Prince Nayef said the large quantities of seized weapons had been smuggled through the borders of the vast kingdom

RIYADH, May 8 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) - Saudi Arabia, the birthplace of Osama bin Laden, says it has uncovered a cell belonging to the al-Qaeda terror network which had planned to carry out major attacks in the kingdom aimed at disrupting internal security.

Interior Minister Prince Nayef bin Abdul Aziz said in remarks published Thursday, May 8, that the members of the cell had trained in Afghanistan.

"Yes, all the cell members are known to be al-Qaeda operatives," Prince Nayef bin Abdul Aziz told Al-Riyadh daily. "But we must arrest them to be 100 percent certain of this information."

"This group has started outside of the kingdom. They received military training in Afghanistan. Unfortunately, they pretend to be Islamists and declare others as infidels," he told the paper.

"All of them had returned from Afghanistan ... and a number of them had been detained and then freed because we found their role was very limited," he added.

Prince Nayef said the large quantities of seized weapons had been smuggled through the borders of the vast kingdom.

"The most dangerous thing is the explosives. Its quantity is large and quality is high. This is very disturbing and indicates how dangerous these people are," he said.

"The presence of such highly advanced explosives indicates that they had been planning to destroy buildings or big places."

Prince Nayef said the men believed in "suicidal ideas, and not in money. They are young and have been brainwashed."

The prince's statement came a day after his ministry announced that security forces were hunting for 17 Saudis, one Kuwaiti-Canadian of Iraqi origin and a Yemeni after a shootout with police in Riyadh.

The gunfight erupted late Tuesday, May 6, as police were searching for those responsible for a March 18 bomb attack which killed one person in the capital's Jazira quarter.

Searches of the gunmen's hideout and their getaway car netted a huge cache of arms, including 55 hand grenades, 377 kilograms (829 pounds) of explosive, and 2,545 bullets of different calibers, as well as cash and disguises, the interior ministry said.

The prince announced a reward of up to 300,000 riyals (80,000 dollars) for people who guided authorities to the cell and 50,000 riyals for those who provided any information about them.

All Saudi newspapers Thursday splashed the names and photos of the suspected militants on their front pages.

Some dailies wrote hard-hitting editorials scorning bin Laden and what they called the "misguided men who blindly follow his teachings."

Saudi Arabia's highest religious authority, Grand Mufti Sheikh Abdul Aziz al-Sheikh, described the militants as "corrupt, traitors and aggressors," adding that they must be "fought and severely punished."

Prince Nayef announced in February 2003 that Saudi authorities were holding 253 people with suspected links to Al-Qaeda and that 90 of them were proven to be members of the terror organization.

He later announced the arrest of seven Saudis near Mecca on the same charges.

The discovery of the cell took place one week after the United States announced pulling its troops out of the kingdom -- a key demand by Al-Qaeda -- and after the U.S. embassy in Riyadh warned its citizens that terror groups may be in the final phase of finalizing attacks.

Saudi Arabia has witnessed a series of shootouts and killings, mainly targeting Westerners, in the past few years and fingers have pointed at a possible Al-Qaeda hand.

An American working at a Saudi naval base was shot and injured last week prompting Washington to issue a new travel advisory warning its nationals against non-essential travel to the kingdom.

Anti-American sentiment has been running high in the conservative oil-rich kingdom amid widespread opposition to the U.S.-led war on Iraq and anger over U.S. support for Israel.

Fifteen of the 19 hijackers in the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States were Saudi nationals.