Saudi Arabia Arrests Eight Al Qaeeda Supporters who killed Kuwaiti, Saudis
Riyadh -February 8, 2003 Saudi Police have arrested eight young Saudis in connection with a shooting in Riyadh last month that left a Kuwaiti onlooker dead and three Saudis — including two security officers — wounded, the Interior Ministry announced yesterday. Interior Minister Prince Naif told Asharq Al-Awsat, a sister publication of Arab News, that some of the eight suspects are accused of having links with Al-Qaeda.
“This will become clearer once investigations are completed,” he added. “Preliminary investigations, as well as their own statements, revealed that the arrested Saudis were influenced by erroneous and deviant ideas,” a ministry official said in a statement carried by the Saudi Press Agency. The official did not identify the suspects but said the eight confessed to carrying out the attack. “They will be handed over to judicial authorities to give their judgment,” he added.
Meanwhile, the United States on Friday raised its color-coded terrorism threat warning level from "elevated" to "high," based on information from "multiple intelligence sources," Attorney General John Ashcroft said. "The United States has specific intelligence and experience demonstrating that heightened awareness and readiness on our part deters terrorism," he told a news conference. "Today?s change in the threat condition designation from elevated to high risk will trigger a series of security precautions by the federal government as well as state and local governments and US citizens to increase readiness to prevent terrorism," Ashcroft said.
"High" risk is the second-highest level of threat. "This decision for an increased threat condition designation is based on specific intelligence received and analyzed by the full intelligence community. This information has been corroborated by multiple intelligence sources," Ashcroft said. The new Secretary of Homeland Security Tom Ridge said the heightened security risk did not mean that Americans should cancel events or change travel plans. "We do recommend that individuals and families in the days ahead take some time to prepare for an emergency," Ridge said.
The UAE has been witnessing at least two major fire that puzzled many people. Police have ruled out foul play in the powerful explosion and the subsequent fire that ripped apart three warehouses in Al Qouz yesterday. "We do not have any doubt that it is an accident," said Major General Sharafuddin Al Sayed Sharaf, Assistant Dubai Police Chief for Criminal Investigation. Four people died and eight others were missing after the explosion. Ten others were also injured in the blast said to caused by fireccrackers. The explosion occurred some time before 4pm and damaged warehouses in the adjourning area. It happened when firecrackers were being unloaded, said Major General Sharaf. Recently, there was a major fire in an old Souq in the UAE. keralamonitor.com
