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Saudi cleric reveals surrender terms of Al-Ghamdi
Prince Abdullah vows to strike militants ‘with an iron hand’
Compiled by Daily Star staff, 6/30/03
A senior cleric said Sunday he mediated the surrender of a top Saudi
terror suspect as Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Abdullah bin Abdel-Aziz
reiterated his vow to strike terrorism “with an iron hand” and
demanded Saudi nationals turn in anyone involved in such deadly acts. The
mothers of several wanted Islamic militants also appealed to their sons to
give themselves up after the surrender of one of the main suspects in the
May 12 triple suicide bombings in Riyadh in which 35 people died.
Sheikh Safar al-Hawali told the London-based Al-Hayat newspaper that Ali
Abdel Rahman Saeed al-Faqaasi al-Ghamdi had set conditions for his
surrender on Thursday, which the Interior Ministry accepted.
Ghamdi, wanted in connection with the Riyadh blasts, obtained the release
of his Moroccan wife and pledges that he would get a fair trial, be
allowed to appoint a lawyer and not be tortured.
“Prince Mohammed bin Nayef, assistant interior minister for security
affairs, immediately considered these as part of Ghamdi’s rights that he
personally guarantees,” Hawali told the pan-Arab daily.
In Washington, a US official said Ghamdi’s surrender was a significant
setback to Al-Qaeda, taking out of action the network’s senior operative
in the kingdom.
“It’s a serious blow to Al-Qaeda. He is definitely the senior
operative in the Saudi operation,” the official said, adding that he was
known to be plotting other attacks against US targets in the kingdom and
elsewhere.
Meanwhile the mothers of several other wanted Saudi militants have
entreated their sons to turn themselves in after Ghamdi’s surrender.
“I appeal to Turky to give himself up like Ghamdi did,” 70-year-old
Eida Raji Saleh al-Balhoud, mother of Turky al-Dandani, the most wanted
terror suspect, told Okaz daily.
“If you want to see me happy and satisfied, please hurry up and turn
yourself in. They will reach you sooner or later,” Balhoud warned from
her home in Skaka, in the northern Al-Jouf Province.
Dandani, 27, tops a wanted list of 19 men published by the Saudi security
authorities just a few days before the suicide bombings in the capital. He
had traveled to Afghanistan two years ago and returned five months later,
his brother Saud told the newspaper.
Ghamdi was number two on the list.
Hawali said he received a phone call late Wednesday night from Ghamdi
asking him to mediate his surrender.
“He presented a number of demands, mainly the release of his Moroccan
wife,” Hawali said. Ghamdi’s surrender was completed in two hours and
took place at dawn on Thursday, the cleric added.
Ghamdi’s wife was arrested at the end of last month along with two other
women, another Moroccan and a Syrian, outside the Muslim holy city of
Medina while attempting to flee the city following the arrest of several
suspects.
According to Hawali, Ghamdi’s wife was released and handed over to
Ghamdi’s father Abdulrahman who saw his son in jail on Saturday.
The father told Sunday’s Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper that the Interior
Ministry allowed him to meet his son, who appeared “relaxed for turning
himself in.” He said that his son “is feeling deep remorse for what
happened, but is very relaxed and very happy at surrendering.” He
confirmed that the authorities had freed Ghamdi’s wife.
The mothers of Abdel-Aziz al-Mugren and Othman al-Omari, who are also on
the list of 19, also appealed to their sons to surrender.
The pair had also been to Afghanistan before returning to Saudi Arabia and
are believed to be members of the Al-Qaeda terror network and involved in
the Riyadh blasts. – Agencies
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| Earth, a planet hungry for peace |
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| The Israeli apartheid (security) wall around Palestinian population centers (Ran Cohen, pmc, 5/24/03). |
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| The Israeli apartheid (security) wall around Palestinian population centers in the West Bank (Ran Cohen, pmc, 5/24/03). |
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