatives were charged with recruitment and raising funds for Al Qaida cells throughout the Gulf region and Horn of Africa, Middle East Newsline reported.

"These cells have links with Al Qaida who are disrupting the security in Yemen, with Somalia and organizations in Afghanistan," Interior Ministry spokesman Maj. Gen. Mansour Al Turki said.

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In a briefing on Nov. 26, Al Turki said the captured Al Qaida network, an operation conducted with Interpol, was also linked to Islamic insurgents in Somalia. He said most of the agents arrested since March 2010 — found with nearly $600,000 in cash — were Saudis.

"One cell had links to Somalia, but the large majority had ties to Yemen," Al Turki said. "Most cells were very small, were operating independently and still in the stages of being established."

Al Turki said the detainees comprised 19 Al Qaida cells. He said the cells, trained to assemble car bombs as well as recruit on the Internet, had targeted Saudi officials, journalists and government offices.

"Investigations are continuing," Al Turki said.

The Saudi-owned Al Arabiya satellite channel said the Al Qaida network had also planned to attack Saudi energy installations. Al Arabiya said the network was bolstered by recruits from Africa and South Asia.

Officials said Al Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula, which operates in both Saudi Arabia and Yemen, has sought to expand recruitment in the Saudi kingdom. They said AQAP planned to train operatives abroad, particularly in Somalia and Yemen, and return them for attacks in Saudi Arabia.

"The organization is trying to recruit people inside the kingdom," Al Turki said. "There are cells that help them travel abroad to train and then return."



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